Javafx How move objects through tilePane - javafx

Question

I have a grid of tilePanes, where objects (Animals) are placed randomly onto it, as images. Before they actually move, I need to find a way to check the four slots/cells next to that particular cell (North, South, East, West) to see if there is a food source in it, and if true, move to that cell. If false try the next direction, or if all false, just move randomly.
At the moment they just move randomly, and if by luck there is a food source on the cell, they will then eat. This is what I currently have, which does work
private void makeAnimalsMove() {
Random random = new Random();
// Mark all animals that they haven't moved yet
for (Slot[] row : slots) {
for (Slot slot : row) {
for (Animal animal : slot.getAnimals()) {
animal.setMoved(false);
}
}
}
// Now we move only those who needs to be moved
for (int row = 0; row < slots.length; row++) {
for (int column = 0; column < slots[row].length; column++) {
final Slot slot = slots[row][column];
for (final Animal animal : slot.getAnimals()) {
if (animal.hasMoved()) {
continue;
}
int[][] directions = {
{row - 1, column}, // north
{row, column + 1}, // east
{row + 1, column}, // south
{row, column - 1}, // west
};
int[] selectedDirection = directions[random.nextInt(directions.length)];
// Move the animal to the chosen direction if possible
final int rowDirection = selectedDirection[0];
final int columnDirection = selectedDirection[1];
if (rowDirection >= 0 && rowDirection < slots.length && columnDirection >= 0 && columnDirection < slots[rowDirection].length) {
Platform.runLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
slot.removeObject(animal);
slots[rowDirection][columnDirection].addObject(animal);
}
});
}
// Decrease the animal's life
animal.setMoved(true);
animal.setLifeSpan(animal.getLifeSpan() - 1);
}
}
}
}
There's a separate method for the 'eating' part, which will be called, if the cell contains a food source. I'm just not sure how I can make it check the four cells before moving?

Answer 1

For my solution to work I suggest you to switch from TilePane to GridPane.
You can easily draw a grid of your elements:
GridPane grid = new GridPane();
grid.add(child, columnIndex, rowIndex);
And later on detect if something is in a specific cell, for example with this helper:
private static boolean isCellOccupied(GridPane gridPane, int column, int row)
{
return gridPane
.getChildren()
.stream()
.filter(Node::isManaged)
.anyMatch(
n -> Objects.equals(GridPane.getRowIndex(n), row)
&& Objects.equals(GridPane.getColumnIndex(n),
column));
}