Java Swing Programming

Kyle Brown Kyle Brown IBM WebSphere Services

Overview
Swings Architecture & background Basic Swing Programming Swing lists Swing tables Swing trees Swing trees

What's Swing?
Swing is Suns alternate Windowing Framework Part of the JFC (Java Foundation Classes)
Standard part of Java 2

A full replacement/alternative to AWT Found in packages starting with javax.swing

Key Features of Swing

Not based on windowing system based on windowing system
all Swing components are lightweight

Pluggable Look and Feel (PLAF)

Richer component set than AWT Doesnt take the least common Doesnt take least common denominator approach denominator includes components not found in *any* includes components not found in *any* windowing system adds functionality to components that already have counterparts in the AWT

Using Swing
Swing should not be combined with AWT
Each Window should be fully Swing or fully AWT

Since Swing matches the AWTs Swing matches the AWTs functionality, thats not hard functionality, thats not hard
Most Swing components are upwards-compatible with their AWT counterparts easy to change code from AWT to Swing

Swing Architecture
Swing follows the MVC paradigm paradigm for building user building user interfaces
Each UI Component has a has a model
gestures and events View change notification Model Controller

data access

data change

We will often customize certain Swing models Swing models

Basic Swing Programming

As noted previously, Swing adds an noted previously, Swing adds an entirely new set of components to Java
Upward-compatible with their AWT counterparts We wont deeply cover those similar to their AWT counterparts

We will start at the bottom

JFrame Japplet

Top-level hierarchy
Each top-level top-level class adds new behavior to to existing AWT components
Applet Frame

Window

Dialog

JApplet

JFrame

JDialog

Comparing Swing & AWT

import java.awt.*; public class ExampleAWTFrame extends java.awt.Frame { public ExampleAWTFrame ( ) { super(); Panel aPanel = new Panel(); aPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); add(aPanel); Label hello = new Label("Hello World"); aPanel.add(hello, BorderLayout.NORTH); } public static void main(String args[]) { ExampleAWTFrame aFrame = new ExampleAWTFrame(); aFrame.setVisible(true); }}

Comparing Swing & AWT

import java.awt.*; import com.sun.java.swing.*; public class ExampleSwingJFrame extends com.sun.java.swing.JFrame { public ExampleSwingJFrame() { super(); JPanel aPanel = new JPanel(); aPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); getContentPane().add(aPanel); JLabel hello = new JLabel("Hello World"); aPanel.add(hello, BorderLayout.NORTH); } public static void main(String args[]) { ExampleSwingJFrame aFrame = new ExampleSwingJFrame(); aFrame.setVisible(true); }}

JFrames
A JFrame acts like an AWT Frame
Except it handles Swing component handles component nesting

A JFrame is really two panes

A LayeredPane that has an optional menu bar and a content pane a content pane A GlassPane that sits transparently in front of the LayeredPane front of the LayeredPane

Partial Swing Hierarchy

Container

JComponent

AbstractButton

JComboBox

JLabel

JList

JPanel

JSlider

JTable

JTree

JTabbedPane

JScrollPane

JButton

JMenuItem

JToggleButton

Borders
Any JComponent can have a Border placed on it
Usually only used on JPanels on JPanels

Specify the border with

aJComponent.setBorder(Border aBorder)

Common Borders include BevelBorder, TitledBorder

Normally built with a BorderFactory Normally built with a BorderFactory

JTitledBorder Example
public ExampleWithGroupBox ( ) { super(); JPanel aPanel = new JPanel(); aPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); TitledBorder border = BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(BorderFactory.createBevelBorder(2), "Group"); aPanel.setBorder(border); getContentPane().add(aPanel); JLabel hello = new JLabel("Hello World"); aPanel.add(hello, BorderLayout.CENTER); }

JTabbedPane
A JTabbedPane represents a notebook JTabbedPane represents a notebook
Any JComponent can be a page in a JTabbedPane JPanels are usually used

Tabs can be added, inserted at runtime, added, inserted at runtime, deleted and selected

Creating Tabs Creating

public ExampleWithTabbedPane ( ) { super(); JTabbedPane tabs = new JTabbedPane(); tabs.addTab("Page1", buildTabOne()); tabs.addTab("Page2", buildTabTwo()); tabs.addTab("Page3", buildTabThree()); getContentPane().add(tabs); }

public JPanel buildTabOne() { JPanel aPanel = new JPanel(); JLabel first = new JLabel("This is the first tab"); aPanel.add(first, BorderLayout.CENTER); return aPanel; }

JTabbedPane Details
Tabs are indexed from 0
JTabbedPane.getTabCount();

Can remove tabs with remove tabs with

JTabbedPane.removeTabAt(index);

Can select a tab with

JTabbedPane.setSelectedIndex(index)

JTabbedPane Events
The JTabbedPane supports the ChangedEvent notification Clients must implement the ChangeListener interface ChangeListener interface
void stateChanged(ChangeEvent e) stateChanged(ChangeEvent

No state information is passed in

query the source for the new state

JScrollPane
A JScrollPane manages scrolling over a larger view larger view
It manages a viewport on the view It manages a viewport on the view

Viewport

View

JScrollPane example
/* * Add a Scroll pane to the Jframe. Put a JLabel having * the numbers 0 - 49 into the scrollPanes viewport * */ public ExampleScrolling ( ) { super(); JScrollPane scroller = new JScrollPane(); getContentPane().add(scroller); StringBuffer bigBuffer = new StringBuffer(); for (int i=0; i<50; i++) { bigBuffer.append(Integer.toString(i)); bigBuffer.append(' ');
}

JLabel longLabel = new JLabel(bigBuffer.toString()); scroller.getViewport().add(longLabel); }

Scrollable Interface
Components that will be scrolled by a JScrollPane should implement the JScrollPane should implement the Interface Scrollable
Most Swing components implement this components already

This Interface defines methods to Interface defines methods to

return the preferred size of the viewport get the increment in pixels to scroll by unit and block

JSplitPane
A JSplitPane is a splitter pane that allows the user to resize two components the user to resize two components dynamically
Can split horizontally or vertically split horizontally or vertically

Use the constant JSplitPane.VERTICAL_SPLIT or JSplitPane.VERTICAL_SPLIT or JSplitPane.HORIZONTAL_SPLIT in the constructor

JSplitPane Example
public ExampleWithSplitPane ( ) { JSplitPane splitter = new JSplitPane(JSplitPane.VERTICAL_SPLIT); splitter.setLeftComponent(new JTextArea()); splitter.setRightComponent(new JTextArea()); getContentPane().add(splitter); }

public static void main(String args[]) { ExampleWithSplitPane example = new ExampleWithSplitPane(); example.pack(); example.setVisible(true); }

JProgressBar
A JProgressBar is a standard JProgressBar is a standard Windows-like progress indicator
LED-like display like a Stereo system LED-like display like a Stereo system

It is usually used in its own Frame or usually used in its own Frame or dialog
Often combined with one or more labels more labels

JSlider
A JSlider is a volume-control slider JSlider is a volume-control slider component
Familiar in many Windows applications

Jsliders have a variety of attributes Jsliders have a variety of attributes

Major and Minor Ticks Major Labels Minimum & Maximum values

Clients watch for the ChangeEvent notification

Similar to JTabbedPane

JSlider Example
public ExampleWithSlider ( ) { JPanel aPanel = new JPanel(); aPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); getContentPane().add(aPanel); public void stateChanged(ChangeEvent e) { int value = ((JSlider) e.getSource()).getValue(); counterLabel.setText(Integer.toString(value)); }

counterLabel = new JLabel("0"); aPanel.add(counterLabel, BorderLayout.SOUTH); JSlider slider = new JSlider(SwingConstants.HORIZONTAL, 0, 100, 0); slider.setMajorTickSpacing(20); slider.setMinorTickSpacing(10); slider.setPaintTicks(true); slider.setPaintLabels(true); slider.addChangeListener(this); aPanel.add(slider, BorderLayout.NORTH); }

AbstractButton Hierarchy
Swing has a number of has a number of button components
push buttons, radio buttons, radio buttons, check boxes
AbstractButton ActionListener <<interface>> actionPerformed( )

Usually each will use an each will use an ActionListener to hook into UI actions

JButton

JToggleButton

JCheckBox

JRadioButton

JButton Example
public ExampleJButton() { super(); JPanel aPanel = new JPanel(); aPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); getContentPane().add(aPanel); public void buttonPushed() { System.out.println("The button was pushed"); }

JButton push = new JButton("Push Me"); push.addActionListener(new ActionListener() { public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) { buttonPushed(); } }); aPanel.add(push, BorderLayout.NORTH); this.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() { public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) { System.exit(0); } }); }

JMenu Hierarchy
Swing Menus are similar Menus are similar to Buttons
JMenuItems also have ActionListeners This is because they are AbstractButtons
JComponent

JMenuBar

AbstractButton

JPopupMenu

JMenuItem

JMenu

JCheckBoxMenuItem

JRadioButtonMenuItem

JMenu Example
JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar(); setJMenuBar(menuBar); // method of JFrame JMenu testMenu = new JMenu("Test"); JMenuItem menuItem = new JMenuItem("Select Me"); menuItem.addActionListener(new ActionListener() { public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) { menuSelected(); } }); testMenu.add(menuItem); menuBar.add(testMenu);

Text Handling
Swing has text handling capabilities similar to capabilities similar to AWT
JTextField, JPasswordField, JTextArea
DocumentListener <<interface>>

JTextComponent

Document <<interface>>

However, it also has sophisticated support for viewing HTML and RTF viewing HTML and RTF
JEditorPane

JTextField

JTextArea

JEditorPane

JList
JList is the primary Swing list class Its like the AWT List widget except:
The widget doesnt support adding & removing elements directly removing elements directly Adds customized data models customized models Adds custom element rendering

Simple JList Example

/* * You must place a Jlist inside a JScrollPane to get scroll bars! */ public ExampleSimpleList ( ) { String[] strings = {"Bob", "Carol", "Ted", "Alice", "Jane", "Fred", "Sue"}; JScrollPane scroller = new JScrollPane(); JList aList = new JList(strings); scroller.getViewport().add(aList); getContentPane().add(scroller); }

JList Constructors
Jlist has four constructors Jlist has four constructors
JList() JList(Object[]) JList(Vector) JList(ListModel)

Use the array and Vector versions only for simple, static lists simple, static lists
For more complex lists, use a ListModel

ListModel
A ListModel ListModel represents a list of represents a list of elements to a JList elements to a JList Subclass Subclass AbstractListModel AbstractListModel to override getSize() override getSize() and getElementAt() getElementAt()
ListModel <<interface>> getSize( ) getElementAt( ) addListDataListener( ) removeListDataListener( ) ListDataListener <<interface>> contentsChanged( ) intervalAdded( ) intervalRemoved( )

AbstractListModel addListDataListener( ) removeListDataListener( ) fireContentsChanged( ) fireIntervalAdded( ) fireIntervalRemoved( )

ListModels
There would be several reasons you might make a ListModel might make a ListModel
Loading database information as it is requested Synthetic lists of calculated items

As our example well store information our example well store information in a hashtable, and display the keys as they were added to the hashtable

Example ListModel
public class CustomListModel extends AbstractListModel { Hashtable data = new Hashtable(); Vector orderedKeys = new Vector(); public void put(Object key, Object value) { data.put(key, value); if (!orderedKeys.contains(key)) orderedKeys.addElement(key); fireContentsChanged(this, -1, -1); } public Object get(Object key) { return data.get(key);} public Object getElementAt(int index) { return orderedKeys.elementAt(index);} public int getSize() { return orderedKeys.size();} }

ListModel Example
public ExampleCustomListModelList ( ) { JPanel outerPanel = new JPanel(); outerPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); JScrollPane scroller = new JScrollPane(); public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { model.put("As", "If"); }

JList aList = new JList(buildCustomListModel()); scroller.getViewport().add(aList); JButton button = new JButton("Add"); button.addActionListener(this); outerPanel.add(scroller, BorderLayout.NORTH); outerPanel.add(button, BorderLayout.SOUTH); getContentPane().add(outerPanel); }

JList Events
JLists support the ListSelection event support the ListSelection event notification Clients implement the ListSelectionListener interface
void valueChanged(ListSelectionEvent e) void valueChanged(ListSelectionEvent e)

A ListSelectionEvent knows several things things

first selected index first selected index last selected index getValueIsAdjusting()

JList Event Example Example

public class ExampleListListening extends JFrame implements ListSelectionListener { ExampleListListening() { JList aList = new JList(someModel); aList.addListSelectionListener(this); public void valueChanged(ListSelectionEvent e) { if (!event.getValueIsAdjusting()) { String value = event.getSource().getSelectedValue(); System.out.println(Selection is + value); } } }

List Cell Rendering

JList gives you the option to display not just Strings, but graphical icons as well You need to create a new cell renderer
implement the ListCellRenderer interface set the custom text and icon (image) in this (image) class

JTable
JTable is a Tabular (row-column) view with read-only or editable cells Can create a JTable on:
Two Arrays 2d array of data, 1d array of column headings Two Vectors (data of length row X columns), column columns), headings TableModel, (optionally) ListSelectionModel and TableColumnModel

Table Models
TableModel is an interface that defines the row/column behavior
AbstractTableModel implements most of the behavior you implement getColumnCount(), getRowCount(), getValueAt() getValueAt()
TableModel <<interface>> getColumnCount( ) getRowCount( ) getValueAt( ) isCellEditable( )

AbstractTableModel

JDBCAdapter

YourTableModel

Example Table Model

public ExampleTableCustomModel() { super(); JTable table = new JTable(new CustomDataModel()); createColumnHeadings(table); getContentPane().add(table.createScrollPaneForTable(table)); }
public void createColumnHeadings(JTable table) { String headers[] = {"Zero", "One", "Two", "Three", "Four"}; table.setAutoCreateColumnsFromModel(false); for (int i=0; i<5; i++) { TableColumn column = new TableColumn(i); column.setHeaderValue(headers[i]); table.addColumn(column); } }

Example Custom Model

public class CustomDataModel extends AbstractTableModel { /** * getColumnCount returns 0 since we will create columns ourselves */ public int getColumnCount() { return 0;} public int getRowCount() {return 5;} /** * getValueAt is semi-bogus; it returns a string of row * column. */ public Object getValueAt(int row, int col) { return Integer.toString(row * col); } }

Table Selection
There are several selection attributes of several selection attributes of JTable you can set
setRowSelectionAllowed(boolean value) setColumnSelectionAllowed(boolean value) setSelectionForeground(Color value) value) setSelectionBackground(Color value)

You can also turn horizontal and vertical lines on and off

List Selection
JTables support ListSelection notification
Clients must implement the ListSelectionListener interface Just like JLists in that respect Just

The Event doesnt carry the necessary Event doesnt carry the necessary selection information selection information
You need to query the table for selection information Use getSelectedRow(), getSelectedRow(), getSelectedColumn(), getValueAt()

TableSelectionListener Example
public class ExampleTableSelection extends JFrame implements ListSelectionListener { ExampleTableSelection() { JTable table = new JTable(someModel); ListSelectionModel selectionModel = table.getSelectionModel(); selectionModel.addListSelectionListener(this); } public void valueChanged(ListSelectionEvent e) { JTable table = (JTable) e.getSource(); DefaultTableModel model = (DefaultTableModel) table.getModel(); int row = table.getSelectedRow(); int column = table.getSelectedColumn(); String value = (String) model.getValueAt(row, column); System.out.println(Selected value is + value); } }

Swing Trees
JTree is a hierarchical display component
allows expansion, contraction, editing of allows expansion, contraction, editing of nodes

JTree displays a TreeModel JTree displays a TreeModel

TreeModel is built from TreeNodes MutableTreeNodes hold arbitrary objects

TreeModel Hierarchy
TreeNode is an interface TreeNode is an interface that describes node describes node behavior MutableTreeNode is an interface that allows addition/removal of addition/removal of children DefaultMutableTreeNode implements MutableTreeNode MutableTreeNode

TreeNode <<interface>> getParent( ) children( ) getChildAt( ) isLeaf( )

MutableTreeNode <<interface>> remove(MutableTreeNode ) insert(MutableTreeNode, int ) setParent( MutableTreeNode) setUserObject(Object )

DefaultMutableTreeNode getUserObject( ) add( MutableTreeNode)

TreeNode Example
public DefaultMutableTreeNode buildTree() { DefaultMutableTreeNode root = new DefaultMutableTreeNode("Classes"); DefaultMutableTreeNode level1a = new DefaultMutableTreeNode("Java"); DefaultMutableTreeNode level1b = new DefaultMutableTreeNode("Smalltalk"); root.add(level1a); root.add(level1b); level1a.add(new DefaultMutableTreeNode("Introduction to Java")); level1a.add(new DefaultMutableTreeNode("Advanced Java")); level1a.add(new DefaultMutableTreeNode("Enterprise Java Programming")); return root; }

public ExampleSimpleTree() { JScrollPane scroller = new JScrollPane(); JTree tree = new JTree(buildTree()); scroller.getViewport().add(tree); getContentPane().add(scroller); }

Tree Selection
JTrees support the TreeSelectionEvent support the TreeSelectionEvent notification
Clients must implement the TreeSelectionListener interface void valueChanged(TreeSelectionEvent e)

Use the JTree method getSelectionPath() to get a TreePath that gives the selection(s)

Tree Expansion
JTrees also support the also support the TreeExpansionEvent notification
Clients implement TreeExpansionListener implement TreeExpansionListener void treeExpanded(TreeExpansionEvent e) void treeCollapsed(TreeExpansionEvent e) treeCollapsed(TreeExpansionEvent

You can ask the TreeExpansionEvent to can ask the TreeExpansionEvent to getPath() and return the affected path getPath() and return the affected path

Summary
Swing is a comprehensive expansion and is a comprehensive expansion and replacement for AWT You've seen some basic and advanced seen some basic and advanced concepts in Swing Programming

More Information
For more information, see the Swing tutorials on the Sun Java Developer's the Sun Java Developer's Connection website (http://developer.java.sun.com)
requires registration (free) requires registration (free)

Steven Gutz, "Up to Speed With Swing, 2nd Edition", Manning, 2000