Constructors in Inner classes (implementing Interfaces)

Question

How would I go about writing a constructor for an inner class which is implementing an interface? I know I could make a whole new class, but I figure there's got to be a way to do something along the line of this:

JButton b = new JButton(new AbstractAction() {

    public AbstractAction() {
        super("This is a button");                        
    }


    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println("button clicked");
    }
}); 

When I enter this it doesn't recognize the AbstractAction method as a constructor (compiler asks for return type). Does anyone have an idea?

Answer 1

Just insert the parameters after the name of the extended class:

JButton b = new JButton(new AbstractAction("This is a button") {

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println("button clicked");
    }
}); 

Also, you can use an initialization block:

JButton b = new JButton(new AbstractAction() {

    {
       // Write initialization code here (as if it is inside a no-arg constructor)
       setLabel("This is a button")
    }

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println("button clicked");
    }
}); 

Answer 2

If you really need a contructor for whatever reason, then you can use an initialization block:

JButton b = new JButton(new AbstractAction() {

    {
        // Do whatever initialisation you want here.
    }

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println("button clicked");
    }
}); 

But you can't call a super-class constructor from there. As Itay said though, you can just pass the argument you want into the call to new.

Personally though, I would create a new inner class for this:

private class MyAction extends AbstractAction {

    public MyAction() {
        super("This is a button.");
    }

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println("button clicked");
    }
}

then:

JButton b = new JButton(new MyAction());

Answer 3

The resulting class is not of type AbstractAction but of some (unnamed, anonymous) type that extends/implements AbstractAction. Therefore a constructor for this anonymous class would need to have this 'unknown' name, but not AbstractAction.

It's like normal extension/implementation: if you define a class House extends Building and construct a House you name the constructor House and not Building (or AbstractAction just to com back to the original question).

Answer 4

The reason the compiler is complaining is because you are trying to declare a constructor inside your anonymous class, which is not allowed for anonymous classes to have. Like others have said, you can either solve this by using an instance initializer or by converting it to a non-anonymous class, so you can write a constructor for it.