How to convert JGraph to a glass pane?

Question

I have a class :public class GraphEditorPane extends JGraph

and I am using this "GraphEditorPane" as follows :

public JScrollPane getGraphPaneScrollPane() {
    if (graphPaneScrollPane == null) {
        graphPaneScrollPane = new JScrollPane();
        //graphPaneScrollPane.setViewportView(getGraphEditorPane());
        graphPaneScrollPane.setViewportView(getGraphEditorPane());
    }
    return graphPaneScrollPane;
}
public GraphEditorPane getGraphEditorPane() {
graphEditorPane = new GraphEditorPane(); }

I am using this 'GraphEditorPane' to draw a Graph over it. Now my question is -- Is there any way that I can convert this JGraph into a Glass Pane so that my 'GraphEditorPane' would be transparent and I could still draw over it ?

Answer 1

I think you're over complicating things.

The glass pane will be the top most component (when visible), painting over the top of everything else. If you simply want to "overlay" one component over another you there are much simpler solutions...

The simplest idea I can think off would be to use a JLayeredPane, setting it up to use a GridBagLayout so you don't need to worry about positioning the child components. This will give you quick and easy methods for changing the order of components.

Another solution would be to simply add the overlay component directly on top of the underlay component.

import java.awt.BasicStroke;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;

public class Overlay {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new Overlay();
    }

    public Overlay() {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                try {
                    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
                } catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
                }

                ImagePane imagePane = new ImagePane();
                imagePane.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
                imagePane.add(new OverlayPane());

                JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
                frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
                frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
                frame.add(imagePane);
                frame.pack();
                frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
                frame.setVisible(true);
            }
        });
    }

    public class OverlayPane extends JPanel {

        public OverlayPane() {
            setOpaque(false);
        }

        @Override
        protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
            super.paintComponent(g);
            Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g.create();
            g2d.setColor(Color.RED);
            g2d.setStroke(new BasicStroke(4));
            int radius = 40;
            g2d.drawOval(326 - radius / 2, 351 - radius / 2, radius, radius);
            g2d.drawOval(416 - radius / 2, 351 - radius / 2, radius, radius);

            int size = 20;

            g2d.drawLine(374, 400, 374 - size, 400 + size);
            g2d.drawLine(374, 400, 374 + size, 400 + size);

            g2d.dispose();
        }

    }

    public class ImagePane extends JPanel {

        private BufferedImage buffer;

        public ImagePane() {
            try {
                buffer = ImageIO.read(new File("/path/to/your/image"));
            } catch (IOException ex) {
                ex.printStackTrace();
            }
        }

        @Override
        public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
            return buffer == null ? new Dimension(200, 200) : new Dimension(buffer.getWidth(), buffer.getHeight());
        }

        @Override
        protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
            super.paintComponent(g);
            Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g.create();
            g2d.drawImage(buffer, 0, 0, this);
            g2d.dispose();
        }
    }

}