Question

I am making a board game and having trouble moving them. The piece will move according to the dice result. Below is what i attempt to do but it does not work.(from button[].addActionListener(new ActionListener()) Note: I have used ImageIcon to represent my pieces. Any help?

    //Puts the player 1 piece on button 1,3,5,7,9 and player 2 piece on button 2,4,6,8,10 
    if ((btnNumber - 1) < 10) 
    { 
        if (((btnNumber - 1) % 2) == 0) 
        { 
            buttons[btnNumber - 1].setIcon(piece1); 
        } 
        else 
        { 
            buttons[btnNumber - 1].setIcon(piece2); 
        } 
    } 
    centerPanel.add(buttons[btnNumber - 1]); 
} 

frame.add(centerPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER); 

Answer 1

It looks as though there are some basic things you haven’t quite grasped yet. Here are some suggestions for getting closer to your goal:

1. button[].addActionListener is a nonsensical statement. You can’t add an action listener to an entire array at once. Perhaps you meant to say buttons[btnNumber - 1].addActionListener and place it inside the for loop.
2. buttons[]==ImageIcon("piece1") is also a meaningless statement (it should not even have compiled). You could try buttons[btnNumber - 1] == ImageIcon("piece1"), though there is an easier way to do this (#3).
3. Instead of determining the location of the piece based on whether it equals an image icon instance, why not have variables piece1Location and piece2Location that you keep updated as the pieces move. Then you would know instantly where the pieces are, and your logic would simplify to if (btnNumber - 1 == piece1Location)
4. In Java, arrays start at index 0. The cleanest way to work with an array in Java with a for loop is to start your indexing variable at 0 as well, and change your comparison from <= to <. With the following for(int i = 0; i < 30; i++), you don’t have to keep saying btnNumber - 1.
5. The organization of your code is a little confusing and tightly integrated between model and presentation. You should seek to separate logic dealing with showing the board and pieces (presentation) from logic dealing with the mechanics of the game (rolling dice, moving pieces, etc.). This will help you immensely in maintaining your code and keeping track of what’s going on.