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Fun with Java: Sprite Animation, Part 6

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Java Programming, Lecture Notes #1460


Preface


If you are one of those orderly people who start reading a book at the
beginning and reads through to the end, you are probably wondering why
I keep repeating this long introduction.  The truth is that this introduction
isn’t meant for you.  Rather, it is meant for those people who start
reading in the middle.

That said, this is one of the lessons in a miniseries that will concentrate
on having fun while programming in Java.

This miniseries will include a variety of Java programming topics that
fall in the category of fun programming.  This particular lesson
is the sixth in of a group of lessons that will teach you how to write
animation programs in Java.  The first lesson in the group was entitled
Fun
with Java: Sprite Animation, Part 1
(Here is your opportunity
to go back and start reading at the beginning.)
The previous lesson
was entitled Fun
with Java: Sprite Animation, Part 5
.

Viewing tip

You may find it useful to open another copy of this lesson in a separate
browser window.  That will make it easier for you to scroll back and
forth among the different figures and listings while you are reading about
them.

Supplementary material

I recommend that you also study the other lessons in my extensive collection
of online Java tutorials.  You will find those lessons published at
Gamelan.com
However, as of the date of this writing, Gamelan doesn’t maintain a consolidated
index of my Java tutorial lessons, and sometimes they are difficult to
locate there.  You will find a consolidated index at
Baldwin’s
Java Programming Tutorials
.

Preview


Animation programming

This is one of a group of lessons that will teach
you how to write animation programs in Java.  These lessons will teach
you how to write sprite animation, frame animation, and a combination of
the two.

Spherical sea creatures

The first program, being discussed in this lesson,
will show you how to use sprite animation to cause a group of colored spherical
sea creatures to swim around in a fish tank.  A screen shot of the
output produced by this program is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.  Animated spherical sea creatures
in a fish tank.

The ability to change color

Many sea creatures have the ability to change
their color in very impressive ways.  The second program that I will
discuss in subsequent lessons will simulate that process using a combination
of sprite and frame animation.

Sea worms

The third program, also to be discussed in a subsequent
lesson, will use a combination of sprite animation, frame animation, and
some other techniques to cause a group of multi-colored sea worms to slither
around in the fish tank.  In addition to slithering, the sea worms
will also change the color of different parts of their body, much like
real sea creatures.

A screen shot of the output from the third program
is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2.  Animated sea worms in a fish tank.

Figure 3 shows the GIF image files that you will need to run these three
programs.

 

               

Figure 3.  GIF image files that you will need.

Getting the required GIF files

You should be able to capture the images by right-clicking on them individually,
and then saving them into files on your local disk.  Having done that,
you will need to rename the files to match the names that are hard-coded
into the programs.

Review of previous lesson

In the previous lesson, I completed my discussion of the controlling
class for this animation program.

The update method

I showed you how to override the update method of the Component
class to improve the animation quality of the program over what would normally
be achieved using the default version of the update method.

In the process, I showed you how to eliminate the flashing that often
accompanies efforts to use the default version of the update method
for animation purposes.  This flashing is caused by the fact that
the default version of update draws an empty component (often
white)
at the beginning of each redraw cycle.

Offscreen drawing context

I also showed you how to get and use an offscreen drawing context to
accomplish double buffering in the drawing process.  The use
of double buffering makes it impossible for the user to see the scene as
it is being drawn because the scene is first drawn offscreen and then transferred
as a whole to the screen context.  Depending on the drawing speed,
this can also produce a more pleasing result.

I also provided a very brief discussion of the utility class named BackgroundImage.

Preview of this lesson

There are two more classes to cover before my discussion of this animation
program is complete:  SpriteManager and Sprite.

In this lesson, I will explain the behavior of each of the methods of
the SpriteManager class.  This will include the following features:

  • Finding an empty space for each new sprite
  • Updating sprite positions
  • Drawing the new scene during each animation cycle
  • Managing collisions between sprites

Discussion
and Sample Program


This program is so long that several lessons will be required to discuss
it fully.  Rather than to make you wait until I complete all of those
lessons to get your hands on the program, I have provided a copy of the
entire program in Listing 11 near the end of the lesson.  That way,
you can copy it into a source file on your local disk, compile it, run
it, and start seeing the results.

The SpriteManager class

As the name implies, an object of the SpriteManager class can
be used to manage a collection of sprites.  Before I get into the
details, here is a preview of some of the attributes of the SpriteManager
class.

SpriteManager constructor

The constructor for the SpriteManager class requires an incoming
parameter of type
BackgroundImage. The BackgroundImage class
is a convenience class designed to facilitate certain operations involving
the background image displayed on the Frame.  The code in various
methods of the SpriteManager class uses the BackgroundImage
object to manage the background image against which the animation process
is played out.  (You can view the background image by scrolling
back up to Figure 3.)

A collection of sprites in a Vector object

An object of the SpriteManager class stores references to a collection
of sprites in an object of type Vector.  A public method named
addSprite
can be invoked to cause a new sprite to be added to the collection.

Finding a parking place for a sprite

One of the public methods of the SpriteManager class is a method
named getEmptyPosition.  This method attempts to identify a
location within the Frame that does not currently contain a sprite. 
This makes it possible to create a population of sprites without having
them initially occupying the same physical space.

Updating the sprite positions

Another public method of the SpriteManager class is a method
named upDate (not to be confused with the update method of the
Component class).
  When this method is invoked, the SpriteManager
object causes all of the sprites in its collection to change their position
according to values stored in a motion vector owned by each sprite.

When the sprites change their positions, collisions can and do occur. 
Such collisions are handled by the SpriteManager using private methods
named testForCollision and bounceOffSprite.

Drawing the scene

Another public method of the SpriteManager class is named drawScene
When this method is invoked, a new background image is drawn on the Frame
This has the effect of erasing all of the sprites from the scene. 
The method then causes each of the sprites to be drawn in their respective
positions.

Discuss in fragments

As usual, I will discuss the program in fragments.

As shown in Listing 1, the SpriteManager class extends the Vector
class.  Hence, an object of the SpriteManager class is a Collection
object according to the Java Collections Framework.  (If you are
unfamiliar with that framework, I have published several lessons on the
framework on my web site.)


 

class SpriteManager extends Vector{
  private BackgroundImage 
                       backgroundImage;

  public SpriteManager(
     BackgroundImage backgroundImage){
    this.backgroundImage = 
                       backgroundImage;
  }//end constructor

Listing 1

The background

The SpriteManager class starts off in a very mundane way. 
The constructor, shown in Listing 1, receives and saves a reference to
an object of the BackgroundImage class.

Adding sprites

Continuing to keep things simple, the code in Listing 2 is used to add
a new sprite to the collection.  This code simply provides a wrapper
method with a descriptive name around the standard add method of
the Vector class.

 

  public void addSprite(Sprite sprite){
    add(sprite);
  }//end addSprite()

Listing 2

There are overloaded versions of the add method in the Vector
class.  In keeping with the stipulations of the Java Collections Framework,
the add method used here appends the incoming Sprite object’s
reference to the end of the collection of references stored in the Vector.

The getEmptyPosition method

The purpose of the method named getEmptyPosition is to try to
find a rectangle the size of a sprite in a location that is not already
occupied by one of the sprites in the collection.

This method, as shown in Listing 3, is long and ugly, but not conceptually
difficult.  Therefore, I will provide a brief summary but I won’t
discuss it in detail.

 

  
  public Point getEmptyPosition(
                 Dimension spriteSize){
    Rectangle trialSpaceOccupied = 
      new Rectangle(0, 0, 
                    spriteSize.width, 
                    spriteSize.height);
    Random rand = 
         new Random(
           System.currentTimeMillis());
    boolean empty = false;
    int numTries = 0;

    // Search for an empty position
    while (!empty && numTries++ < 100){
      // Get a trial position
      trialSpaceOccupied.x = 
        Math.abs(rand.nextInt() %
                      backgroundImage.
                      getSize().width);
      trialSpaceOccupied.y = 
        Math.abs(rand.nextInt() %
                     backgroundImage.
                     getSize().height);

      // Iterate through existing 
      // sprites, checking if position 
      // is empty
      boolean collision = false;
      for(int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                cnt++){
        Rectangle testSpaceOccupied = 
              ((Sprite)elementAt(cnt)).
                    getSpaceOccupied();
        if (trialSpaceOccupied.
                 intersects(
                   testSpaceOccupied)){
          collision = true;
        }//end if
      }//end for loop
      empty = !collision;
    }//end while loop
    return new Point(
                 trialSpaceOccupied.x, 
                 trialSpaceOccupied.y);
  }//end getEmptyPosition()

Listing 3

Basically the method uses a for loop inside a while loop
to search for a rectangular area not already occupied by a sprite.

Check up to 100 locations

The while loop will iterate up to 100 times looking for an empty
area.  When it finds an empty area, the while loop terminates
and the method returns the location of that area to the calling program. 
If the method fails to find an empty area in 100 tries, it gives up and
returns a location that is already occupied by another sprite.

Check random locations

Inside the while loop, the code uses a random number generator
to specify a trial location.  It then uses a for loop, in conjunction
with the intersects method of the Rectangle class, to test
the trial location against the locations occupied by all of the sprites
in the collection.

An empty location

If the rectangular area at the trial location doesn’t intersect a rectangular
area occupied by any existing sprite, that rectangular area and that location
is deemed to be empty.

An occupied location

If the rectangular area at the trial location does intersect a rectangular
area occupied by an existing sprite, that location is discarded. 
In that case, another trial location area is specified using the random
number generator and the test is performed again.

Redraw and sleep

As I explained in an earlier lesson, once control enters the animation
loop, the update method is invoked on the SpriteManager object. 
When the update method returns, the code invokes the repaint
method on the Frame and the animation thread goes to sleep for a
specified period of time.

When the animation thread wakes up, the process is repeated.

(Be careful not to confuse this method named update with the method
having the same name that is defined in the Component class, and overridden
in the controlling class for this program.)

The update method

The update method causes all of the sprites being managed by the
SpriteManager
object to assume new positions based on the motion rules defined by the
Sprite
class.

The beginning of the update method is shown in Listing 4.

 

  public void update() {
    Sprite sprite;
    
    //Iterate through sprite list
    for (int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                cnt++){
      sprite = (Sprite)elementAt(cnt);
      //Update a sprite's position
      sprite.updatePosition();

Listing 4

Once all of the sprites have assumed new positions, it is possible that
some collisions among sprites may have occurred.  The update
method tests for collisions by examining the location information belonging
to each of the
Sprite objects being managed.

Managing collisions

If a collision has occurred, a method named bounceOffSprite is
invoked to cause the two sprites to behave in a manner similar to that,
which occurs between two balls in a game of pool.  (I will discuss
the bounceOffSprite method later.)

Iterate on all sprites

All of the executable code in the update method exists inside
a for loop that iterates through all of the sprites in the collection.

The code inside the for loop begins by selecting the next sprite
in the collection and causing that sprite to assume a new position by invoking
the updatePosition method on the sprite.  (We will see exactly
how a sprite moves in a subsequent lesson where I discuss the Sprite class
in detail.)

Test for a collision

The code in the for loop then invokes a private method of the
SpriteManager
class named testForCollision to determine if the sprite that just
moved collided with any other sprite.  (I will discuss the testForCollision
method shortly.)

This code is shown in Listing 5.

 

      int hitIndex = 
              testForCollision(sprite)

Listing 5

Negative return value is OK

If a collision did not occur, the testForCollision method returns
a negative value.  This causes another iteration of the for
loop to test the next sprite in the collection for a collision.

Who hit me?

If a collision did occur, the testForCollision method returns
either zero or a positive value.  This value is the index in the collection
of the other party to the collision.

Bounce when collision occurs

In this case, the code shown in Listing 6 passes references to both
parties in the collision to the method named bounceOffSprite to
cause the sprites to bounce off of one another.  (You will see
how that is done shortly when I discuss the method named bounceOffSprite.)


 

      if (hitIndex >= 0){
        //a collision has occurred
        bounceOffSprite(cnt,hitIndex);
      }//end if
    }//end for loop
  }//end update

Listing 6

The testCollision method

The actual code that tests to determine if two sprites have collided
is performed by a method named testCollision, which is a method
of the Sprite class.  Breaking this code out into a separate
method makes it easier to customize that code to be appropriate for sprites
of new designs.

The testForCollision method

The method named testForCollision defined in the SpriteManager
class invokes the testCollision method to determine if two specific
sprites have collided.

The testForCollision method, shown in Listing 7, receives a reference
to a Sprite object as a parameter.  It uses a for loop
to test that sprite against all of the sprites in the collection except
itself.

 

  private int testForCollision(
                   Sprite testSprite){
    Sprite  sprite;
    for (int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                cnt++){
      sprite = (Sprite)elementAt(cnt);
      if (sprite == testSprite)
        //don't check self
        continue;
      //Invoke testCollision method 
      // of Sprite class to perform
      // the actual test.
      if (testSprite.testCollision(
                               sprite))
        //Return index of colliding 
        // sprite
        return cnt;
    }//end for loop
    return -1;//No collision detected
  }//end testForCollision()

Listing 7

True for collision, false otherwise

During each iteration of the loop, it passes a reference to the sprite
being tested and a reference to one of the sprites in the collection to
the testCollision method of the Sprite class.  If that
method determines that a collision has occurred, it returns true. 
Otherwise, it returns false.

Terminate on collision

If the testCollision method returns true, the testForCollision
method terminates, returning the positive index of the sprite in the collection
that collided with the sprite being tested.

If no collisions are detected, the testForCollision method returns
-1.

Small incremental steps

Although it isn’t apparent while watching the animation run, each sprite
moves through the water in small incremental steps.  Each sprite takes
one step in the horizontal direction and one step in the vertical direction
during each iteration of the animation loop in the run method of
the controlling class.

The motion vector

As you will see when I discuss the Sprite class in the next lesson,
each Sprite object has an instance variable of type Point
named motionVector (the word vector here is used to indicate
a mathematical vector, and is not to be confused with the Java class named
Vector).

Each motion vector contains a signed integer describing the incremental
horizontal motion of the sprite and a signed integer describing the incremental
vertical motion of the sprite.  Thus, the contents of the Point
object referred to by motionVector determine the speed and direction
of motion for the sprite.  (We will also see that these two values
can occasionally change on a random basis causing a sprite to change its
speed and direction of motion.)

The bounceOffSprite method

The method named bounceOffSprite shown in Listing 8 receives
references to two Sprite objects.  This method is called by
the SpriteManager object when two sprites are determined to have
collided.

Swap motion vectors

The concept is simple.  If two sprites, (call them A and B),
collide, they swap motion vectors.  This causes sprite B to assume
the speed and direction previously exhibited by sprite A, and causes sprite
A to assume the speed and direction previously exhibited by sprite B.

Thus, the code shown in Listing 8 simply swaps the motion vectors between
the two sprites received as incoming parameters.

 

  
  private void bounceOffSprite(
                    int oneHitIndex,
                    int otherHitIndex){
    //Swap motion vectors for 
    // bounce algorithm
    Sprite oneSprite = 
        (Sprite)elementAt(oneHitIndex);
    Sprite otherSprite = 
      (Sprite)elementAt(otherHitIndex);
    Point swap = 
           oneSprite.getMotionVector();
    oneSprite.setMotionVector(
        otherSprite.getMotionVector());
    otherSprite.setMotionVector(swap);
  }//end bounceOffSprite()

Listing 8

An unplanned behavior

However, if you watch the animation very carefully, you may witness
an interesting and totally unplanned behavior.  Sometimes, two sprites
will travel side-by-side for a while and then separate.

Why does this happen?

I haven’t performed a detailed analysis to determine what causes this
behavior, but I suspect that it results from two sprites colliding at a
very shallow angle.  I suspect that simply swapping motion vectors
doesn’t actually separate them, and they are deemed to have collided again
during the next animation update.  If so, this causes them to swap
motion vectors again, and the process continues.  Eventually, one
or both of the sprites makes a random change in speed and direction, at
which point they separate.

Since these are animated sea creatures, I have chalked this behavior
up to the natural mating tendencies of sea creatures.

The drawScene method

In this program, the drawScene method is invoked by code in the
overridden update method of the controlling class.  When the
update method is invoked, it is passed a reference to an offscreen
graphics context.

An offscreen graphics context

The drawScene method receives a reference to an object of type
Graphics
as an incoming parameter.  This Graphics object represents
a graphics context.  While it could represent any graphics context,
in this program it represents the offscreen graphics context mentioned
above.

Drawing pictures

The code in the drawScene method can draw pictures on the graphics
context represented by the incoming Graphics object by invoking
the methods of the Graphics class on that object.

Listing 9 shows the beginning of the method named drawScene.

 

  
  public void drawScene(Graphics g){
    //Draw the background and erase 
    // sprites from graphics area
    //Disable the following statement 
    // for an interesting effect.
    backgroundImage.
                drawBackgroundImage(g);

Listing 9

The drawBackgroundImage method

The code in Listing 9 invokes the drawBackgroundImage method
on the BackgroundImage object, passing the graphics context as a
parameter.

If you refer back to the discussion of the BackgroundImage class
in the previous lesson, you will see that the code in the drawBackgroundImage
method invokes the drawImage method to draw the background image
on the graphics context that it receives an incoming parameter.

Covers all existing sprites

Because the size of the background image completely fills the graphics
context, this has the effect of drawing the background over all of the
sprites that were previously drawn there.

An interesting effect

(You can disable the statement in Listing 9 to see an interesting
effect that may help you to understand what is going on in the drawing
process.

Disabling this statement prevents the previously-drawn sprites from
being covered up by the background image, and the sprites simply accumulate
in the drawing area.  They end up looking something like colored tube
worms.)

Now draw the sprites

Once the new background image has been drawn on the graphics context,
it is ready for the drawing of the individual sprites in their new locations.
This is accomplished by the code in Listing 10.

 

    for (int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                 cnt++)
      ((Sprite)elementAt(cnt)).
                    drawSpriteImage(g);
  }//end drawScene()

Listing 10

The drawSpriteImage method

The code in Listing 10 iterates through all of the sprites in the collection,
invoking the drawSpriteImage method on each sprite and passing a
reference to the graphics context as a parameter.  This causes each
of the individual sprites to be drawn in their new locations.  (I
will discuss the drawSpriteImage method of the Sprite class in the next
lesson.)

Collisions with the walls

The drawSpriteImage method of the Sprite class deals with
the problem of sprites running into the walls.  When a sprite runs
into one of the walls, it bounces off the wall.

Summary


In this lesson, I have explained the behavior of each of the methods of
the SpriteManager class.  This included the following features:

  • Finding an empty space for each new sprite
  • Updating sprite positions
  • Drawing the new scene during each animation cycle
  • Managing collisions between sprites

What’s Next?


There is one more class to cover before my discussion of this animation
program is complete:  Sprite.

I will begin my discussion of the Sprite class in the next lesson.

Complete Program Listing


A complete listing of the program is provided in Listing
11
.

 

/*File Animate01.java
Copyright 2001, R.G.Baldwin

This program displays several animated
colored spherical creatures swimming 
around in an aquarium.  Each creature 
maintains generally the same course
with until it collides with another 
creature or with a wall.  However, 
each creature has the ability to 
occasionally make random changes in 
its course.

**************************************/
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;

public class Animate01 extends Frame 
                  implements Runnable {
  private Image offScreenImage;
  private Image backGroundImage;
  private Image[] gifImages = 
                          new Image[6];
  //offscreen graphics context
  private Graphics 
                  offScreenGraphicsCtx;
  private Thread animationThread;
  private MediaTracker mediaTracker;
  private SpriteManager spriteManager;
  //Animation display rate, 12fps
  private int animationDelay = 83;
  private Random rand = 
                new Random(System.
                  currentTimeMillis());
  
  public static void main(
                        String[] args){
    new Animate01();
  }//end main
  //---------------------------------//

  Animate01() {//constructor
    // Load and track the images
    mediaTracker = 
                new MediaTracker(this);
    //Get and track the background 
    // image
    backGroundImage = 
        Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().
          getImage("background02.gif");
    mediaTracker.addImage(
                   backGroundImage, 0);
    
    //Get and track 6 images to use 
    // for sprites
    gifImages[0] = 
           Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().
               getImage("redball.gif");
    mediaTracker.addImage(
                      gifImages[0], 0);
    gifImages[1] = 
           Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().
             getImage("greenball.gif");
    mediaTracker.addImage(
                      gifImages[1], 0);
    gifImages[2] = 
           Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().
              getImage("blueball.gif");
    mediaTracker.addImage(
                      gifImages[2], 0);
    gifImages[3] = 
           Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().
            getImage("yellowball.gif");
    mediaTracker.addImage(
                      gifImages[3], 0);
    gifImages[4] = 
           Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().
            getImage("purpleball.gif");
    mediaTracker.addImage(
                      gifImages[4], 0);
    gifImages[5] = 
           Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().
            getImage("orangeball.gif");
    mediaTracker.addImage(
                      gifImages[5], 0);
    
    //Block and wait for all images to 
    // be loaded
    try {
      mediaTracker.waitForID(0);
    }catch (InterruptedException e) {
      System.out.println(e);
    }//end catch
    
    //Base the Frame size on the size 
    // of the background image.
    //These getter methods return -1 if
    // the size is not yet known.
    //Insets will be used later to 
    // limit the graphics area to the 
    // client area of the Frame.
    int width = 
        backGroundImage.getWidth(this);
    int height = 
       backGroundImage.getHeight(this);

    //While not likely, it may be 
    // possible that the size isn't
    // known yet.  Do the following 
    // just in case.
    //Wait until size is known
    while(width == -1 || height == -1){
      System.out.println(
                  "Waiting for image");
      width = backGroundImage.
                        getWidth(this);
      height = backGroundImage.
                       getHeight(this);
    }//end while loop
    
    //Display the frame
    setSize(width,height);
    setVisible(true);
    setTitle(
        "Copyright 2001, R.G.Baldwin");

    //Create and start animation thread
    animationThread = new Thread(this);
    animationThread.start();
  
    //Anonymous inner class window 
    // listener to terminate the 
    // program.
    this.addWindowListener(
                   new WindowAdapter(){
      public void windowClosing(
                        WindowEvent e){
        System.exit(0);}});
    
  }//end constructor
  //---------------------------------//

  public void run() {
    //Create and add sprites to the 
    // sprite manager
    spriteManager = new SpriteManager(
             new BackgroundImage(
               this, backGroundImage));
    //Create 15 sprites from 6 gif 
    // files.
    for (int cnt = 0; cnt < 15; cnt++){
      Point position = spriteManager.
        getEmptyPosition(new Dimension(
           gifImages[0].getWidth(this),
           gifImages[0].
                     getHeight(this)));
      spriteManager.addSprite(
        makeSprite(position, cnt % 6));
    }//end for loop

    //Loop, sleep, and update sprite 
    // positions once each 83 
    // milliseconds
    long time = 
            System.currentTimeMillis();
    while (true) {//infinite loop
      spriteManager.update();
      repaint();
      try {
        time += animationDelay;
        Thread.sleep(Math.max(0,time - 
          System.currentTimeMillis()));
      }catch (InterruptedException e) {
        System.out.println(e);
      }//end catch
    }//end while loop
  }//end run method
  //---------------------------------//
  
  private Sprite makeSprite(
      Point position, int imageIndex) {
    return new Sprite(
          this, 
          gifImages[imageIndex], 
          position, 
          new Point(rand.nextInt() % 5,
                  rand.nextInt() % 5));
  }//end makeSprite()
  //---------------------------------//

  //Overridden graphics update method 
  // on the Frame
  public void update(Graphics g) {
    //Create the offscreen graphics 
    // context
    if (offScreenGraphicsCtx == null) {
      offScreenImage = 
         createImage(getSize().width, 
                     getSize().height);
      offScreenGraphicsCtx = 
          offScreenImage.getGraphics();
    }//end if
    
    // Draw the sprites offscreen
    spriteManager.drawScene(
                 offScreenGraphicsCtx);

    // Draw the scene onto the screen
    if(offScreenImage != null){
         g.drawImage(
           offScreenImage, 0, 0, this);
    }//end if
  }//end overridden update method
  //---------------------------------//

  //Overridden paint method on the 
  // Frame
  public void paint(Graphics g) {
    //Nothing required here.  All 
    // drawing is done in the update 
    // method above.
  }//end overridden paint method
    
}//end class Animate01
//===================================//

class BackgroundImage{
  private Image image;
  private Component component;
  private Dimension size;

  public BackgroundImage(
                  Component component, 
                  Image image) {
    this.component = component;
    size = component.getSize();
    this.image = image;
  }//end construtor
  
  public Dimension getSize(){
    return size;
  }//end getSize()

  public Image getImage(){
    return image;
  }//end getImage()

  public void setImage(Image image){
    this.image = image;
  }//end setImage()

  public void drawBackgroundImage(
                          Graphics g) {
    g.drawImage(
               image, 0, 0, component);
  }//end drawBackgroundImage()
}//end class BackgroundImage
//===========================

class SpriteManager extends Vector {
  private BackgroundImage 
                       backgroundImage;

  public SpriteManager(
     BackgroundImage backgroundImage) {
    this.backgroundImage = 
                       backgroundImage;
  }//end constructor
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public Point getEmptyPosition(
                 Dimension spriteSize){
    Rectangle trialSpaceOccupied = 
      new Rectangle(0, 0, 
                    spriteSize.width, 
                    spriteSize.height);
    Random rand = 
         new Random(
           System.currentTimeMillis());
    boolean empty = false;
    int numTries = 0;

    // Search for an empty position
    while (!empty && numTries++ < 100){
      // Get a trial position
      trialSpaceOccupied.x = 
        Math.abs(rand.nextInt() %
                      backgroundImage.
                      getSize().width);
      trialSpaceOccupied.y = 
        Math.abs(rand.nextInt() %
                     backgroundImage.
                     getSize().height);

      // Iterate through existing 
      // sprites, checking if position 
      // is empty
      boolean collision = false;
      for(int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                cnt++){
        Rectangle testSpaceOccupied = 
              ((Sprite)elementAt(cnt)).
                    getSpaceOccupied();
        if (trialSpaceOccupied.
                 intersects(
                   testSpaceOccupied)){
          collision = true;
        }//end if
      }//end for loop
      empty = !collision;
    }//end while loop
    return new Point(
                 trialSpaceOccupied.x, 
                 trialSpaceOccupied.y);
  }//end getEmptyPosition()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void update() {
    Sprite sprite;
    
    //Iterate through sprite list
    for (int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                cnt++){
      sprite = (Sprite)elementAt(cnt);
      //Update a sprite's position
      sprite.updatePosition();

      //Test for collision. Positive 
      // result indicates a collision
      int hitIndex = 
              testForCollision(sprite);
      if (hitIndex >= 0){
        //a collision has occurred
        bounceOffSprite(cnt,hitIndex);
      }//end if
    }//end for loop
  }//end update
  //---------------------------------//
  
  private int testForCollision(
                   Sprite testSprite) {
    //Check for collision with other 
    // sprites
    Sprite  sprite;
    for (int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                cnt++){
      sprite = (Sprite)elementAt(cnt);
      if (sprite == testSprite)
        //don't check self
        continue;
      //Invoke testCollision method 
      // of Sprite class to perform
      // the actual test.
      if (testSprite.testCollision(
                               sprite))
        //Return index of colliding 
        // sprite
        return cnt;
    }//end for loop
    return -1;//No collision detected
  }//end testForCollision()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  private void bounceOffSprite(
                    int oneHitIndex,
                    int otherHitIndex){
    //Swap motion vectors for 
    // bounce algorithm
    Sprite oneSprite = 
        (Sprite)elementAt(oneHitIndex);
    Sprite otherSprite = 
      (Sprite)elementAt(otherHitIndex);
    Point swap = 
           oneSprite.getMotionVector();
    oneSprite.setMotionVector(
        otherSprite.getMotionVector());
    otherSprite.setMotionVector(swap);
  }//end bounceOffSprite()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void drawScene(Graphics g){
    //Draw the background and erase 
    // sprites from graphics area
    //Disable the following statement 
    // for an interesting effect.
    backgroundImage.
                drawBackgroundImage(g);

    //Iterate through sprites, drawing
    // each sprite
    for (int cnt = 0;cnt < size();
                                 cnt++)
      ((Sprite)elementAt(cnt)).
                    drawSpriteImage(g);
  }//end drawScene()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void addSprite(Sprite sprite){
    add(sprite);
  }//end addSprite()
  
}//end class SpriteManager
//===================================//

class Sprite {
  private Component component;
  private Image image;
  private Rectangle spaceOccupied;
  private Point motionVector;
  private Rectangle bounds;
  private Random rand; 

  public Sprite(Component component,
                Image image,
                Point position,
                Point motionVector){

    //Seed a random number generator 
    // for this sprite with the sprite
    // position.
    rand = new Random(position.x);
    this.component = component;
    this.image = image;
    setSpaceOccupied(new Rectangle(
          position.x,
          position.y,
          image.getWidth(component),
          image.getHeight(component)));
    this.motionVector = motionVector;
    //Compute edges of usable graphics
    // area in the Frame.
    int topBanner = (
                 (Container)component).
                       getInsets().top;
    int bottomBorder = 
                ((Container)component).
                    getInsets().bottom;
    int leftBorder = (
                (Container)component).
                     getInsets().left;
    int rightBorder = (
                (Container)component).
                    getInsets().right;
    bounds = new Rectangle(
         0 + leftBorder,
         0 + topBanner,
         component.getSize().width - 
            (leftBorder + rightBorder),
         component.getSize().height -
           (topBanner + bottomBorder));
  }//end constructor
  //---------------------------------//

  public Rectangle getSpaceOccupied(){
    return spaceOccupied;
  }//end getSpaceOccupied()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  void setSpaceOccupied(
              Rectangle spaceOccupied){
    this.spaceOccupied = spaceOccupied;
  }//setSpaceOccupied()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void setSpaceOccupied(
                       Point position){
    spaceOccupied.setLocation(
               position.x, position.y);
  }//setSpaceOccupied()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public Point getMotionVector(){
    return motionVector;
  }//end getMotionVector()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void setMotionVector(
                   Point motionVector){
    this.motionVector = motionVector;
  }//end setMotionVector()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void setBounds(
                     Rectangle bounds){
    this.bounds = bounds;
  }//end setBounds()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void updatePosition() {
    Point position = new Point(
     spaceOccupied.x, spaceOccupied.y);
    
    //Insert random behavior.  During 
    // each update, a sprite has about
    // one chance in 10 of making a 
    // random change to its 
    // motionVector.  When a change 
    // occurs, the motionVector
    // coordinate values are forced to
    // fall between -7 and 7.  This 
    // puts a cap on the maximum speed
    // for a sprite.
    if(rand.nextInt() % 10 == 0){
      Point randomOffset = 
         new Point(rand.nextInt() % 3,
                   rand.nextInt() % 3);
      motionVector.x += randomOffset.x;
      if(motionVector.x >= 7) 
                   motionVector.x -= 7;
      if(motionVector.x <= -7) 
                   motionVector.x += 7;
      motionVector.y += randomOffset.y;
      if(motionVector.y >= 7) 
                   motionVector.y -= 7;
      if(motionVector.y <= -7) 
                   motionVector.y += 7;
    }//end if
    
    //Move the sprite on the screen
    position.translate(
       motionVector.x, motionVector.y);

    //Bounce off the walls
    boolean bounceRequired = false;
    Point tempMotionVector = new Point(
                       motionVector.x,
                       motionVector.y);
    

    //Handle walls in x-dimension
    if (position.x < bounds.x) {
      bounceRequired = true;
      position.x = bounds.x;
      //reverse direction in x
      tempMotionVector.x = 
                   -tempMotionVector.x;
    }else if ((
      position.x + spaceOccupied.width)
          > (bounds.x + bounds.width)){
      bounceRequired = true;
      position.x = bounds.x + 
                  bounds.width - 
                   spaceOccupied.width;
      //reverse direction in x
      tempMotionVector.x = 
                   -tempMotionVector.x;
    }//end else if
    
    //Handle walls in y-dimension
    if (position.y < bounds.y){
      bounceRequired = true;
      position.y = bounds.y;
      tempMotionVector.y = 
                   -tempMotionVector.y;
    }else if ((position.y + 
                  spaceOccupied.height)
         > (bounds.y + bounds.height)){
      bounceRequired = true;
      position.y = bounds.y + 
                 bounds.height - 
                  spaceOccupied.height;
      tempMotionVector.y = 
                   -tempMotionVector.y;
    }//end else if
    
    if(bounceRequired)
      //save new motionVector
                   setMotionVector(
                     tempMotionVector);
    //update spaceOccupied
    setSpaceOccupied(position);
  }//end updatePosition()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public void drawSpriteImage(
                           Graphics g){
    g.drawImage(image,
                spaceOccupied.x,
                spaceOccupied.y,
                component);
  }//end drawSpriteImage()
  //---------------------------------//
  
  public boolean testCollision(
                    Sprite testSprite){
    //Check for collision with 
    // another sprite
    if (testSprite != this){
      return spaceOccupied.intersects(
        testSprite.getSpaceOccupied());
    }//end if
    return false;
  }//end testCollision
}//end Sprite class
//===================================//

Listing 11

About the author

Richard Baldwin
is a college professor (at Austin Community College in Austin, TX) and private
consultant whose primary focus is a combination of Java and XML. In addition
to the many platform-independent benefits of Java applications, he believes
that a combination of Java and XML will become the primary driving force
in the delivery of structured information on the Web.

Richard has participated in numerous consulting projects involving
Java, XML, or a combination of the two.  He frequently provides onsite
Java and/or XML training at the high-tech companies located in and around
Austin, Texas.  He is the author of Baldwin’s Java Programming Tutorials,
which has gained a worldwide following among experienced and aspiring Java
programmers. He has also published articles on Java Programming in Java
Pro magazine.

Richard holds an MSEE degree from Southern Methodist University and
has many years of experience in the application of computer technology
to real-world problems.

baldwin.richard@iname.com

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