Problem With Fade Effect For JTextField

Question

Hello Friends !
I am putting a 'bounty' of 10 Duke dollars
for the clever clogs who can help me out !
I want to create a 'fade in' effect when a
textfield has the focus and a 'fade out'
effect when it looses focus.
The code for what I have done so far is
listed below, but it leaves nasty 'artifacts'
behind when painting.
regards, Asad.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class RunProgramAgain{
public static void main(String[] args){
JFrame frame = new MyFrame();
class MyField extends JTextField{
public MyField(){
setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 30));
public void paintComponent(Graphics g){
super.paintComponent(g);
if(hasFocus())
fadeIn();
else
fadeOut();
private synchronized void fadeIn(){
for(alpha = MIN; alpha <= MAX; ++alpha)
setBackground(new Color(RED, GREEN, BLUE, alpha));
private synchronized void fadeOut(){
for(alpha = MAX; alpha >= MIN; --alpha)
setBackground(new Color(RED, GREEN, BLUE, alpha));
private int alpha = MIN;
private static final int MIN = 0;
private static final int MAX = 10;
private static final int RED = 0;
private static final int GREEN = 255;
private static final int BLUE = 0;
class MyButton extends JButton{
public MyButton(){
super("Start");
class MyFrame extends JFrame{
public MyFrame(){
setSize(new Dimension(300,250));
getContentPane().setLayout(new FlowLayout());
getContentPane().add(new MyButton());
getContentPane().add(new MyField());
show();
}

Answer 1

Played some more and came up with a class that will allow you to fade the background color of any JComponent:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.Hashtable;
import java.util.Vector;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Fader
     private static final int MIN = 0;
     private static final int MAX = 10;
     private Color fadeFrom;
     private Color fadeTo;
     private Hashtable backgroundColors = new Hashtable();
     **  The background of any Component added to this Fader
     **  will be set/reset to the fadeFrom color.
     public Fader(Color fadeTo, Color fadeFrom)
          this(fadeTo);
          this.fadeFrom = fadeFrom;
     **  The original background of any Component added to this Fader
     **  will be preserved.
     public Fader(Color fadeTo)
          this.fadeTo = fadeTo;
     **  Fading will be applied to this component on gained/lost focus
     public Fader add(JComponent component)
          //  Set background of all components to the fadeFrom color
          if (fadeFrom != null)
               component.setBackground( fadeFrom );
          //  Get colors to be used for fading
          Vector colors = getColors( component.getBackground() );
          //     FaderTimer will apply colors to the component
          new FaderTimer( colors, component );
          return this;
     **  Get the colors used to fade this background
     private Vector getColors(Color background)
          //  Check if the color Vector already exists
          Object o = backgroundColors.get( background );
          if (o != null)
               return (Vector)o;
          //  Doesn't exist, create fader colors for this background
          int rIncrement = ( background.getRed() - fadeTo.getRed() ) / MAX;
          int gIncrement = ( background.getGreen() - fadeTo.getGreen() ) / MAX;
          int bIncrement = ( background.getBlue() - fadeTo.getBlue() ) / MAX;
          Vector colors = new Vector( MAX + 1 );
          colors.addElement( background );
          for (int i = 1; i <= MAX; i++)
               int rValue = background.getRed() - (i * rIncrement);
               int gValue = background.getGreen() - (i * gIncrement);
               int bValue = background.getBlue() - (i * bIncrement);
               colors.addElement( new Color(rValue, gValue, bValue) );
          backgroundColors.put(background, colors);
          return colors;
     class FaderTimer implements FocusListener, ActionListener
          private Vector colors;
          private JComponent component;
          private Timer timer;
          private int alpha;
          private int increment;
          FaderTimer(Vector colors, JComponent component)
               this.colors = colors;
               this.component = component;
               component.addFocusListener( this );
               timer = new Timer(5, this);
          public void focusGained(FocusEvent e)
               alpha = MIN;
               increment = 1;
               timer.start();
          public void focusLost(FocusEvent e)
               alpha = MAX;
               increment = -1;
               timer.start();
          public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               alpha += increment;
               component.setBackground( (Color)colors.elementAt(alpha) );
               if (alpha == MAX || alpha == MIN)
                    timer.stop();
     public static void main(String[] args)
          // Create test components
          JComponent textField1 = new JTextField(10);
          JComponent textField3 = new JTextField(10);
          JComponent textField4 = new JTextField(10);
          JComponent button = new JButton("Start");
          JComponent checkBox = new JCheckBox("Check Box");
          JFrame frame = new JFrame("Fading Background");
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation( JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE );
          frame.getContentPane().add(textField1, BorderLayout.NORTH );
          frame.getContentPane().add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH );
          frame.getContentPane().add(textField3, BorderLayout.EAST );
          frame.getContentPane().add(textField4, BorderLayout.WEST );
          frame.getContentPane().add(checkBox);
          //  Fader preserving component background
          Fader fader = new Fader( new Color(155, 255, 155) );
          fader.add( textField1 );
          fader.add( button );
          fader.add( checkBox );
          //  Fader resetting component background
          fader = new Fader( new Color(155, 255, 155), Color.yellow );
          fader.add( textField3 );
          fader.add( textField4 );
          frame.pack();
          frame.setVisible( true );
}