Timing

To do animation or anything that requires delay, you need to implement the class runnable. The code is a little complex; it uses something called threads to delay operating.

You need to:

• implement runnable (just add runnable after mouseListener in your implements.
• Add the code below
• The only editable section of that code is the int delay which is in millliseconds.

 
 

    public void update()
    {
        //put your code for what should happen each animation

    }
    
    
    /*********************************************************************************************/
    /* BELOW IS FOR ANIMATION.  THE ONLY THING THAT YOU NEED TO CHANGE IS DELAY */

    int frame;
    int delay=50;   // this is the time of the delay in milliseconds.
    Thread animator;

    /**
     * This method is called when the applet becomes visible on
     * the screen. Create a thread and start it.
     */
    public void start()
    {
        animator = new Thread(this);
        animator.start();
    }

    /**
     * This method is called by the thread that was created in
     * the start method. It does the main animation.
     */
    public void run()
    {
        // Remember the starting time
        long tm = System.currentTimeMillis();
        while (Thread.currentThread() == animator)
        {
            // Display the next frame of animation.
            update();
            try
            {
                tm += delay;
                Thread.sleep(Math.max(0, tm - System.currentTimeMillis()));
            }
            catch (InterruptedException e)
            {
                break;
            }
            // Advance the frame
            frame++;
        }
    }

    /**
     * This method is called when the applet is no longer
     * visible. Set the animator variable to null so that the
     * thread will exit before displaying the next frame.
     */
    public void stop()
    {
        animator = null;
    }