MouseListener - How to handle mouse events

Mouse events are events thrown by the mouse. Mouse events are in two types. We have the MouseListener events and the MouseMotionListener events. The MouseListener handles events created when the mouse is stationary or is not in motion.

MouseListener events are invoked when the mouse is stationary. That is, when the mouse is motionless and stable. This generates events such as mousePressed, mouseReleased, mouseClicked, mouseExited and mouseEntered.

For these events to be realized, an object of the class that holds these methods must be registered with the component you want the events to take place on using the method addMouseListener().

import statement for MouseListener interface

If you use the MouseListener interface in your program, you should have the this import statement. This makes the interface available for your program’s use.

1	import java.awt.event.MouseListener;

MouseListener Declaration

1	public interface MouseListener extends EventListener

The getX() and getY() methods

The getX() method returns the X coordinate of the mouse when an event occurs. The getY() returns the Y coordinate of the mouse when an event occurs.

Program to demonstrate handling of MouseListener event

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package villagecoder;

import java.awt.GridLayout;

import java.awt.Panel;

import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;

import java.awt.event.MouseListener;

import javax.swing.JFrame;

import javax.swing.JLabel;

import javax.swing.JPanel;

public class MouseStationary extends JFrame{

private JPanel panel; //JPanel to hold the components

private JLabel clickedLabel; //label for when mouse is clicked

private JLabel pressedLabel; //label for when mouse is clicked

private JLabel enteredLabel; //label for when mouse is clicked

private JLabel releasedLabel; //label for when mouse is clicked

private JLabel exitedLabel; //label for when mouse is clicked

private int WINDOW_WIDTH=400;

private int WINDOW_HEIGHT=200;

public MouseStationary(){

//set the title of the JFrame

setTitle("MouseListener Demonstration");

//set the default close operation

setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

//set the size of the window

setSize(WINDOW_WIDTH, WINDOW_HEIGHT);

//add mouse listener to the JFrame

addMouseListener(new MyMouseListener());

//build panel

buildPanel();

//add panel

add(panel);

//show the frame

setVisible(true);

}

/*

* This method creates the panel and adds the components

*/

public void buildPanel(){

//create a JPanel

panel=new JPanel();

//set the layout of the frame

panel.setLayout(new GridLayout(5,1));