Run time objects

Question

hi all,
i have a class called Shapes and when i create a new instance of this class it uses another class called ControlPanel to complete its display. The Shapes class has a method called getCanvasPane() which returns a CanvasPane object (an extension of the JPanel class i think).
The problem i have is that i want to be able to add a mouseListener to the new Shapes object, but do this from the ControlPanel class as this is where the private class which implements the MouseListener interface is coded.
i need a way of accessing the current Shapes object from the ControlPanel class, is there any way of doing this?
any help will be appreciated
thanks
david

Answer 1

SHAPES CLASS
public class Shapes extends JFrame
    private Container contentPane = getContentPane();
    // The CanvasPane class simply provides a blank canvas
    // for drawing the various shapes.
    private static CanvasPane shapePanel = new CanvasPane();
    // The ControlPanel provides a space in which the various
    // shapes may be created and manipulated
    private ControlPanel controlPanel = new ControlPanel();
public static CanvasPane getCanvasPane() // returns the canvas pane currently in use.
        return shapePanel;
CONTROLPANEL CLASS
public ControlPanel()
        // This code will compile but it crashes at run time
        Shapes a = new Shapes();
        CanvasPane b = a.getCanvasPane();
in the constructor of this class i need to assign a MouseListener to the CanvasPane object which is currently in use. ie. use the getCanvasPane() method, and then assign the MouseListener to it
[\CODE]
at run-time a new instance of Shapes is created which in turn creates a new instance of ControlPanel. it is the instance of Shapes that i need to be able to run the 'getCanvasPane()' method.
david