Question

I have an array of strings which I’m trying to display (one by one) as a slideshow in a Java Swing component. I am also trying to add a delay time between the iterations.

I attempted to do this by using a JTextArea, with an action listener added to it. Here is the code I have right now:

private class myActionListener implements ActionListener {
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        // A BUNCH OF TEXT PROCESSING

        //NOTE: myInfo.getContents() returns an ArrayList<myType>.
        Iterator<myType> iterator = myInfo.getContents().iterator();

        int i = 0;
        while (iterator.hasNext()) {
            myTextArea.setText(iterator.next().toString());
            // to add time betweeen iterations i wanted to use the thread
            // delay method.
        }
    }
}

My code is not working because JTextArea doesn’t have an action listener.

UPDATE
NOTE: Many replies stated that I should use an ActionListener for the JTextArea; However, Eclipse is not showing me that JTextArea has a method called addActionListener.

I’m kind of stuck here, which Java Swing component do you think would be the most suitable in this scenario?

The text in my array may be long, so a one lined label would not be a good choice.

What other alternatives or approaches do I have?

Thank you very much, any help and suggestions are appreciated.

Answer 1

Use your ActionListener in combination with a javax.Swing.Timer. The ActionListener assigned to the Timer will be called on regular intervals with the specified delay.

See the timer tutorial for more information