MouseEvents are not triggered for JMenu

Question

I would like to listen for MouseEvents but i'm not sure if it is a bug in java or some lack of knowledge on my side concerning event handling.
I have a simple menu with one mouse listener and seems that mouseReleased and mouseClicked events are not triggered always as i would expect.
if i run the code that has been attached below, than i have the following strange scenarios.
Menu0 is not opened and click on it once:
pressed Menu0
clicked Menu0
There is no mouseReleased received. why?
Menu0 is opened and click on it once again:
pressed Menu0
released Menu0
clicked Menu0
Menu0 is collapsed and i have all the events. ok
Menu0 is opened and click on Menu1:
pressed Menu1
released Menu1
Menu0 is collapsed and there is no mouseClicked event. why?
Menu0 is opened and go over Menu2 and click on it:
pressed Menu2
clicked Menu2
There is no mouseReleased event. why?
Press the mouse over Menu2 and release it over Menu3:
pressed Menu2
released Menu2
why is it 'released Menu2' and not 'released Menu3' if it is pressed and released Menu2 than where is the clicked event anyway.
import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseListener;
import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JMenu;
import javax.swing.JMenuBar;
import javax.swing.JMenuItem;
public class MouseEventTest
     public static void main( String[] args )
          JFrame frame;
          JMenuBar menuBar;
          JMenu menu, subMenu;
          JMenuItem menuItem;
          MouseListener mouseListener;
          mouseListener = new MouseAdapter() {
               public void mouseEntered( MouseEvent e )
               public void mouseExited( MouseEvent e )
               public void mouseClicked( MouseEvent e )
                    System.err.println( "clicked " + ((JMenuItem) e.getSource()).getText());
               public void mousePressed( MouseEvent e )
                    System.err.println( "pressed " + ((JMenuItem) e.getSource()).getText());
               public void mouseReleased( MouseEvent e )
                    System.err.println("released " + ((JMenuItem) e.getSource()).getText());
          menuBar = new JMenuBar();
          menu = new JMenu( "Menu0" );
          menu.addMouseListener( mouseListener );
          menuBar.add( menu );
          menuItem = new JMenuItem( "Menu1" );
          menuItem.addMouseListener( mouseListener );
          menu.add( menuItem );
          subMenu = new JMenu( "Menu2" );
          subMenu.addMouseListener( mouseListener );
          menu.add( subMenu );
          menuItem = new JMenuItem( "Menu3" );
          menuItem.addMouseListener( mouseListener );
          subMenu.add( menuItem );
          menuItem = new JMenuItem( "Menu4" );
          menuItem.addMouseListener( mouseListener );               
          subMenu.add( menuItem );
          frame = new JFrame();
          frame.setTitle( "MouseEvent test for JMenu" );
          frame.setBounds( 320, 240, 320, 240 );
          frame.setJMenuBar( menuBar );
          frame.addWindowListener( new WindowAdapter() {
               public void windowClosing( WindowEvent e ) {
                    System.exit(0);
          frame.setVisible( true );
}

Answer 1

Well there are differences across Operating Systems. For example I'm using JDK1.4.2 on XP. When I click on Menu0 I get:
pressed Menu0
released Menu0
clicked Menu0
It is always better to use a "higher" level event when possible. In this case you should be using an ActionListener, if you want to know when a menu or menuItem is clicked. Or maybe you could use a MenuListener to know when a menu is opened and closed.