Unable to set JApplet Background Color

Question

My problem is that when trying to set the background color in a JApplet i'm trying to create, i am unable to get any color other than the default gray.

I would really appreciate it if someone was able to not only tell me whats wrong but also explain it. This technique was learned through a textbook and so, i want to understand the problem so that i know what is going on.

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

SDG

public class QuoteApplet extends JApplet
{

    public void paint (Graphics appPage)
    {
        setBackground(Color.YELLOW);

        appPage.drawRect(65,55,255,100);
        //page.drawRect(60,80,225,30);
        //page.drawOval(75,65, 20, 20);
        appPage.drawLine(30,30,30,100);
        appPage.drawLine(40,30,40,100);
        appPage.drawLine(55,45,15,85);

        appPage.drawString("There once lived a man named Oedipus Rex.", 70, 70);
        appPage.drawString("You may have heard about his odd complex.", 70, 90);
        appPage.drawString("His name appears in Freud's index,", 70, 110);
        appPage.drawString("'cause he loved his mother.", 70, 130);
        appPage.drawString("-Tom Lehrer", 200, 150);
    }
}

+1 for the interesting poem. Also, good question. – May 30 '12 at 16:46 — , May 30 '12 at 16:46

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered May 30 '12 at 16:48

6

You want to set the background color of the applet's contentPane, not the applet itself. So call getContentPane().setBackground(...). And you don't want to do this from within the paint method. Instead do it in init(). In fact, it is rare that you'll ever want to override a JApplet's paint method, and certainly not here. You're much better drawing in the paintComponent(...) method of a JPanel or other class that derives from JComponent and then adding that to the contentPane, or using it as the contentPane.

answered May 30 '12 at 16:48

Hovercraft Full Of Eels

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if i create an init() method, do i then need to change anything in my paint method or is it just as simple as adding another method? – superdemongob May 30 '12 at 16:50
@superdem: You would add the init() as a separate method. But see my edit above -- you should not be overriding `paint(...)` to begin with. – Hovercraft Full Of Eels May 30 '12 at 16:51
thank you, if what you said is true (and i don't doubt it for a second), my textbook is the stupidest thing on the planet... They legitimately set it up the same way i did. I have copied their code word for word and only changed the values... – superdemongob May 30 '12 at 16:54
@superdemongob: what book do you use (so I can avoid it)? – Hovercraft Full Of Eels May 30 '12 at 16:55
Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design - Lewis and Loftus. This specific travesty occurs on page 102. – superdemongob May 30 '12 at 17:09
1

try core java vol I and vol II or deitel and deitel java how to program both r nice books – thewhitetulip May 30 '12 at 17:15
@lucifer: yep I've got them and also recommend them. – Hovercraft Full Of Eels May 30 '12 at 17:40
I was going to buy the McGrawHill Java: A Complete Reference. Any idea on how that is? – superdemongob May 30 '12 at 20:31
@superdemon: I don't know as I've never used that book. – Hovercraft Full Of Eels May 30 '12 at 21:22

Unable to set JApplet Background Color

1 Answers1