Remove Top-Level Container on Runtime

Question

Unfortunately, it looks like this recently closed question was not well understood. Here is the typical output:

run:
    Trying to Remove JDialog
    Remove Cycle Done :-)
    Checking if still exists any of TopLayoutContainers
JFrame
JDialog
    Will Try Remove Dialog again, CycleNo. 1
 -----------------------------------------------------------
    Trying to Remove JDialog
    Remove Cycle Done :-)
    Checking if still exists any of TopLayoutContainers
JFrame
JDialog
    Will Try Remove Dialog again, CycleNo. 2
 -----------------------------------------------------------
    Trying to Remove JDialog
    Remove Cycle Done :-)
    Checking if still exists any of TopLayoutContainers
JFrame
JDialog
    Will Try Remove Dialog again, CycleNo. 3
 -----------------------------------------------------------
    Trying to Remove JDialog
    Remove Cycle Done :-)
    Checking if still exists any of TopLayoutContainers
JFrame
JDialog
*** End of Cycle Without Success, Exit App ***
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 13 seconds)

I'll try asking this question again: How can I kil*l on Runtime the first-opened top-Level Container, and help with closing for me one of Swing NightMares?

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;
import javax.swing.*;

public class RemoveDialogOnRuntime extends JFrame {

    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
    private int contID = 1;
    private boolean runProcess;
    private int top = 20;
    private int left = 20;
    private int maxLoop = 0;

    public RemoveDialogOnRuntime() {
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 300));
        setTitle("Remove Dialog On Runtime");
        setLocation(150, 150);
        pack();
        setVisible(true);
        Point loc = this.getLocation();
        top += loc.x;
        left += loc.y;
        AddNewDialog();
    }

    private void AddNewDialog() {
        DialogRemove firstDialog = new DialogRemove();
        remWins();
    }

    private void remWins() {
        runProcess = true;
        Thread th = new Thread(new RemTask());
        th.setDaemon(false);
        th.setPriority(Thread.MIN_PRIORITY);
        th.start();
    }

    private class RemTask implements Runnable {

        @Override
        public void run() {
            while (runProcess) {
                Window[] wins = Window.getWindows();
                for (int i = 0; i < wins.length; i++) {
                    if (wins[i] instanceof JDialog) {
                        System.out.println("    Trying to Remove JDialog");
                        wins[i].setVisible(false);
                        wins[i].dispose();
                        WindowEvent windowClosing = new WindowEvent(wins[i], WindowEvent.WINDOW_CLOSING);
                        wins[i].dispatchEvent(windowClosing);
                        Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemEventQueue().postEvent(windowClosing);
                        Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
                        runtime.gc();
                        runtime.runFinalization();
                    }
                    try {
                        Thread.sleep(1000);
                    } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
                        Logger.getLogger(RemoveDialogOnRuntime.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
                    }
                }
                wins = null;
                SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

                    @Override
                    public void run() {
                        System.out.println("    Remove Cycle Done :-)");
                        Runtime.getRuntime().runFinalization();
                        Runtime.getRuntime().gc();
                        runProcess = false;
                    }
                });
            }
            pastRemWins();
        }
    }

    private void pastRemWins() {
        System.out.println("    Checking if still exists any of TopLayoutContainers");
        Window[] wins = Window.getWindows();
        for (int i = 0; i < wins.length; i++) {
            if (wins[i] instanceof JFrame) {
                System.out.println("JFrame");
                wins[i].setVisible(true);
            } else if (wins[i] instanceof JDialog) {
                System.out.println("JDialog");
                wins[i].setVisible(true);
            }
        }
        if (wins.length > 1) {
            wins = null;
            maxLoop++;
            if (maxLoop <= 3) {
                System.out.println("    Will Try Remove Dialog again, CycleNo. " + maxLoop);
                System.out.println(" -----------------------------------------------------------");
                remWins();
            } else {
                System.out.println(" -----------------------------------------------------------");
                System.out.println("*** End of Cycle Without Success, Exit App ***");
                closeMe();
            }
        }
    }

    private void closeMe() {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                System.exit(0);
            }
        });
    }

    private class DialogRemove extends JDialog {

        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

        DialogRemove(final Frame parent) {
            super(parent, "SecondDialog " + (contID++));
            setLocation(top, left);
            top += 20;
            left += 20;
            setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200, 200));
            setDefaultCloseOperation(JDialog.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
            setModalityType(Dialog.ModalityType.MODELESS);
            pack();
            setVisible(true);
        }

        private DialogRemove() {
            setTitle("SecondDialog " + (contID++));
            setLocation(top, left);
            top += 20;
            left += 20;
            setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200, 200));
            setDefaultCloseOperation(JDialog.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
            setModalityType(Dialog.ModalityType.MODELESS);
            pack();
            setVisible(true);
        }
    }

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                RemoveDialogOnRuntime superConstructor = new RemoveDialogOnRuntime();
            }
        });
    }
}

Answer 1

Invoking dispose() allows the host platform to reclaim memory consumed by the heavyweight peer, but it can't do so until after the WINDOW_CLOSING event is processed on the EventQueue. Even then, gc() is a suggestion.

Addendum: Another way to see the nightmare is via a profiler. Running the example below with jvisualvm, one can see that periodic collection never quite returns to baseline. I've exaggerated the vertical axis by starting with an artificially small heap. Additional examples are shown here. When memory is very limited, I've used two approaches:

• Emergent: Loop from the command line, starting a new VM each time.

• Urgent: Eliminate the heavyweight component entirely, running headless and composing in a BufferedImage using 2D graphics and lightweight components only.

import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import javax.swing.JDialog;

/** @see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6309407 */
public class DialogClose extends JDialog {

    public DialogClose(int i) {
        this.setTitle("Dialog " + String.valueOf(i));
        this.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(320, 200));
    }

    private void display() {
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JDialog.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
        this.pack();
        this.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        this.setVisible(true);
        passSomeTime();
        this.setVisible(false);
        this.dispatchEvent(new WindowEvent(
            this, WindowEvent.WINDOW_CLOSING));
        this.dispose();
        passSomeTime();
    }

    private void passSomeTime() {
        try {
            Thread.sleep(100);
        } catch (InterruptedException ie) {
            ie.printStackTrace(System.err);
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                int count = 0;
                while (true) {
                    new DialogClose(count++).display();
                }
            }
        });
    }
}

Answer 2

I have completely reworked your example:

• I have simplified what was not needed (setLocation(), unused constructor...)
• I have removed the code that triggers a WINDOW_CLOSING event (useless)
• I have removed code that resets all windows to visible again (which would prevent GC on them)
• I have used a javax.swing.Timer instead of a Thread for disposing of the dialog
• I have used a Thread for forcing GC (not a good idea in the EDT)
• I have modified the final success criterion to check that Window.getWindows() is 2 (not 1), because in Swing, if you open a dialog with no parent, then a special invisible frame will be created to use it as parent (for all ownerless dialogs actually), once created, that frame cannot be removed.

The resulting snippet follows:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.*;

public class RemoveDialogOnRuntime extends JFrame {

    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
    private boolean runProcess;
    private int maxLoop = 0;
    private Timer timer;

    public RemoveDialogOnRuntime() {
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 300));
        setTitle("Remove Dialog On Runtime");
        setLocation(150, 150);
        pack();
        setVisible(true);
        addNewDialog();
    }

    private void addNewDialog() {
        DialogRemove firstDialog = new DialogRemove();
        remWins();
    }

    private void remWins() {
        runProcess = true;
        timer = new Timer(1000, new ActionListener() {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                if (runProcess) {
                    for (Window win: Window.getWindows()) {
                        if (win instanceof JDialog) {
                            System.out.println("    Trying to Remove JDialog");
                            win.dispose();
                        }
                    }
                    System.out.println("    Remove Cycle Done :-)");
                    runProcess = false;
                    new Thread() {
                        @Override
                        public void run() {
                            try {
                                Thread.sleep(100);
                            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                                e.printStackTrace();
                            }
                            Runtime.getRuntime().gc();
                        }
                    }.start();
                } else {
                    pastRemWins();
                    runProcess = true;
                }
            }
        });
        timer.setRepeats(true);
        timer.start();
    }

    private void pastRemWins() {
        System.out.println("    Checking if still exists any of TopLayoutContainers");
        Window[] wins = Window.getWindows();
        for (int i = 0; i < wins.length; i++) {
            if (wins[i] instanceof JFrame) {
                System.out.println("JFrame");
            } else if (wins[i] instanceof JDialog) {
                System.out.println("JDialog");
            } else {
                System.out.println(wins[i].getClass().getSimpleName());
            }
        }
        // We must expect 2 windows here: this (RemoveDialogOnRuntime) and the parent of all parentless dialogs
        if (wins.length > 2) {
            wins = null;
            maxLoop++;
            if (maxLoop <= 3) {
                System.out.println("    Will Try Remove Dialog again, CycleNo. " + maxLoop);
                System.out.println(" -----------------------------------------------------------");
                remWins();
            } else {
                System.out.println(" -----------------------------------------------------------");
                System.out.println("*** End of Cycle Without Success, Exit App ***");
                closeMe();
            }
        } else {
            timer.stop();
        }
    }

    private void closeMe() {
        System.exit(0);
    }

    private class DialogRemove extends JDialog {

        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

        private DialogRemove() {
            setTitle("SecondDialog");
            setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200, 200));
            setDefaultCloseOperation(JDialog.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
            setModalityType(Dialog.ModalityType.MODELESS);
            pack();
            setVisible(true);
        }
    }

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                RemoveDialogOnRuntime superConstructor = new RemoveDialogOnRuntime();
            }
        });
    }
}

The important conclusions are:

• You can't remove the invisible frame created by Swing as parent of all ownerless dialogs
• You have to force a GC for the disposed dialog to be removed from Window.getWindows() (that one looks like a bug to me but I think the reason is that Swing keeps a WeakReference to all windows, and this WeakReference is not released until a GC has occurred.

Hope this gives a clear and complete answer to your problem.