Java - Is it possible to override an ActionListener in the SuperClass?

Question

If have two classes, Class A and Class B, B is a subclass of A...if my Class A(the superclass) has a JButton with an ActionListener which is implemented by an anonymous inner class, how can I override what the button does in the subclass?

Answer 1

I'm not really sure how your code looks like, but here is a rather generic "solution" (not tested):

for (ActionListener al : super.getThatButton().getActionListeners())
{
    super.getThatButton().removeActionListener(al);
}

And add a new ActionListener afterwards. I think that's what you might be looking for, but I'm not sure. I'd just add another ActionListener or make it use Actions instead of ActionListeners.

Answer 2

Your only option is to remove the current ActionListener and add a new one. You can't extend an anonymous inner class by definition: it's anonymous.

Answer 3

Hmm, you could have the listener call a protected method of some sort:

    button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {

        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
            doStuff();
        }
    });

Then you can override doStuff in the subclass. This seems simpler than mucking about with the events more than you have to.