Painting Graphics from an Array

Question

I have a GUI that displays the Towers of Hanoi solution in a JPanel. Everything actually works except for a slight repainting issue.
Currently I am overriding the paint() function, I know that for my purpose using paintComponent() would probably be the better route, however that's not my issue...
The images (disks) in my JPanel are not redrawing properly, and I have no idea why...
Basically:
- I call setup() to set the number of disks and the co ordinates they should be drawn. (store them in an array)
- I call moveDisk() to change the co ordinates of each disk as they are being moved.
- then drawDisk() is called to go through the array of disks and print them.
currently paint() calls drawDisk() in order to display the current position of all the disks.
It seems to work fine for the first 2 moves, then disks start disappearing until there is one (the last disk) left...BUT if I print the co ordinates of the disks they seem to be correct, just not drawing.
could someone take a look at my code and see what is wrong?
below is the meat of the code, minus the GUI:
    public class HanoiFrame extends javax.swing.JFrame {
    private static final int STATE_SETUP = 0;
    private static final int STATE_ANIMATE = 1;
    private static final int POLE_AREA_HEIGHT = 356;
    private static final int POLE_AREA_WIDTH = 205;
    private static final int DISK_ARC_HEIGHT = 15;
    private static final int DISK_ARC_WIDTH = 15;
    private static final int DISK_HEIGHT = 23;
    private static final int MAX_DISKS = 10;
    private static final int MAX_ANIMATION_DELAY = 30000;
    private static final int MAX_PHYSICAL_DELAY = 100000;
    private static final int MIN_DISKS = 1;
    private static final int MIN_ANIMATION_DELAY = 1;
    private static final int MIN_PHYSICAL_DELAY = 1;
    private static final int EMPTY_CELL_VALUE = -1;
    private static final int CELL_HEIGHT = 25;
    private static final int COLUMNS = 3;
    private static final int ROW = 11;
    private  static final int MILLISECONDS_PER_SECOND = 1000;
    private final static String newline = "\n";
    private static Disk[] disks;
    private static Disk newDisk;
    private static int[][] diskCells;
    public static  int startX = 2;
    public static  int startY = 340;
    public static int setDiskAmount = 0;
    public static int setAnimationDelay = 0;
    public static int  setPhysicalDelay = 0;
    public static int  moveNumber = 0;
    public static int intMovesLeft = 0;
    private boolean  buttonPressed = false;
    private double movesLeft = 0;
    private int windowState = 0;
    /** Creates new form HanoiFrame */
    public HanoiFrame() {
        initComponents();
        /* initialize the "poles" to hold a certain number of "cells */
        this.diskCells = new int[ROW][COLUMNS];
        for (int row = ROW - 1;row >= 0; row--) {
            for (int col = 0;col < COLUMNS ; col++) {
                diskCells[row][col] = EMPTY_CELL_VALUE;
    private void resetButtonActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {                                           
        /* reset all the variable to original state */
        setDiskAmount = 0;
        setAnimationDelay = 0;
        setPhysicalDelay = 0;
        moveNumber = 0;
        movesLeft = 0;
        intMovesLeft = 0;
        buttonPressed = false;
        windowState = 0;
        this.startButton.setEnabled(true);
        this.diskAmount.setEditable(true);
        this.animationDelay.setEditable(true);
        this.physicalDelay.setEditable(true);
        /* reset all the cell vales to empty (this could be its own function) */
        for (int row = ROW - 1;row >= 0; row--) {
            for (int col = 0;col < COLUMNS ; col++) {
                diskCells[row][col] = EMPTY_CELL_VALUE;
        /* reset the content of the TextFields and Area */
        this.diskAmount.setText("");
        this.animationDelay.setText("");
        this.physicalDelay.setText("");
        this.outTextArea.setText("");
        /* repaint the display panel */
        this.hanoiPanel.repaint();
    /* i have no idea why this is here...It was generated by Netbeans when I
     *made the reset button.  As you can see it made 2.  The one above it the same
     *except it contains code.  Since it was automatically generated
     *I cannot delete it.
    private void resetButtonMouseReleased(java.awt.event.MouseEvent evt) {                                         
    /* is executed when the start button is pressed.
     *also executes a field check and intializes key variables. Finally,
     *it executes the solution and generates the solve time
    private void startButtonMouseReleased(java.awt.event.MouseEvent evt) {                                         
        /* check if the program has already been run (without being reset) */
        if (!buttonPressed){
            /* check the fields to ensure the input is correct and useable */
            if (checkFields()){
                /* give button a pressed status if all info valid */
                buttonPressed = true;
                windowState = 1;
                /* disable the button */
                this.startButton.setEnabled(false);
                /* disable the fields */
                this.diskAmount.setEditable(false);
                this.animationDelay.setEditable(false);
                this.physicalDelay.setEditable(false);
                /* setup the disks on the starting pole */
                setup();
                /* initialize the number of moves required. 2 to the power of n minus 1 */
                movesLeft = Math.pow(2, setDiskAmount) - 1;
                /* convert the number to an integer */
                intMovesLeft = (int)movesLeft;
                /* set the physical delay */
                setPhysicalDelay = Integer.parseInt(this.physicalDelay.getText());
                /* create and start a new thread.  This is EXTREMELY important
                 *as it allows for GUI to be repainted while the soulution
                 *is animated */
                SolveEngine s = new SolveEngine();
                s.start();               
     * @param args the command line arguments
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                new HanoiFrame().setVisible(true);
    /*returns the Animation panel area graphics
     *@return Animation area graphics
    public static Graphics getAnimationArea(){
        /* get the usable area of poleA */
        Container clientArea = hanoiPanel;
        //Container clientArea = this.getContentPane();
        /* get the graphics to the display panel*/
        Graphics gfx = clientArea.getGraphics();
        return gfx;
     *set up the requested amount of disks on the first pole
     *@param diskAmount the amount of disks entered by the user
    public void setup(){
        int numberOfDisks = setDiskAmount;
        this.disks = new Disk[numberOfDisks];
        int diskNumber = 0;
        int diskWidth = POLE_AREA_WIDTH - 4;
        int arcH = DISK_ARC_HEIGHT;
        int arcW = DISK_ARC_WIDTH;
        int x = startX;
        int y = startY;
        int row = 0;
        int col = 0;
        /* get the graphics to the display panel*/
        //Graphics gfx = getAnimationArea();
        /* set the color of the disks */
        //gfx.setColor(Color.MAGENTA);
        /* draw the specified number of disks */
        while (diskNumber < numberOfDisks){
            /* reduce the y position */
            y = startY - diskNumber * CELL_HEIGHT;
            /* draw the disk */
            //gfx.fillRoundRect(x, y, diskWidth, DISK_HEIGHT, arcH, arcW);
            /* create a new instance of disk */
            newDisk = new Disk(x, y, diskWidth);
            /* give the new disk an id */
            this.disks[diskNumber] = newDisk;
            /* add the id to the cell array of poleA */
            this.diskCells[row][col] = diskNumber;
            /* make the disk smaller and center */
            x = x + 8;
            diskWidth = diskWidth - 16;
            /* increase disk number */
            diskNumber++;
            /* move to the next row */
            row++;
        repaint();
     *move the disk from a source pole to the destination pole.
     *this should take the source col and destination col to determine where to draw the
     *disk.  It will also need to know to draw the disk in the first available cell
     *in a col
     *@param source the starting pole of the next move
     *@param destination the end pole of the next move
    public void moveDisk(int src, int dest){
        /* the lines below would not be necessary if I were to pass the Graphics
         *gfx object as a parameter.  I may have to use this option in order
         *to work around the current repainting issue */
        /* get the graphics to the display panel*/
        Graphics gfx = getAnimationArea();
        /* get the id of the disk to be moved */
        int disk = getDiskId(src);
        /* get the to and from rows */
        int sourceRow = getRow(src);
        int destinationRow = getRow(dest);
        /* set the co ordintates of the destination */
        int col = dest * POLE_AREA_WIDTH;
        int x = disks[disk].getStartX() + col;
        int y = startY - (destinationRow * CELL_HEIGHT);
        int width = disks[disk].getDiskWidth();
        disks[disk].setStartX(x);
        disks[disk].setStartY(y);
        disks[disk].setDiskWidth(width);
        //System.out.println("startX " + x);
        //System.out.println("startY " + y);
        //System.out.println("destination row " + destinationRow);
        //System.out.println("disk " + disk);
        //System.out.println("Width " + width);
        diskCells[sourceRow - 1][src] = EMPTY_CELL_VALUE;
        /* set the destination row to the disk id */
        diskCells[destinationRow][dest] = disk;
        drawDisk();
        repaint();
    public void drawDisk(){
        int diskNum = setDiskAmount -1;
        int i = 0;
        Graphics gfx = getAnimationArea();
        gfx.setColor(Color.MAGENTA);
        while(diskNum >= 0){
            //System.out.println("here is the disk IDs " + diskNum);
            //System.out.println("the startY during draw " + disks[diskNum].getStartY());
            gfx.fillRoundRect(disks[diskNum].getStartX(), disks[diskNum].getStartY(), disks[diskNum].getDiskWidth(), DISK_HEIGHT, DISK_ARC_WIDTH, DISK_ARC_HEIGHT);
            diskNum--;
    public void paint(Graphics gfx){
        if(windowState == 0){
            super.paint(gfx);
            setup();
        } else if (windowState == 1){
            super.paint(gfx);
            drawDisk();
     *returns the id of the disk
     *@param col the the designated column
     *@return the disk identification number
    public static int getDiskId(int col){
        int diskIdent = 0;
        /* initialize the row number to max -1, because the array start at 0 */
        int row = MAX_DISKS - 1;
        /* do a cell check while row is greater than 0
         *this is done so that is starts at the top row
         *and moves down
        while (row > EMPTY_CELL_VALUE){
            /* when the first cell that is not -1 is reached get the disk number
             *that disk will be the smallest in the stack */
            if(diskCells[row][col] != -1){
                //diskIdent = this.diskCells[row][col];
                diskIdent =diskCells[row][col];
                break;
            row--;
        return diskIdent;
     *returns the first available row
     *@param col the designated col
     *@return the first available row number
    public static int getRow(int col){
        int rowNumber = 0;
        /* cycle through the cells until it finds an empty one */
        while (diskCells[rowNumber][col] != -1){
            rowNumber++;
        return rowNumber;
     *calculate the total time it takes for the tower of hanoi game to be
     *solved, given the amount of disk and the amount of time it takes
     *to physically move a disk from one pole to the other.
    public static void totalTime(){
        int timeInSeconds = setPhysicalDelay * intMovesLeft;
        int i = 0;
        int seconds = 0;
        int minute = 0;
        int hour = 0;
        int day = 0;
        int month = 0;
        int year = 0;
        while (i < timeInSeconds){
            if(seconds > 60){
                minute++;
                seconds = 0;
            if(minute > 60){
                hour++;
                minute = 0;
            if(hour > 24){
                day++;
                hour = 0;
            if(day > 30){
                month++;
                day = 0;
            if(month > 12){
                year++;
                month = 0;
            seconds++;
            i++;
        updateMessageCenter("It would take:" + year + " years " + month + " months " + day +
                " days " + hour + " hours " + minute + " minutes and " + seconds + " seconds, to move " + setDiskAmount +
                " disks at " + setPhysicalDelay + " seconds per move");
   

Answer 1

Sorry if my post was a little too cryptic...
"How do you know? You have a problem you can't solve. Anything could be your issue." Agreed. However, using the process of elimination and debug statments I have been able to narrow the scope of the issue.
"If you can't solve it by executing the code and adding debug statements how to you expect us to help."If I could solve but "executing code and adding debug statements" there would be no need to post the problem here.
"We don't know exactly what you are attempting to do."Trying to paint my graphics to a JPanel based on a set of co ordinates.
"We don't know why you are passing the Graphics object around."Why not? is it impossible to do it this way?
"The big problem is in the alogorithm you use to determine the location of each component."Who said you couldn't read minds?
"If you are using some kind of animation then I would use a Timer to schedule the moving of components. I don't even see how you are doing this in your code."Sorry I guess stating that I didn't post my entire code may have threw things off...I do use a timer in a seperate class. I will include it in the next post.
"I can't tell if you are using Threads of not."guess you overlooked these lines of code:
                /* create and start a new thread.  This is EXTREMELY important
                 *as it allows for GUI to be repainted while the soulution
                 *is animated */
                SolveEngine s = new SolveEngine();
                s.start();   Here is the code once again:
public class HanoiFrame extends javax.swing.JFrame {
    private static final int STATE_SETUP = 0;
    private static final int STATE_ANIMATE = 1;
    private static final int POLE_AREA_HEIGHT = 356;
    private static final int POLE_AREA_WIDTH = 205;
    private static final int DISK_ARC_HEIGHT = 15;
    private static final int DISK_ARC_WIDTH = 15;
    private static final int DISK_HEIGHT = 23;
    private static final int MAX_DISKS = 10;
    private static final int MAX_ANIMATION_DELAY = 30000;
    private static final int MAX_PHYSICAL_DELAY = 100000;
    private static final int MIN_DISKS = 1;
    private static final int MIN_ANIMATION_DELAY = 1;
    private static final int MIN_PHYSICAL_DELAY = 1;
    private static final int EMPTY_CELL_VALUE = -1;
    private static final int CELL_HEIGHT = 25;
    private static final int COLUMNS = 3;
    private static final int ROW = 11;
    private  static final int MILLISECONDS_PER_SECOND = 1000;
    private final static String newline = "\n";
    private static Disk[] disks;
    private static Disk newDisk;
    private static int[][] diskCells;
    public static  int startX = 2;
    public static  int startY = 340;
    public static int setDiskAmount = 0;
    public static int setAnimationDelay = 0;
    public static int  setPhysicalDelay = 0;
    public static int  moveNumber = 0;
    public static int intMovesLeft = 0;
    private boolean  buttonPressed = false;
    private double movesLeft = 0;
    private int windowState = 0;
    /** Creates new form HanoiFrame */
    public HanoiFrame() {
        initComponents();
        /* initialize the "poles" to hold a certain number of "cells */
        this.diskCells = new int[ROW][COLUMNS];
        for (int row = ROW - 1;row >= 0; row--) {
            for (int col = 0;col < COLUMNS ; col++) {
                diskCells[row][col] = EMPTY_CELL_VALUE;
    private void resetButtonActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {                                           
        /* reset all the variable to original state */
        setDiskAmount = 0;
        setAnimationDelay = 0;
        setPhysicalDelay = 0;
        moveNumber = 0;
        movesLeft = 0;
        intMovesLeft = 0;
        buttonPressed = false;
        windowState = 0;
        this.startButton.setEnabled(true);
        this.diskAmount.setEditable(true);
        this.animationDelay.setEditable(true);
        this.physicalDelay.setEditable(true);
        /* reset all the cell vales to empty (this could be its own function) */
        for (int row = ROW - 1;row >= 0; row--) {
            for (int col = 0;col < COLUMNS ; col++) {
                diskCells[row][col] = EMPTY_CELL_VALUE;
        /* reset the content of the TextFields and Area */
        this.diskAmount.setText("");
        this.animationDelay.setText("");
        this.physicalDelay.setText("");
        this.outTextArea.setText("");
        /* repaint the display panel */
        this.hanoiPanel.repaint();
    /* i have no idea why this is here...It was generated by Netbeans when I
     *made the reset button.  As you can see it made 2.  The one above it the same
     *except it contains code.  Since it was automatically generated
     *I cannot delete it.
    private void resetButtonMouseReleased(java.awt.event.MouseEvent evt) {                                         
    /* is executed when the start button is pressed.
     *also executes a field check and intializes key variables. Finally,
     *it executes the solution and generates the solve time
    private void startButtonMouseReleased(java.awt.event.MouseEvent evt) {                                         
        /* check if the program has already been run (without being reset) */
        if (!buttonPressed){
            /* check the fields to ensure the input is correct and useable */
            if (checkFields()){
                /* give button a pressed status if all info valid */
                buttonPressed = true;
                windowState = 1;
                /* disable the button */
                this.startButton.setEnabled(false);
                /* disable the fields */
                this.diskAmount.setEditable(false);
                this.animationDelay.setEditable(false);
                this.physicalDelay.setEditable(false);
                /* setup the disks on the starting pole */
                setup();
                /* initialize the number of moves required. 2 to the power of n minus 1 */
                movesLeft = Math.pow(2, setDiskAmount) - 1;
                /* convert the number to an integer */
                intMovesLeft = (int)movesLeft;
                /* set the physical delay */
                setPhysicalDelay = Integer.parseInt(this.physicalDelay.getText());
                /* create and start a new thread.  This is EXTREMELY important
                 *as it allows for GUI to be repainted while the soulution
                 *is animated */
                SolveEngine s = new SolveEngine();
                s.start();
     *Check all the fields at once to ensure that they are valid
    private boolean checkFields(){
        String numberOfDisks = null;
        String animationDelay = null;
        String physicalDelay = null;
        numberOfDisks = this.diskAmount.getText();
        animationDelay = this.animationDelay.getText();
        physicalDelay = this.physicalDelay.getText();
        /* initiate my array of error messages */
        ArrayList errMsg = new ArrayList(0);
        /* check if the number of disks was left blank */
        if (numberOfDisks.equals("")){
            errMsg.add("Please enter the Number of Disks (MAX " + MAX_DISKS + ")");
        }else{
            /* check if the input given is valid */
            try {
                /* parse the disk amount entered into an integer */
                setDiskAmount = Integer.parseInt(numberOfDisks);
                /* check the # of disks entered is greater than 0 and less than 10 */
                if (setDiskAmount < MIN_DISKS){
                    errMsg.add("Number of Disks must be greater than " + MIN_DISKS);
                } else if (setDiskAmount > MAX_DISKS){
                    errMsg.add("Number of Disks must be less than" + MAX_DISKS);
            } catch (NumberFormatException ex) {
                errMsg.add("Number of Disks must be a Number");
        /* check if animation delay was left blank */
        if (animationDelay.equals("")){
            errMsg.add("Please enter disk Animation Delay");
        } else {
            /* check if the input given is valid */
            try {
                /* parse the animation delay entered into an integer */
                setAnimationDelay = Integer.parseInt(animationDelay);
                /* check range of animation delay */
                if (setAnimationDelay < MIN_ANIMATION_DELAY){
                    errMsg.add("Animation Delay must be greater than 0");
                } else if (setAnimationDelay > MAX_ANIMATION_DELAY){
                    errMsg.add("Animation Delay must be less than " + MAX_ANIMATION_DELAY);
            } catch (NumberFormatException ex) {
                errMsg.add("Animation Delay must be a Number");
        /* check if physical delay was left blank */
        if (physicalDelay.equals("")){
            errMsg.add("Please enter the Physical disk delay");
        } else {
            /* check if the input given is valid */
            try {
                /* parse the physical delay entered into an integer */
                setPhysicalDelay = Integer.parseInt(physicalDelay);
                /* check check the range of the physical delay */
                if (setPhysicalDelay < MIN_PHYSICAL_DELAY){
                    errMsg.add("Physical Delay must be greater than 0");
                } else if (setPhysicalDelay > MAX_PHYSICAL_DELAY){
                    errMsg.add("Physical Delay must be less than " + MAX_PHYSICAL_DELAY);
            } catch (NumberFormatException ex) {
                errMsg.add("Physical Delay must be a Number");
        /* if there is any problem, add the message to the popup and display */
        if (!errMsg.isEmpty()){
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this, errMsg.toArray());
            return false;
        return true;
     * @param args the command line arguments
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                new HanoiFrame().setVisible(true);
    /*returns the Animation panel area graphics
     *@return Animation area graphics
    public static Graphics getAnimationArea(){
        /* get the usable area of poleA */
        Container clientArea = hanoiPanel;
        //Container clientArea = this.getContentPane();
        /* get the graphics to the display panel*/
        Graphics gfx = clientArea.getGraphics();
        return gfx;
     *set up the requested amount of disks on the first pole
     *@param diskAmount the amount of disks entered by the user
    public void setup(){
        int numberOfDisks = setDiskAmount;
        this.disks = new Disk[numberOfDisks];
        int diskNumber = 0;
        int diskWidth = POLE_AREA_WIDTH - 4;
        int arcH = DISK_ARC_HEIGHT;
        int arcW = DISK_ARC_WIDTH;
        int x = startX;
        int y = startY;
        int row = 0;
        int col = 0;
        /* get the graphics to the display panel*/
        //Graphics gfx = getAnimationArea();
        /* set the color of the disks */
        //gfx.setColor(Color.MAGENTA);
        /* draw the specified number of disks */
        while (diskNumber < numberOfDisks){
            /* reduce the y position */
            y = startY - diskNumber * CELL_HEIGHT;
            /* draw the disk */
            //gfx.fillRoundRect(x, y, diskWidth, DISK_HEIGHT, arcH, arcW);
            /* create a new instance of disk */
            newDisk = new Disk(x, y, diskWidth);
            /* give the new disk an id */
            this.disks[diskNumber] = newDisk;
            /* add the id to the cell array of poleA */
            this.diskCells[row][col] = diskNumber;
            /* make the disk smaller and center */
            x = x + 8;
            diskWidth = diskWidth - 16;
            /* increase disk number */
            diskNumber++;
            /* move to the next row */
            row++;
        repaint();
     *move the disk from a source pole to the destination pole.
     *this should take the source col and destination col to determine where to draw the
     *disk.  It will also need to know to draw the disk in the first available cell
     *in a col
     *@param source the starting pole of the next move
     *@param destination the end pole of the next move
    public void moveDisk(int src, int dest){
        /* the lines below would not be necessary if I were to pass the Graphics
         *gfx object as a parameter.  I may have to use this option in order
         *to work around the current repainting issue */
        /* get the graphics to the display panel*/
        Graphics gfx = getAnimationArea();
        /* get the id of the disk to be moved */
        int disk = getDiskId(src);
        /* get the to and from rows */
        int sourceRow = getRow(src);
        int destinationRow = getRow(dest);
        /* set the co ordintates of the destination */
        int col = dest * POLE_AREA_WIDTH;
        int x = disks[disk].getStartX() + col;
        int y = startY - (destinationRow * CELL_HEIGHT);
        int width = disks[disk].getDiskWidth();
        disks[disk].setStartX(x);
        disks[disk].setStartY(y);
        disks[disk].setDiskWidth(width);
        //System.out.println("startX " + x);
        //System.out.println("startY " + y);
        //System.out.println("destination row " + destinationRow);
        //System.out.println("disk " + disk);
        //System.out.println("Width " + width);
        diskCells[sourceRow - 1][src] = EMPTY_CELL_VALUE;
        /* set the destination row to the disk id */
        diskCells[destinationRow][dest] = disk;
        drawDisk();
        repaint();
        String output = "";
        //must initialize row to max - 1 and increment 'til = 0
        //since the array position starts at 0
        //this will print the array from the top down
        for (int row = ROW - 1;row >= 0; row--) {
            for (int colm = 0;colm < COLUMNS ; colm++) {
                output = output + diskCells[row][colm];
            output = output + "\n";
        System.out.println(output);
        System.out.println(newline);
    public void drawDisk(){
        int diskNum = setDiskAmount -1;
        int i = 0;
        Graphics gfx = getAnimationArea();
        gfx.setColor(Color.MAGENTA);
        while(diskNum >= 0){
            //System.out.println("here is the disk IDs " + diskNum);
            //System.out.println("the startY during draw " + disks[diskNum].getStartY());
            gfx.fillRoundRect(disks[diskNum].getStartX(), disks[diskNum].getStartY(), disks[diskNum].getDiskWidth(), DISK_HEIGHT, DISK_ARC_WIDTH, DISK_ARC_HEIGHT);
            diskNum--;
    public void paint(Graphics gfx){
        if(windowState == 0){
            super.paint(gfx);
            setup();
        } else if (windowState == 1){
            super.paint(gfx);
            drawDisk();
     *returns the id of the disk
     *@param col the the designated column
     *@return the disk identification number
    public static int getDiskId(int col){
        int diskIdent = 0;
        /* initialize the row number to max -1, because the array start at 0 */
        int row = MAX_DISKS - 1;
        /* do a cell check while row is greater than 0
         *this is done so that is starts at the top row
         *and moves down
        while (row > EMPTY_CELL_VALUE){
            /* when the first cell that is not -1 is reached get the disk number
             *that disk will be the smallest in the stack */
            if(diskCells[row][col] != -1){
                //diskIdent = this.diskCells[row][col];
                diskIdent =diskCells[row][col];
                break;
            row--;
        return diskIdent;
     *returns the first available row
     *@param col the designated col
     *@return the first available row number
    public static int getRow(int col){
        int rowNumber = 0;
        /* cycle through the cells until it finds an empty one */
        while (diskCells[rowNumber][col] != -1){
            rowNumber++;
        return rowNumber;
     *calculate the total time it takes for the tower of hanoi game to be
     *solved, given the amount of disk and the amount of time it takes
     *to physically move a disk from one pole to the other.
    public static void totalTime(){
        int timeInSeconds = setPhysicalDelay * intMovesLeft;
        int i = 0;
        int seconds = 0;
        int minute = 0;
        int hour = 0;
        int day = 0;
        int month = 0;
        int year = 0;
        while (i < timeInSeconds){
            if(seconds > 60){
                minute++;
                seconds = 0;
            if(minute > 60){
                hour++;
                minute = 0;
            if(hour > 24){
                day++;
                hour = 0;
            if(day > 30){
                month++;
                day = 0;
            if(month > 12){
                year++;
                month = 0;
            seconds++;
            i++;
        updateMessageCenter("It would take:" + year + " years " + month + " months " + day +
                " days " + hour + " hours " + minute + " minutes and " + seconds + " seconds, to move " + setDiskAmount +
                " disks at " + setPhysicalDelay + " seconds per move");
     *add the message to the diplay window
     *currently this is not necessary, but may be required to
     *dynamically display the contents of message into the text area
     *@param message the message to be added/appended the the text area
    public static void updateMessageCenter(String message){
        /* append text to the message */
        outTextArea.append(message + newline);
        /* ensure the the most recent line is viewable - auto scroll */
        outTextArea.setCaretPosition(outTextArea.getDocument().getLength());
    public class SolveEngine extends Thread {
        /** Creates a new instance of SolveEngine */
        public SolveEngine() {
        public void run(){
            /* start the engine/animation */
            solutionEngine(HanoiFrame.setDiskAmount,0, 2, 1);
            /* calculate and print the total time after the solution is complete */
            HanoiFrame.totalTime();
     *the recursive solution to the Towers of Hanoi problem
     *@param diskAmount the number of disks that need to be moved
     *@param start the identity of the starting column
     *@param end the identity of the ending column
     *@param temp the identity of the temporary column
        public void solutionEngine(int diskAmount,int start, int end, int temp){
            int disks = diskAmount;
            int startPole = start;
            int endPole = end;
            int tempPole = temp;
            try {
                if ( disks == 1 ) {
                    HanoiFrame.moveNumber++;
                    HanoiFrame.updateMessageCenter("Moving disk from  "+ startPole + " to "+ endPole + " Move #: " + HanoiFrame.moveNumber + " of " + HanoiFrame.intMovesLeft);
                    /* delay the movement of the disk */
                    Thread.sleep(HanoiFrame.setAnimationDelay);
                    /* move the disk */
                    moveDisk(startPole, endPole);
                } else {
                    solutionEngine( disks - 1, startPole, tempPole, endPole);
                    HanoiFrame.moveNumber++;
                    HanoiFrame.updateMessageCenter("Moving disk from  "+ startPole + " to "+ endPole + " Move #: " + HanoiFrame.moveNumber + " of " + HanoiFrame.intMovesLeft);
                    /* delay the movement of the disk */
                    Thread.sleep(HanoiFrame.setAnimationDelay);
                    moveDisk(startPole, endPole);
                    solutionEngine( disks - 1, tempPole, endPole, startPole);
            } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
                ex.printStackTrace();
    }