Problem drawing an arrow

Question

i am facing serious problems drawing an arrow which has to be moved round the screen.
does anybody have any idea or reference websites that would solve my problem
i have to rotate the arrow to the mouse pointer to wherever it is dragged.
hope u will get with this nick
hussain52

Answer 1

A more descriptive backgound to the problem may help people come up with a solution for you.
From what you've said it sound like you need to use a canvas and paint the arrow on it. Then use a mouse listener to listen for mouse clicks on the arrow and re-draw the arrow appropriatly.
Does this sound like it might work?
If so, try the code below...
It only paints a line, but it might get you thinking in the right direction?
Additions to get it to do what you want are...
1. Draw an arrow head at the end of the line.
2. Listen for mouse clicks within a certain radius of the end of the line.
3. Redraw the line using the original start point and the new end.
However, if I've completely missunderstood then it's all a complete waste of time.... but I've enjoyed it.
Adios amigo.
/*--- formatted by Jindent 2.1, (www.c-lab.de/~jindent) ---*/
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
* Class declaration
* @author Ollie Lord
* @version %I%, %G%
public class ArrowCanvas extends Canvas implements MouseListener {
private int startX;
private int startY;
private int endX;
private int endY;
* Constructor declaration
* @see
public ArrowCanvas() {
          setSize(new Dimension(200, 200));
          addMouseListener(this);
public void paint(Graphics g) {
          g.setColor(Color.black);
          g.drawLine(startX, startY, endX, endY);
* Invoked when the mouse has been clicked on a component.
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
* Invoked when the mouse enters a component.
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
* Invoked when the mouse exits a component.
public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
* Invoked when a mouse button has been pressed on a component.
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
          System.out.println("Pressed");
          startX=e.getX();
          startY=e.getY();
* Invoked when a mouse button has been released on a component.
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) {
          System.out.println("Released");
          endX=e.getX();
          endY=e.getY();
          repaint();
* Method declaration
* @param args
* @see
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Arrow");
frame.getContentPane().add(new ArrowCanvas());
frame.pack();
frame.show();
/*--- formatting done in "Ollies Java Convention" style on 07-04-2001 ---*/