Timers (Java Foundation Classes)

3.5. Timers

The javax.swing.Timer object generates single or multiple ActionEvent events at time intervals that you specify. Thus, a Timer is useful for performing a repeated operation like an animation. They are also useful for triggering operations that must occur at some point in the future. For example, an application might display a message in a status line and then set up a Timer object that erases the message after 5,000 milliseconds. These operations can also be performed with threads, of course, but since Swing is not designed for thread safety, it is usually more convenient to use a Timer.

You use Timer objects just like regular components. A Timer has property accessor methods and an addActionListener() method that you can use to add event listeners. The initialDelay property specifies how many milliseconds the Timer waits before firing its first ActionEvent. If the repeats property is true, the Timer generates a new ActionEvent each time delay milliseconds passes. When an application (or the system in general) is very busy or when the delay property is very small, the timer may fire events faster than the application can process them. If the coalesce property is true, the Timer combines multiple pending events into a single ActionEvent, rather than letting a queue of unprocessed events build up.