Up to speed with Swing

Table of contents

Introduction
Preface

Who is the Intended Audience?

How is This Book Organized?

Conventions Used in This Book

Obtaining the Source Code

Providing Author Feedback

Special Thanks

Chapter 1 A Java Refresher

What is Java?

What is AWT?

The Java Event Models

Java 1.0

Java 1.1 and beyond

JavaBeans

A Review of Components, Listeners and Events

Layout Manager Refresher

Border Layout

Card Layout

Flow Layout

Grid Layout

GridBag Layout

Combining Multiple Layouts

Minimum Software Requirements

Delivering a Final Product

Just-In-Time Compilers

Chapter Summary

Chapter 2 Swing Basics

What is JFC?

What is Swing?

Swing Package Overview

Why Use Swing?

JavaBeans Compliance

Lightweight Framework

Interaction with External Resources

Model-View-Controller Architecture

How MVC Works?

What Can MVC Accomplish?

Custom Rendering

Custom Data Models

Delegates

What are Delegates?

The ComponentUI Class

Pluggable Look-And-Feel

Creating UI Objects

Creating a Simple Component

JComponent, the Mother of Swing

Pluggable Look-and-Feel

Keystroke Handling

Action Objects

Borders

Accessibility

Other Features of JComponent

JComponent Constants

JComponent Variables

JComponent Constructors

JComponent Significant Method Groupings

Chapter Summary

Chapter 3 Panels and Panes

JFrame

A JFrame Application

JFrame Variables

JFrame Constructors

JFrame Significant Method Groupings

JApplet

A JApplet Sample Applet

JApplet Variables

JApplet Constructors

JApplet Significant Method Groupings

Creating Simple Panels

JPanel Constructors

Simple Border Types

Creating a Custom Border Class

Compound Border Creation

Swing Layout Managers

Tabbed Panes

Creating a Tabbed Pane

Adding and Inserting Pages

Removing Pages

Selecting Pages

A Complete JTabbedPane Example

JTabbedPane Variables

JTabbedPane Constructors

JTabbedPane Significant Method Groupings

Scrolling Panes

An Example Using JScrollPane

JScrollPane Constants

JScrollPane Constructors

JScrollPane Significant Method Groupings

Split Panes

Intercepting JSplitPane Events

JSplitPane Constants

JSplitPane Variables

JSplitPane Constructors

JSplitPane Significant Method Groupings

Advanced Scrolling

Layered Panes

JLayeredPane Constants

JLayeredPane Variables

JLayeredPane Constructors

JLayeredPane Significant Method Groupings

Directory Panes

JDirectoryPane Variables

JDirectoryPane Constructors

JDirectoryPane Significant Method Groupings

Chapter Summary

Chapter 4 Labels and Buttons

Basic User Interface Components

Labels

A JLabel Sample Program

Setting Fonts and Colors

Text Alignment

Adding an Image to a Label

JLabel Variables

JLabel Constructors

JLabel Significant Method Groupings

AbstractButton

Listening for Button Events

Adding Icons to Buttons

Enabling and Disabling Buttons

Adding a Keyboard Mnemonic

AbstractButton Variables

AbstractButton Significant Method Groupings

Push Buttons

JButton Constructors

The JButton API

Toggle Buttons

JToggleButton Constructors

Checkboxes

Special Layout Considerations

JCheckBox Constructors

Radio Buttons

JRadioButton Constructors

Chapter Summary

Chapter 5 Text Management

JTextComponent

Clipboard Operations

Saving and Loading

JTextComponent Constants

JTextComponent Constructors

JTextComponent Significant Method Groupings

Document Handling

Document Constants

Document Significant Method Groupings

TextFields and PasswordFields

Associating Keyboard Mnemonics

Special Event Handling

JTextField Constructors

JPasswordField Constructors

JPasswordField Significant Method Groupings

TextAreas

JTextArea Constructors

JTextArea Significant Method Groupings

Comboboxes

Adding and Removing List Items

Selecting Items

Allowing Field Editing

Other Combobox Tricks

JComboBox Constructors

JComboBox Significant Method Groupings

Viewing HTML and Other Formats

Listening for Hyperlink Changes

JEditorPane Constructors

JEditorPane Significant Method Groupings

Chapter Summary

Chapter 6 Progress Bars, Scrollbars and Sliders

Progress Bars

JProgressBar Variables

JProgressBar Constructors

JProgressBar Significant Method Groupings

Scrollbars

JScrollBar Variables

JScrollBar Constructors

JScrollBar Significant Method Groupings

Sliders

Listening for Slider Activity

JSlider Variables

JSlider Constructors

JSlider Significant Method Groupings

Chapter Summary

Chapter 7 Menus and Toolbars

Menu Items

Adding Graphics to Menu Items

Menu Item Shortcut Keys

Responding to a Menu Selection

JMenuItem Constructors

JMenuItem Significant Method Groupings

Checkbox Menu Items

Managing Checkbox State

JCheckBoxMenuItem Variables

JCheckBoxMenuItem Constructors

JCheckBoxMenuItem Significant Method Groupings

RadioButton Menu Items

JRadioButtonMenuItem Variables

JRadioButtonMenuItem Constructors

Menus

Creating Cascading Menus

JMenu Variables

JMenu Constructors

JMenu Significant Method Groupings

Menu Bars

Creating Application Menus

Adding ToolTips

JMenuBar Constructors

JMenuBar Significant Method Groupings

Popup Menus

JPopupMenu Constructors

JPopupMenu Significant Method Groupings

Toolbars

ToolBar Basics

A Toolbar with Many Faces

Docking and Undocking Toolbars

Adding other Components to a Toolbar

JToolBar Constructors

JToolBar Significant Method Groupings

Chapter Summary

Chapter 8 Dialogs and Internal Frames

Simple Dialogs

Modal vs. Non-Modal Dialogs

A More Advanced JDialog Example

JDialog Variables

JDialog Constructors

JDialog Significant Method Groupings

Option Dialogs

JOptionPane Constants

JOptionPane Variables

JOptionPane Constructors

JOptionPane Significant Method Groupings

The Color Chooser

The JColorChooser Dialog

JColorChooser as a Component

JColorChooser Constants

JColorChooser Constructors

JColorChooser Significant Method Groupings

The File Chooser

JFileChooser Variables

JFileChooser Constructors

JFileChooser Significant Method Groupings

Internal Frames

JInternalFrame Constants

JInternalFrame Variables

JInternalFrame Constructors

JInternalFrame Significant Method Groupings

Chapter Summary

Chapter 9 List Boxes

A Simple JList Example

A More Advanced JList Example

Listening for List Activity

Custom Data Model

Basic Custom List Rendering

Advanced Custom List Rendering

JList Constructors

JList Significant Method Groupings

Chapter Summary

Chapter 10 Trees

Basic Tree Implementation

A Basic JTree Example

Adding New Tree Items

Custom Data Models

Custom Rendering

Editing Tree Nodes

Listening for Tree Actions

Listening for Tree Selections

Listening for Tree Expansions

Tips and Tricks for Enhancing Trees

Hiding the Root Node

Expanding and Collapsing the Tree

Selecting and Deselecting Nodes

JTree Class Information

JTree Constants

JTree Variables

JTree Constructors

JTree Significant Method Groups

Chapter Summary

Chapter 11 Tables

Basic Table Use

The Simplest of Table Examples

A More Complex Table Example

Adding a Custom Data Model

A Simple Data Model Example

Adding Custom Rendering

Simple Table Cell Rendering

Rendering Column Headers

Simple Header Rendering

Listening for Table Actions

Detecting Table Selections

Detecting Column Property Changes

Other Tips and Tricks

Eliminating the Annoying Gray Background

Intercepting Mouse and Keyboard Events

Putting It All Together

Putting It All Together

JTable Class Information

JTable Contants

JTable Variables

JTable Constructors

JTable Significant Method Groups

Chapter Summary

Chapter 12 Creating Custom Look and Feel

Model-View-Controller Architecture Revisited

Why Create a Look and Feel?

Corporate Standard User Interface

Ease of Portability

New Component Creation

UIManager and JFC Look-and-Feel

Listing Available Look-and-Feel Libraries

Changing the Current Look-and-Feel

Creating a New Look

Building a New Button

Building Chrome Menus

Chapter Summary

Chapter 13 Optimizing JFC Applications

Why Optimize?

Using Optimization Tools

A Poorly Performance Test Case

Sun's JDK Profiler

Profiling with Java Workshop

Profiling With OptimizeIt

A Custom Profiler Class

Native Compilation -- The Easy Way Out

General Rules for Java Optimization

Loop Optimization

String Handling

Numerical Data Handling

Native Code

Other Tips for Optimizing Java Code

Optimizing JFC Applications

Adding Threads to a JFC Application

Using JFC Timers to Reduce CPU Usage

Other Tips for Optimizing JFC Applications

Chapter Summary

Appendices

Appendix A - Visual Development Tools

IBM VisualAge for Java

Symantec Visual Cafe

Borland JBuilder

Other Tools

Appendix B - Other Tools

PureCheck

Jikes Debugger

OptimizeIt

DashO Optimizer

Appendix C - Sources of Information

Search Engines

Tools

Documentation

Tutorials

Appendix D - References

Index