Download - Java swing
Implementing GUIs in Java
● The Java Foundation Classes (JFC) are a set of packages encompassing the following APIs:– Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT): native GUI
components– Swing: lightweight GUI components– 2D: rendering two-dimensional shapes, text, and
images– Accessibility: allowing compatibility with, for
example, screen readers and screen magnifiers
Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT)
● Provides basic UI components:– Buttons, lists, menus, textfields, etc– Event handling mechanism– Clipboard and data transfer– Image manipulation– Font manipulation– Graphics
● Platform independence is achieved through peers, or native GUI components
AWT Packages
java.awt Basic component functionalityjava.awt.accessibility Assistive technologiesjava.awt.color Colors and color spacesjava.awt.datatransfer Clipboard and data transfer supportjava.awt.dnd Drag and dropjava.awt.event Event classes and listenersjava.awt.font 2D API font packagejava.awt.geom 2D API geometry packagejava.awt.im Input methodsjava.awt.image Fundamental image manipulation classesjava.awt.peer Peer interfaces for component peersjava.awt.print 2D API support for printingjava.awt.swing Swing components
Peers and Platform Independence
● The first AWT (Java 1.0) was rolled out in an incredible 6 weeks using peers
● Thus an AWT menu on the Solaris platform, for example, actually creates a Motif menu object as its peer
● UI components that have peers are called heavyweight because– they are rendered in their own (opaque) windows and
thus are expensive to use, – they must be rectangular and cannot have transparent
backgrounds, and– they are not amenable to being subclassed
Using Peers
Java Program
Java AWT
NativeWindowSystemPeers
A Java program creates and displays an AWT component,which creates and displays a native component, or peer.
Lightweight Components● AWT 1.1 introduced the notion of lightweight
components which:– are contained within a heavyweight component's
window– do not have peers– are rendered in their container's window rather than
one of their own– do not incur performance penalties and can have
transparent backgrounds● Almost all Swing components are lightweight
ones that extend either java.awt.Component or java.awt.Container
Some AWT Components
Object
Component
Container ButtonList
Scrollbar
Label
Canvas
JComponent
AWT vs. Swing● Swing does not replace the AWT; it is built on
top of it● All 1.0 AWT components are heavyweight;
corresponding Swing components are lightweight● Swing component names begin with ``J'':
– Component (AWT) vs. JComponent (Swing)– Button (AWT) vs. JButton (Swing)
● Always use Swing components; however, since Swing is built on top of AWT, you will need to know some AWT methods
Some Swing Components
JComponent
AbstractButton
JButtonJMenuItem
JToggleButton
JCheckBox
JLabel
JList
JScrollBar
JFileChooser
JComponents
● Note that JComponents are containers● JComponents do not extend their AWT
counterparts:– For example, the JButton class is not a subclass
(direct or indirect) of Button ● However, some Swing components are not JComponents– For example, some Swing containers are direct
subclasses of their AWT counterparts
Some AWT Containers
Container
JComponent Panel
ScrollPane
Window
Dialog Frame
Applet
Swing Components That Are Not JComponents (in red)
Container
JComponent Panel
ScrollPaneWindow
Dialog Frame Applet
JDialog
JWindow
JFrame JApplet
Some More Swing Components That Are JComponents
JComponent
JLayeredPane JPanel
JScrollPane
JInternalFrame
JDesktopPane
JTable
JTree
Some AWT Component Methods
● void setBackground(Color c)● void setForeground(Color c)● void setEnabled(boolean b)● void setVisible(boolean b)● void setFont(Font f)● void setSize(Dimension d)● void setLocation(int x, int y)
All but setSize and setLocation are overridden by the JComponent class.
Example: A Simple Framed Window
import java.awt.*;import javax.swing.*;
public class SwingTest {
public static void main(String[] args) { JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); frame.setVisible(true); }
}
Notes on the Example
● setSize and setLocation require java.awt.*; the rest require javax.swing.*
● The JFrame constructor argument is used as a title● The Dimension constructor takes an integer width
and height, respectively● The setLocation method takes a pair of integer
coordinates (x,y) where (0,0) is the upper left corner of the display
● The visibility of a JFrame is set to false by default
Example Output Display
● This window was managed by the K Desktop Environment (KDE)
● Clicking the Close button (X) will cause the display to be hidden, but the program will continue since no listeners are set up yet
● Can use ctl-C to kill the Java Virtual Machine
Adding Color
– Color.black– Color.blue– Color.cyan– Color.darkGray– Color.gray– Color.green– Color.lightGray
– Color.magenta– Color.orange– Color.pink– Color.red– Color.white– Color.yellow
The java.awt.Color class has the following staticfields (data members):
Changing Background Color
import java.awt.*;import javax.swing.*;
public class SwingTest {
public static void main(String[] args) { JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane(); contentPane.setBackground(Color.red); frame.setVisible(true); }
}
Content Panes● Q: Why not just: frame.setBackground(Color.red); ?● A: In order to be lightweight, Swing's top-level
window objects must be built on top of a lightweight AWT Container object introduced in version 1.1
● This container is called a content pane● Swing top-level window classes:
– JWindow– JFrame– JApplet– JDialog– JInternalFrame
Adding a Label and Button
import java.awt.*;import javax.swing.*;
public class SwingTest {
public static void main(String[] args) { JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane(); JLabel label = new JLabel("HERE IS A LABEL"); contentPane.add(label, BorderLayout.NORTH); JButton button = new JButton("BUTTON"); contentPane.add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH); frame.setVisible(true); }
}
New Display
Resized
Notes on the Code
● Since the frame is a top-level Swing window, components must be added to its content pane
● When components are added to a container, how they are placed is dependent upon the container's layout manager
● The default layout manager for a JFrame is a BorderLayout manager (described later)
● When adding to a container whose layout manager is BorderLayout, the second parameter should be a location defined in the BorderLayout class
Adding a List of Optionsimport java.awt.*;import javax.swing.*;
public class SwingTest {
public static void main(String[] args) { JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane(); JLabel label = new JLabel("HERE IS A LABEL"); contentPane.add(label, BorderLayout.NORTH); JButton button = new JButton("BUTTON"); contentPane.add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH); String[] options = {"Option 1", "Option 2", "Option 3"}; JList list = new JList(options); contentPane.add(list, BorderLayout.CENTER); frame.setVisible(true); }}
New Display
Note that "Option 3" has been selected.
Adding a Check Box and Slider
public class SwingTest {
public static void main(String[] args) { JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(400,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane(); JLabel label = new JLabel("HERE IS A LABEL"); contentPane.add(label, BorderLayout.NORTH); JButton button = new JButton("BUTTON"); contentPane.add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
String[] options = {"Option 1", "Option 2", "Option 3"}; JList list = new JList(options); contentPane.add(list, BorderLayout.CENTER);
JCheckBox cbox = new JCheckBox("Check"); contentPane.add(cbox, BorderLayout.WEST);
JSlider slider = new JSlider(); contentPane.add(slider, BorderLayout.EAST);
frame.setVisible(true); }}
New Display
Layout Management
● A layout manager determines the location and size of components placed into a container
● Different layout managers use different algorithms for determining size and location:– BorderLayout: places at compass locations and center– FlowLayout: places components in rows, left to right– GridLayout: places in rectangular grid– BoxLayout: places in a single row or column
Changing the Layout
public class SwingTest {
public static void main(String[] args) { JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane();
contentPane.setLayout(new FlowLayout()); JLabel label = new JLabel("HERE IS A LABEL"); JButton button = new JButton("BUTTON"); String[] options = {"Option 1", "Option 2", "Option 3"}; JList list = new JList(options); JCheckBox cbox = new JCheckBox("Check"); JSlider slider = new JSlider(); contentPane.add(label); contentPane.add(button); contentPane.add(list); contentPane.add(cbox); contentPane.add(slider);
frame.setVisible(true); }
}
New Display
Resized
Default Layout Managers
● The default layout manager for content panes is BorderLayout. Recall that the following Swing components have content panes:– JWindow– JFrame– JDialog– JApplet– JInternalFrame
● The other Swing container is the JPanel, whose default layout manager is FlowLayout.
JPanels
● A JPanel object can be used for grouping components into a container, which can then be added to another container
● The JPanel constructor with no arguments creates a panel with a FlowLayout manager
● Another JPanel constructor takes any layout manager as an argument
● A JPanel can also be used a a blank area for drawing custom graphics
JPanel Example
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane();
JLabel label = new JLabel("HERE ARE SOME BUTTONS", SwingConstants.CENTER);
JButton button1 = new JButton("BUTTON1"); JButton button2 = new JButton("BUTTON2"); JButton button3 = new JButton("BUTTON3"); JPanel panel = new JPanel(); panel.add(button1); panel.add(button2); panel.add(button3);
contentPane.add(label, BorderLayout.NORTH); contentPane.add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.setVisible(true);
JPanel Example Output
Note use of SwingConstants.CENTER argumentin JLabel constructor.
Changing JPanel Layout
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane();
JLabel label = new JLabel("HERE ARE SOME BUTTONS", SwingConstants.CENTER);
JButton button1 = new JButton("BUTTON1"); JButton button2 = new JButton("BUTTON2"); JButton button3 = new JButton("BUTTON3"); JPanel panel = new JPanel(); panel.setLayout (new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS)); panel.add(button1); panel.add(button2); panel.add(button3);
contentPane.add(label, BorderLayout.NORTH); contentPane.add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.setVisible(true);
New Output
● The button panel is to the west because no other component was placed there
● The BoxLayout constructor requires both the component being laid out and either:– BoxLayout.X_AXIS– BoxLayout.Y_AXIS
Tweaking Layouts
● Some layout constructors allow hgap and vgap, integers specifying the number of pixels separating components horizontally and vertically
● FlowLayout allows the specification of whether the line of components should be left-justified, right-justified, or centered
new FlowLayout(int align)new FlowLayout(int align, int hgap, int vgap)
new BorderLayout(int hgap, int vgap)
new GridLayout(int rows, int cols)new GridLayout(int rows, int cols, int hgap, int vgap)
Tweaking Example JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); frame.setSize(new Dimension(300,200)); frame.setLocation(100,100); Container contentPane = frame.getContentPane(); LayoutManager lm = contentPane.getLayout(); ((BorderLayout)lm).setHgap(25);
JLabel label = new JLabel("HERE ARE SOME BUTTONS", SwingConstants.CENTER);
JButton button1 = new JButton("BUTTON1"); JButton button2 = new JButton("BUTTON2"); JButton button3 = new JButton("BUTTON3"); JPanel panel = new JPanel(); panel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(panel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS)); panel.add(button1); panel.add(button2); panel.add(button3);
contentPane.add(label, BorderLayout.NORTH); contentPane.add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.setVisible(true);
Tweaking Example Output
● The LayoutManager returned by getLayout() is an interface type that the BorderLayout class implements
● The setHgap method we want is in the BorderLayout class
● So we must cast the LayoutManager to BorderLayout in order to use setHgap
Sizing Hints● Layout managers often need to resize their
components to make things fit– For example, the widths and heights of components in
a BoxLayout are adjusted according to both preferred and maximum heights and widths
● If you don't like the size of the components a layout manager comes up with, you may have to give sizing hints using the following methods from the JComponent class:– void setMinimumSize(Dimension d)– void setPreferredSize(Dimension d)– void setMaximumSize(Dimension d)