Extending DefaultCaret... and it won't blink!!!

Question

Ok so I'm making a class to extend DefaultCaret, its a custom caret to look a bit different... I've got it all working except the blinking!
As you can see by the code below I have made calls to the 'setBlinkRate(..' function but for some reason it still won't blink!
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
the only thing i'm not sure about is the 'damage()' function call that i implemented, i suspect this may be the cause but I'm not sure...
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import javax.swing.plaf.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
public class NewCaret extends DefaultCaret {
    /** Creates a new instance of NewCaret */
    public NewCaret () {
        setBlinkRate(500);
    }//end constructor
     * When the component containing this caret gains focus this is called.
     * Here a caretlistener is added this repaints the component when the caret
     * moves and text is deleted.
    public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
        super.focusGained(e);
        this.getComponent().addCaretListener(new CaretListener() {
            public void caretUpdate(CaretEvent e) {
                getComponent().repaint();
    }//end focusGained
     * When the component containing this caret loses focus this is called.
     * Here the container is repainted to removed old artifacts, and the
     * caret listners are removed as they are not needed anymore.
    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
        super.focusLost(e);
        getComponent().repaint();
        CaretListener listeners[] = this.getComponent().getCaretListeners();
        for (int i = 0; i < listeners.length; i++) {
            this.getComponent().removeCaretListener(listeners);
}//end focusLost
* Overriding this method to display the custom cursor
public void paint(Graphics g) {
if (isVisible()) {
// Determine where to draw the cursor
JTextComponent c = getComponent();
TextUI ui = c.getUI();
Rectangle r = null;
int dot = getDot();
int mark = getMark();
Color selectCol = javax.swing.UIManager.getLookAndFeel().getDefaults().getColor("TextField.selectionBackground");
Font f = getComponent().getFont();
FontMetrics currentFontMetrics = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getFontMetrics(f);
int height = currentFontMetrics.getAscent();
try {
r = ui.modelToView(c, dot);
String s = getComponent().getText().substring(dot);
g.setColor(getComponent().getBackground());
g.fillRect(r.x, r.y, currentFontMetrics.stringWidth(s) + 8, height + 4);
g.setColor(c.getCaretColor());
//top section
g.drawLine(r.x + 0, r.y + 0, r.x + 1, r.y + 0);
g.drawLine(r.x + 1, r.y + 1, r.x + 6, r.y + 1);
g.drawLine(r.x + 6, r.y + 0, r.x + 7, r.y + 0);
//middle section
g.drawLine(r.x + 3, r.y + 2, r.x + 3, r.y + 2 + height - 1);
g.drawLine(r.x + 4, r.y + 2, r.x + 4, r.y + 2 + height - 1);
//bottom section
g.drawLine(r.x + 1, r.y + 2 + height, r.x + 6, r.y + 2 + height);
g.drawLine(r.x + 0, r.y + 3 + height, r.x + 1, r.y + 3 + height);
g.drawLine(r.x + 6, r.y + 3 + height, r.x + 7, r.y + 3 + height);
//color for text
g.setColor(getComponent().getForeground());
if (dot < c.getDocument().getLength()) {
g.drawString(s, r.x + 8, r.y + height);
if (mark > dot) {
//selection - so display it.
String substr = getComponent().getText().substring(dot, mark);
int len = currentFontMetrics.stringWidth(substr);
g.setColor(selectCol);
g.fillRect(r.x + 8, r.y, len, height + 4);
g.setColor(getComponent().getBackground());
g.drawString(substr, r.x + 8, r.y + height);
catch (BadLocationException ex) {
return;
}//end paint
* Overriding this to destroy the current cursor
public void damage(Rectangle r) {
if (r != null) {
getComponent().repaint(r.x, r.y, r.width, r.height);

Answer 1

I've changed the code around with no success...
I ended up changing the order of the drawing due to some horrible redraw problems when selecting text from the midde of a string. I've fixed those problems now,
BUT IT STILL WON' BLINK! :(((
I've taken your advice as to the damage method and playted with that, still no joy there though.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import javax.swing.plaf.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
public class NewCaret extends DefaultCaret {
    private int dmgwidth;
    private boolean repainted;
    /** Creates a new instance of NewCaret */
    public NewCaret() {
        setBlinkRate(1000);
        this.dmgwidth = 0;
        this.repainted = false;
    }//end constructor
     * When the component containing this caret gains focus this is called.
     * Here a caretlistener is added this repaints the component when the caret
     * moves and text is deleted.
    public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
        super.focusGained(e);
        this.getComponent().addCaretListener(new CaretListener() {
            public void caretUpdate(CaretEvent e) {
                getComponent().repaint();
    }//end focusGained
     * When the component containing this caret loses focus this is called.
     * Here the container is repainted to removed old artifacts, and the
     * caret listners are removed as they are not needed anymore.
    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
        super.focusLost(e);
        getComponent().repaint();
        CaretListener listeners[] = this.getComponent().getCaretListeners();
        for (int i = 0; i < listeners.length; i++) {
            this.getComponent().removeCaretListener(listeners);
}//end focusLost
* Overriding this method to display the custom cursor
public void paint(Graphics g) {
if (isVisible()) {                       
int dot = getDot();
int mark = getMark();
// Determine where to draw the cursor
JTextComponent c = getComponent();
TextUI ui = c.getUI();
Rectangle r = null;
Color selectColBG = javax.swing.UIManager.getLookAndFeel().getDefaults().getColor("TextField.selectionBackground");
Color selectColFG = javax.swing.UIManager.getLookAndFeel().getDefaults().getColor("TextField.selectionForeground");
Color colFG = getComponent().getForeground();
Color colBG = getComponent().getBackground();
Font f = getComponent().getFont();
FontMetrics currentFontMetrics = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getFontMetrics(f);
int height = currentFontMetrics.getAscent();
String wholetext = getComponent().getText();
String selString = null;
String endString = null;
int selwidth = 0;
int strwidth = currentFontMetrics.stringWidth(wholetext);
int filth = currentFontMetrics.stringWidth(wholetext.substring(dot, wholetext.length()));
if (null != wholetext && wholetext.length() > 0) {
if (mark > dot) {
selString = wholetext.substring(dot, mark);
endString = wholetext.substring(mark);
selwidth = currentFontMetrics.stringWidth(selString);
} else {           
if (dot < wholetext.length()) {
endString = wholetext.substring(dot);
int cursorWidth = 8;
//Here we paint
try {               
r = ui.modelToView(c, dot);
g.setColor(colBG);
g.fillRect(r.x, r.y, filth, height + 4);
if (null != selString && selString.length() > 0) {
g.setColor(selectColBG);
g.fillRect(r.x + cursorWidth, r.y, selwidth, height + 4);
g.setColor(selectColFG);
g.drawString(selString + cursorWidth, r.x + cursorWidth, r.y + height);
if (null != endString && endString.length() > 0) {
g.setColor(colFG);
g.drawString(endString, r.x + cursorWidth + selwidth, r.y + height);
g.setColor(c.getCaretColor());
//top section
g.drawLine(r.x + 0, r.y + 0, r.x + 1, r.y + 0);
g.drawLine(r.x + 1, r.y + 1, r.x + 6, r.y + 1);
g.drawLine(r.x + 6, r.y + 0, r.x + 7, r.y + 0);
//middle section
g.drawLine(r.x + 3, r.y + 2, r.x + 3, r.y + 2 + height - 1);
g.drawLine(r.x + 4, r.y + 2, r.x + 4, r.y + 2 + height - 1);
//bottom section
g.drawLine(r.x + 1, r.y + 2 + height, r.x + 6, r.y + 2 + height);
g.drawLine(r.x + 0, r.y + 3 + height, r.x + 1, r.y + 3 + height);
g.drawLine(r.x + 6, r.y + 3 + height, r.x + 7, r.y + 3 + height);
this.dmgwidth = strwidth;
//incrementing width value by width of cursor
this.dmgwidth += 8;
catch (BadLocationException ex) {
return;
}//end paint
* Overriding this to destroy the current cursor
protected synchronized void damage(Rectangle r) {
if (r != null) {
     int x = r.x;
     int y = r.y;
     int width = dmgwidth;
     int height = r.height;
     getComponent().repaint(x, y, width, height);