KeyEvents are to KeyBindings as MouseEvents are to ???

Question

Hey, stupid question here.
I've recently been told (on this forum, actually) that KeyEvents are the "old" way to handle keyboard input. The new way is to use KeyBindings and map Actions to the keys you want input from. That's all fine and good, and I finally have all of my KeyEvent stuff translated to KeyBindings and Actions.
Now, is there a similar "new" way to do mouse input? I haven't found anything on google, so I'm thinking no. Why not though? If binding keyboard input to Actions is the better way to handle keyboard input, why is the same not true for mouse input? Or is there a better way to handle mouse input than listening for MouseEvents? Also, is there a "right" or "wrong" way to mix MouseEvents with keyboard bindings?
Thanks,
Kevin

Answer 1

camickr wrote:
This isn't just about KeyStrokes and Actions, its about a general programming concept. The way you want to write code is to write reusable chunks of code. As mentioned above that is all an Action is, it is a reusable piece of code. The binding allows you to easily reuse this code. Maybe it's just that what I'm using the Actions for isn't a perfect example. Actions seem to be the modular way to handle the case where you want multiple actions to perform the same function. However, what if I have mostly a 1 to 1, "this key does this, this other key does this other thing" relationship? Even in the first case where Actions make more sense, I suppose I'm failing to see the difference between an Action that's mapped to several KeyBindings (or whatever you want to trigger the Action), and a function called by several keys in a KeyListener.
Also, is there a "right" or "wrong" way to mix MouseEvents with keyboard bindings?
I don't know if there is a right or wrong way but the key (to me) is that you want to use the Action, not the binding. So if you know that a component has a certain Action, there is no reason you can't have a MouseEvent invoke that Action. This is the way the [List Action|http://www.camick.com/java/blog.html?name=list-action] works.
When I say mix, I mean basically using the CTRL_DOWN_MASK in a mouse click event to distinguish between a regular mouse click and a mouse click when the ctrl key is being held down. The only way I knew to do that is by using KeyEvents and MouseEvents. Now that I've switched my KeyEvents to KeyBindings mapped to Actions, the logical next step seemed to be doing the same for the MouseEvents? I don't necessarily want the mouse to trigger the same action as some key on the keyboard, I want the keyboard to change what the mouse does when it is clicked. Does that make sense?
Anyway, I mostly understand, I'm just still at the point where I don't really see the benefit of KeyBindings and Actions over KeyEvents in my particular circumstance. I see the benefits in general. Maybe I'm just getting too old and becoming resistant to change, haha..