Is there a way to figure out what the current thread is?

Question

I've got the following snippet of code:
// create a new thread. If the current thread is not this new thread, return
Thread CountDownThread = new Thread("CountDownThread");
CountDownThread.start();
if (/*CURRENT THREAD*/.getName() != CountDownThread.getName()) {
     System.out.println ("I'm not CountDownThread. I'm leaving.");
     return;
// current thread should be new thread. Therefore start the countdown
CurrTime = InitTime;
while(CurrTime.charAt(0) != '-') {      // go until current time is negative
     CurrTime = C.countDown();       // returns the current time based on the difference between the initial and elapsed time
     setText(CurrTime);                   // display current time in JLabel
C.reset();
setText(C.getCurrTime());What I'm trying to do is get a clock (C) to count down and display the time remaining in a JLabel (this snippet is taken from a method within that very JLabel which I'm extending from javax.swing.JLabel). While it's counting down, I'd like for the program to go off and do other things. Therefore, I'm trying to create a new thread that carries out the task of counting down while the original/main thread moves on to do other things.
Please have a look at the above code and tell me if I'm on the right track. The one thing I don't know how to do is figure out how to tell which thread the current thread is. I'm assuming that both the new thread and original/main one will execute the if statement, the new one after it returns from start() (which I haven't defined). The original/main one will detect that it is not the new thread and return, whereas the new thread will and go on to the while loop. In the while loop, it will count down the clock until it reaches 0, after which point it will reset it and die.
If I'm on the right track, all I need to know is how to detect which thread is currently executing. If I'm not on the right track, what would be the best way to do this?

Answer 1

What? No! No Thread terminates on the return of start(). Those two events are unrelated!Uh... I think you misunderstood what I said.
I didn't say that CountDownThread terminates upon returning from start() (which is what it sounds like you interpreted from me); I said that the thread that CountDownThread creates terminates once CountDownThread returns from start() (i.e. like any other local variable/object). This, of course, assumes that CountDownThread has a Runnable object on which to call its run() method (am I right?), in which case my code above doesn't create a new thread at all (i.e. CountDownThread.start() is executed within the main/original thread) - am I right?
No, run() doesn't call start()! That would be stupid.Again, you misunderstood. I shouldn't need to explain this one. A simple reference to an ordinary dictionary on the words 'former' and 'latter' should suffice :)
Anyway, all joking aside, I have now improved my code and it works! Here's what it looks like:
ClockJLabel.java
package MazeMania.clock;
public class ClockJLabel extends javax.swing.JLabel {
private Clock C;
private ClockJLabelsRunnable CJLR;
public ClockJLabel() {
  C = new Clock();
  CJLR = new ClockJLabelsRunnable();
  setText(C.getCurrTime()); // should be 00:00:00:00
  setHorizontalAlignment(javax.swing.SwingConstants.CENTER);
  // need to figure out how to set the size so that it sticks
  setForeground(new java.awt.Color(255, 0, 0));
  setBackground(new java.awt.Color(0, 0, 0));
  setOpaque(true);
// starts the clock counting up indefinitely from 0
public void start() {
  (new Thread(new Runnable() {
    public void run() {
     while(true) setText(C.getElapsedTime());
   })).start();
  //System.out.println("Started clock...");
// starts the clock counting down from an initial time and runs this count down in a separate thread
public void countDown(String InitTime) {
  // initialize the clock
  try {C.initClock(InitTime);}
  catch(java.text.ParseException PE) {
   System.out.println(PE.getMessage());
  // initialize JLabel's display
  setText(C.getCurrTime());
  // prepare Runnable and give it to new Thread. New Thread starts count down.
  CJLR.task = CJLR.COUNTDOWN;
  CJLR.CJL = this;
  Thread CountDownThread = new Thread(CJLR);
  CountDownThread.start();
public Clock getClock() {
  return C;
}ClockJLabelsRunnable
package MazeMania.clock;
import java.lang.Runnable;
class ClockJLabelsRunnable implements Runnable {
public static int COUNTDOWN = 1;
public static int COUNTUP = 2;
// NOTE: this Runnable doesn't test for the proper setting of these variables
public int task = 0;
public ClockJLabel CJL = null;
public void run() {
  Clock C = CJL.getClock();
  while(C.countDown().charAt(0) != '-') {CJL.setText(C.getCurrTime());}
  C.reset();
  CJL.setText(C.getCurrTime());