Why does calling dispose() on Graphics object cause JPanel to not render any components

Question

After learning that dispose() should be called on Graphics/Graphics2D object after use, I went about changing my game to incorporate this.

When I added g2d.dispose() in overridden paintComponent(Graphics g) of JPanel, my components which I added (extensions of JLabel class) where not rendered I was able to still click on them etc but they would not be painted.

I tested with a normal JLabel and JButton with same effect (though JButton is rendered when mouse is over it).

So my question is why does this happen?

Here is an SSCCE to demonstrate:

after uncommenting call to dispose() in paintComponent of MainMenuPanel class:

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.Image;
import java.awt.RenderingHints;
import java.awt.event.FocusAdapter;
import java.awt.event.FocusEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;

public class Test {

    public Test() {
        try {
            initComponents();
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(Test.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                new Test();
            }
        });
    }

    private void initComponents() throws Exception {
        JFrame frame = new JFrame();
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        frame.setResizable(false);

        MainMenuPanel mmp = new MainMenuPanel();
        frame.add(mmp);

        frame.pack();
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }
}

class MainMenuPanel extends JPanel {

    //create labels for Main Menu
    private PopUpJLabel versusesModeLabel;
    private PopUpJLabel singlePlayerModeLabel;
    private PopUpJLabel optionsLabel;
    private PopUpJLabel helpLabel;
    private PopUpJLabel aboutLabel;
    //create variable to hold background
    private Image background;
    private Dimension preferredDimensions;
    public static String gameType;
    public static final String SINGLE_PLAYER = "Single Player", VERSUS_MODE = "VS Mode";

    /**
     * Default constructor to initialize double buffered JPanel with
     * GridBagLayout
     */
    public MainMenuPanel() {
        super(new GridBagLayout(), true);
        try {
            initComponents();
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Could not load main menu background!", "Main Menu Error: 0x004", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
            System.exit(4);
        }
    }

    /*
     * Create JPanel and its components
     */
    private void initComponents() throws Exception {

        //set prefered size of JPanel
        preferredDimensions = new Dimension(800, 600);

        background = scaleImage(800, 600, ImageIO.read(new URL("http://photos.appleinsider.com/12.08.30-Java.jpg")));

        //create label instances
        singlePlayerModeLabel = new PopUpJLabel("Single Player Mode");
        singlePlayerModeLabel.setEnabled(false);

        versusesModeLabel = new PopUpJLabel("Versus Mode");
        optionsLabel = new PopUpJLabel("Options");
        helpLabel = new PopUpJLabel("Help");
        aboutLabel = new PopUpJLabel("About");

        //create new constraints for gridbag
        GridBagConstraints gc = new GridBagConstraints();
        gc.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
        gc.ipady = 50;//vertical spacing 

        //add newGameLabel to panel with constraints
        gc.gridx = 0;
        gc.gridy = 0;
        add(singlePlayerModeLabel, gc);

        gc.gridy = 1;
        add(versusesModeLabel, gc);
        //add optionsLabel to panel with constraints (x is the same)
        gc.gridy = 2;
        add(optionsLabel, gc);
        //add helpLabel to panel with constraints (x is the same)
        gc.gridy = 3;
        add(helpLabel, gc);
        //add aboutLabel to panel with constraints (x is the same)
        gc.gridy = 4;
        add(aboutLabel, gc);
    }

    public static BufferedImage scaleImage(int w, int h, BufferedImage img) throws Exception {
        BufferedImage bi;
        //bi = new BufferedImage(w, h, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
        bi = new BufferedImage(w, h, img.getType());
        Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) bi.createGraphics();
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING, RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
        g2d.addRenderingHints(new RenderingHints(RenderingHints.KEY_RENDERING, RenderingHints.VALUE_RENDER_QUALITY));
        g2d.drawImage(img, 0, 0, w, h, null);
        g2d.dispose();
        return bi;
    }

    /*
     * Will return the preffered size of JPanel
     */
    @Override
    public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
        return preferredDimensions;
    }

    /*
     * Will draw the background to JPanel with anti-aliasing on and quality rendering
     */
    @Override
    protected void paintComponent(Graphics grphcs) {
        super.paintComponent(grphcs);

        //convert graphics object to graphics2d object
        Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) grphcs;

        //set anti-aliasing on and rendering etc
        //GamePanel.applyRenderHints(g2d);

        //draw the image as the background
        g2d.drawImage(background, 0, 0, null);

        //g2d.dispose();//if I uncomment this no LAbels will be shown
    }
}

class PopUpJLabel extends JLabel {

    public final static Font defaultFont = new Font("Arial", Font.PLAIN, 50);
    public final static Font hoverFont = new Font("Arial", Font.BOLD, 70);

    PopUpJLabel(String text) {
        super(text);
        setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
        setForeground(Color.ORANGE);
        setFont(defaultFont);

        //allow component to be focusable
        setFocusable(true);

        //add focus adapter to change fints when focus is gained or lost (used for transversing labels with keys)
        addFocusListener(new FocusAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void focusGained(FocusEvent fe) {
                super.focusGained(fe);
                if (isEnabled()) {
                    setFont(getHoverFont());
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void focusLost(FocusEvent fe) {
                super.focusLost(fe);
                setFont(getDefaultFont());
            }
        });

        addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent me) {
                super.mouseEntered(me);
                if (isEnabled()) {
                    setFont(getHoverFont());
                }
                //call for focus mouse is over this component
                requestFocusInWindow();
            }
        });

    }

    Font getDefaultFont() {
        return defaultFont;
    }

    Font getHoverFont() {
        return hoverFont;
    }
}

Answer 1

The thing is that the Graphics context you are using in paintComponent is created and provided by the caller (the framework), which is also responsible for disposing of it.

You only need to dispose of Graphics when you actually create it yourself (for example by calling Component.getGraphics()). In your case, you're not creating it, you're just casting it, so do not call dispose in this case.