when I find I need to initialised/set 4 or more variables, regardless of
how (constructor or setter) its an indication that the class is probably
doing to much and not conforming to the Single Responsibility Principle.

Its an indication - not a universal truth - but one that often proves
correct.

When it happens, I pass a single instance of a new class which to
represents 2 or more of the original parameters.

Its especially true when the parameters are all of a similar primitive
type.

Look at the JTable cell renderer interface:

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/javax/swing/table/TableCellRenderer.html

public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table,
                                               Object value,
                                               boolean isSelected,
                                               boolean hasFocus,
                                               int row,
                                               int column)

Returns the component used for drawing the cell. This method is used to
configure the renderer appropriately before drawing.

Parameters:
  table - the JTable that is asking the renderer to draw; can be null
  value - the value of the cell to be rendered. It is up to the
specific renderer to interpret and draw the value. For example, if value
is the string "true", it could be rendered as a string or it could be
rendered as a check box that is checked. null is a valid value
  isSelected - true if the cell is to be rendered with the selection
highlighted; otherwise false
  hasFocus - if true, render cell appropriately. For example, put a
special border on the cell, if the cell can be edited, render in the
color used to indicate editing
  row - the row index of the cell being drawn. When drawing the header,
the value of row is -1
  column - the column index of the cell being drawn

could have made it simpler by introducing a new simple class:
CellCoOrdinate - aside from encapsulating the x & y co-ords, it
simplifies the cell renderers interface, prevents a user from
accidentally getting the row and column values mixed up (as nothing to
differentiate between the two ints), etc.

public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table,
                                               Object value,
                                               boolean isSelected,
                                               boolean hasFocus,
                                               CellCoOrdinate)

We could also replace the isSelected and hasFocus booleans with a single
instance of a new class: CellSelectionProperties (or any better name)

leaving:

public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table,
                                               Object value,
                                               CellSelectionProperties

cellSelectionProps,
                                               CellCoOrdinate coords)

so now 4 parameters instead of 6....

Andy

But beware of

  <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?MagicContainer>

This is a very valuable pattern - but does it really help in this case?
ArgumentObject is an entity object itself, so, to create it, you need
to solve the original problem anyway.

Regards,

.b