Question

I have a class hierarchy like this:

public class A {

    private B obj = new B();   // Inside this object 
                               // do I need a reference to here?
                               // (In order to call method1())

    public A(){    ...    }

    private void method1(){    ...    }
    private void method2(){    ...    }
}

// Other package
public class B {
    private JButton bt1 = new JButton("Button");

    public B(){
            ...
        bt1.addMouseListener(new MouseActionsListener(this));
    }

    public class MouseActionsListener implements MouseListener
    {
        @Override
        public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent event)
        {
            /*
             * I need to call method1() HERE!!!
             */
        }
    }
}

Is it possible to call a method of the class A from the class B in that position?

The problem is that I have a list of B objects in A, and whenever a button is clicked in one of the B objects a change has to be made in A.

Thank you!

Answer 1

There is no implicit association that would allow you to go from B to A.

You will need to:

• change B to keep a reference to the corresponding instance of A;
• initialize that reference in B‘s constructor;
• use it call A‘s methods.

In code:

public class A {

    private B obj;

    public A() {
        obj = new B(this);
        ...
    }

    public void method1(){    ...    }
    public void method2(){    ...    }
}


public class B {

    private final A _a;

    public B(A a) {
        _a = a;
    }

    public class MouseActionsListener implements MouseListener
    {
        @Override
        public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent event) {
            _a.method1();
        }
    }