Running a class a particular number of times

Question

hey
can some pls tell me how to run this class a specific number of times. maybe by using a for loop?.
i am making a game called memory game where u match the cards which are thw same. i want to make this a multiplayer game rather than a single player game. Thus in order to do this i need to be able to run the class (shown below) a specific number of times.
i have an array called "players" which is a length of 5. and if the user enter the names into all five elements or there are 5 players then i need the program to run 5 times. else if the user only entered a name in two elements then i need the class "MemoryMatch" to run twice .
i know how to determine whether the user entered 5 names or a single by using if statements. but i dont kno how to make the class "MemoryGame" run a specific number of times.
.. .and for the game i calculate the score of the user by finding the amount of time it takes the user to finish the game and then subtract the time they took from a base value of 500points. i then put the time difference into an array called "timez" i also want the class to add the time to array "timez" at the end after the one of the players has finished the game or the class is run.
here is the code for the "MemoryMatch" class which i need to run a specific number of times.
class MyButton extends JButton
        long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis ();
        int index;
        ImageIcon icon;
        public MyButton (ImageIcon img, int i)
            icon = img;
            index = i;
            setPreferredSize (new Dimension (100, 100));
            addActionListener (new ActionListener ()
                public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent actionEvent)
                    // 1
                    /* Create and add a prompt and then a text field */
                    if (getIcon () == null)
                        setIcon (icon);
                        if (buttonShowingIndex > -1)
                            if (icon != button [buttonShowingIndex].getIcon ())
                                final int bsi = buttonShowingIndex;
                                ActionListener al = new ActionListener ()
                                    public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent actionEvent)
                                        MyButton.this.setIcon (null);
                                        button [bsi].setIcon (null);
                                javax.swing.Timer timer = new javax.swing.Timer (450, al);
                                timer.setRepeats (false);
                                timer.start ();
                            buttonShowingIndex = -1;
                        else
                            buttonShowingIndex = index;
                        //time calculation
                        long endTime = System.currentTimeMillis ();
                        long difference = ((endTime - startTime) / 1000) + 2;
                        timez [0] = difference;
    }so ...basically the two things i would like to get are
1. make the class "MemoryMatch" run a specific number of times
2. Put the time difference(time it takes user to finish game) into the array "timez" (but i think i got that handled but still if u knew a more efficient way... that would be nice =) )
thanks alot

Answer 1

hey man,
thanks for taking the trouble for helping me.
i have put the whole part of my program below. what u mentioned earlier was part right. the "MyButton" class flips over the two cards which were clicked by the user and then if they are right it leaves the cards on the table with the pics. and if they are wrong then the pics dissppear and the user has to choose two more cards again.
the "players" array is an array which contains the names of the people who are playing the game. i get those values from another class called "Score" and then i transfer the array to the "MemoryMatch" class.
..and for the points i was thinking that i would find the time required by the user to finish the game and subtract the time in seconds from a base value of 500.
hope this helps.
thanks
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.util.*;
class MemoryMatch extends JFrame
    MyButton[] button = new MyButton [36];
    ImageIcon[] icons = new ImageIcon [button.length];
    int buttonShowingIndex = -1;
    int time = 0;
    long startTime, endTime;
    static int gamesRun;
    static boolean runs;
    JPanel contentPanel;
    JPanel mainPanel;
    JLabel text;
    JTextField grade1;
    long[] timez = new long [5];
    static String[] players = {"", "", "", "", ""};
    //delay method
    public static void delay (int num)
        try
            Thread.sleep (num);
        catch (InterruptedException e)
    public MemoryMatch ()
        icons [0] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image1.gif"));
        icons [1] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image2.gif"));
        icons [2] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image3.gif"));
        icons [3] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image4.gif"));
        icons [4] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image5.gif"));
        icons [5] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image6.gif"));
        icons [6] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image7.gif"));
        icons [7] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image8.gif"));
        icons [8] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image9.gif"));
        icons [9] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image10.gif"));
        icons [10] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image11.gif"));
        icons [11] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image12.gif"));
        icons [12] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image13.gif"));
        icons [13] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image14.gif"));
        icons [14] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image15.gif"));
        icons [15] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image16.gif"));
        icons [16] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image17.gif"));
        icons [17] = new ImageIcon (getClass ().getResource ("image18.gif"));
        icons [18] = icons [0];
        icons [19] = icons [1];
        icons [20] = icons [2];
        icons [21] = icons [3];
        icons [22] = icons [4];
        icons [23] = icons [5];
        icons [24] = icons [6];
        icons [25] = icons [7];
        icons [26] = icons [8];
        icons [27] = icons [9];
        icons [28] = icons [10];
        icons [29] = icons [11];
        icons [30] = icons [12];
        icons [31] = icons [13];
        icons [32] = icons [14];
        icons [33] = icons [15];
        icons [34] = icons [16];
        icons [35] = icons [17];
                Collections.shuffle (Arrays.asList (icons));
        setDefaultCloseOperation (EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        contentPanel = new JPanel ();
        contentPanel.setBorder (BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder (500, 500, 10, 10));
        mainPanel = new JPanel ();
        mainPanel.setBorder (BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder (500, 500, 10, 10));
        mainPanel.setBackground (Color.white);
        mainPanel.setLayout (new GridLayout (6, 6));
        for (int x = 0 ; x < button.length ; x++)
            button [x] = new MyButton (icons [x], x);
            mainPanel.add (button [x]);
        getContentPane ().add (mainPanel);
        pack ();
    public static int pushPlayers (String[] p)
        players = p;
        int game = 5;
        if (players [0].equals (""))
            game = game - 1;
        if (players [1].equals (""))
            game = game - 1;
        if (players [2].equals (""))
            game = game - 1;
        if (players [3].equals (""))
            game = game - 1;
        if (players [4].equals (""))
            game = game - 1;
        System.out.println (game);
        gamesRun = game;
        return game;
    class MyButton extends JButton
        long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis ();
        int index;
        ImageIcon icon;
        // for (int i = 0 ; i < gamesRun ; i++)
        public MyButton (ImageIcon img, int i)
            icon = img;
            index = i;
            setPreferredSize (new Dimension (100, 100));
            addActionListener (new ActionListener ()
                public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent actionEvent)
                    // 1
                    /* Create and add a prompt and then a text field */
                    if (getIcon () == null)
                        setIcon (icon);
                        if (buttonShowingIndex > -1)
                            if (icon != button [buttonShowingIndex].getIcon ())
                                final int bsi = buttonShowingIndex;
                                ActionListener al = new ActionListener ()
                                    public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent actionEvent)
                                        MyButton.this.setIcon (null);
                                        button [bsi].setIcon (null);
                                javax.swing.Timer timer = new javax.swing.Timer (450, al);
                                timer.setRepeats (false);
                                timer.start ();
                            buttonShowingIndex = -1;
                        else
                            buttonShowingIndex = index;
                        //time calculation
                        long endTime = System.currentTimeMillis ();
                        long difference = ((endTime - startTime) / 1000);
                        timez [0] = difference;
    public static void main (String[] args)
        // JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated (true);
        // Score myGrades = new Score (myMemoryMatch);
        // //Score
        delay (5000);
        MemoryMatch myMemoryMatch = new MemoryMatch ();
        //running of main game
        myMemoryMatch.setVisible (true);
        //transferring to the array
        for (int i = 0 ; i < myMemoryMatch.players.length ; i++)
            // show that the variable has been updated here
            players = myMemoryMatch.players [i];
for (int i = 0 ; i < myMemoryMatch.players.length ; i++)
// show that the variable has been updated here
System.out.println (players [i]);