Pass an array of buttons by parameter

Question

Dear Java developers :
I am asking about how can I pass an array of JButton by parameter.
For example, I have a method that randomly picks a button that have an empty text (""), if not empty then the method recursively calls herself and so on until it finds an empty labeled button :
private void randomPick(JButton buttons[]) {
          Random r = new Random();
          int n = r.nextInt(8);
          if (buttons[n].getText()!="") {
               countClicks--;
               randomPick(buttons[n]);
          } else {
               buttons[n].setText("O");
               buttons[n].setEnabled(false);
          countClicks++;
     }The problem is that I don't know neither how to pass the buttons[] in parameter of a method nor how to write the calling of the method properly.
Thanks for your help,
Hassanova.

Answer 1

Ok sorry for my explanations I'll try to be more clear :
I have 2 classes at this point : one that draws the interface, the other makes the treatment
here is the 1st class :
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class TTTGameJFrameView implements ActionListener {
     JFrame frame = null;
     JButton buttons[] = new JButton[10];
     public TTTGameJFrameView() {
          setView();
     public void setView() {
          // Building the window
          frame = new JFrame("Tic Tac Toe Game");
          frame.setSize(300,300);
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
          frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(3,3));
          //Positioning the buttons
          for(int i = 0; i<=8; i++){
               buttons[i] = new JButton();
               frame.add(buttons);
               buttons[i].addActionListener(this);
     public void close() {
          frame.dispose();
     public void display() {
          frame.setVisible(true);
     @Override
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
          // TODO Auto-generated method stub
And here is the 2nd class where I don't know how to pass by parameter the buttons declared in the 1st class to the methods and hpw to call them properly....
package test.TicTacToe;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
public class TTTGameModel {
     JButton buttons[] = new JButton[10];
     JFrame frame = null;
     JButton buttons[] = new JButton[10];
     private void setView() {
          // Building the window
          frame = new JFrame("Tic Tac Toe Game");
          frame.setSize(300,300);
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
          frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(3,3));
          //Positioning the buttons
          for(int i = 0; i<=8; i++){
               buttons[i] = new JButton();
               frame.add(buttons);
               buttons[i].addActionListener(this);
          frame.setVisible(true);
     private int[][] winPositions = new int[][] {
               {0,1,2}, {3,4,5}, {6,7,8},
               {0,3,6}, {1,4,7}, {2,5,8},
               {0,4,8}, {2,4,6}
     private int countClicks = 0;
     private boolean win = false;
     private String buttonLetter = "";
     private String xOrO = "";
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e, JButton buttons[]) {
          for(int i=0; i<=8; i++) {
               if(e.getSource().equals(buttons[i])) {
                    buttons[i].setText("X");
                    buttons[i].setEnabled(false);
          if ((countClicks <= 8) && (win==false)) {
               randomPick(buttons);
               countClicks++;
               whoWins(buttons);
               System.out.println("click�");
          //System.out.println(countClicks);
     private void whoWins(JButton buttons[]) {
          for (int i=0; i<=7; i++) {
               if (buttons[winPositions[i][0]].getText().equals(buttons[winPositions[i][1]].getText()) &&
                    buttons[winPositions[i][1]].getText().equals(buttons[winPositions[i][2]].getText()) &&
                    buttons[winPositions[i][0]].getText()!="")
                    win = true;
          System.out.println(countClicks + " " + win);
          showWinner(win,countClicks);
     private void showWinner(boolean isWin, int count) {
          if(count % 2 == 0)
               xOrO = "O";
          else
               xOrO = "X";
          if (isWin == true){
               JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"The "+xOrO+" Player Wins!");
               System.exit(0);
          else if ((isWin == false) && (count >= 9)){
               JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Draw Game");
               System.exit(0);
     private void buttonClick(ActionEvent e) {
     private void randomPick(JButton buttons[]) {
          Random r = new Random();
          int n = r.nextInt(8);
          if (buttons[n].getText()!="") {
               countClicks--;
               randomPick(buttons[n]);
          } else {
               buttons[n].setText("O");
               buttons[n].setEnabled(false);
          countClicks++;
     private void randomPick(JButton button) {
          // TODO Auto-generated method stub
     public static void main(String[] args) {
          TTTGameJFrameView tt = new TTTGameJFrameView();
          tt.setView();
          tt.display();
Thank you very much I appriciate your patience !
Hassanova.