JFrame.setCursor (not setting cursor)

Question

I'm creating an application where I need to run an expensive operation. I've set it up to use a SwingWorker type of deal.
What I do is listen for the button to be clicked. It then sets the cursor on the parent JFrame to the wait cursor and then starts the Worker Thread.
The worker Thread runs it's process and resets the cursor to the default.
However, when I set the cursor on the JFrame, I only notice the change when I mouseover the clicked button.
There are a lot of components in the application I really don't want to have to go through and set the cursor for each component manually.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Eric
My actionPerformedMethod.
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
      Object source = e.getSource();
      if(source instanceof Component) {
         Component root = SwingUtilities.getRoot((Component)source);
         if(root instanceof JFrame) {
            int winW = root.getWidth();
            int winH = root.getHeight();
            compilingLabel.setLocation((winW - labelSize.width) / 2, (winH - labelSize.height) / 2);
            ((JFrame)root).getLayeredPane().setLayer(compilingLabel, JLayeredPane.POPUP_LAYER.intValue());
            ((JFrame)root).getLayeredPane().add(compilingLabel, JLayeredPane.POPUP_LAYER);
            ((JFrame)root).setCursor(Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.WAIT_CURSOR));
            root.repaint();
            root.setVisible(true);
            new CompileThread(e).start();
   }I've also tried using getWindowAncestor with the same results.

Answer 1

I always use the JFrame's glasspane to do this. You set the hourglass cursor on the glasspane, and you must also register a MouseListener on the glasspane (the MouseListener doesn't have to do anything, but you must still have it there. Don't ask me why.). When you want to show the hourglass cursor you call setVisible(true) on the glasspane, and to display the normal cursor you call setVisible(false) on it. To sum it up:
// Set the cursor on the glasspane and register an empty MouseListener:
frame.getGlassPane().setCursor( Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.WAIT_CURSOR) );
frame.addMouseListener( new MouseAdapter() {} );
// To display the hourglass cursor:
frame.getGlassPane().setVisible(true);
// To restore the normal cursor:
frame.getGlassPane().setVisible(false);Hope this helps.