GUI Basics

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 Creating GUI Objects

// Create a button with text OK

JButton jbtOK = new JButton("OK"); Radio
Label Text Check
// Create a label with text "Enter your name: " field Box Button
JLabel jlblName = new JLabel("Enter your name: ");

Button

Combo
Box
// Create a text field with text "Type Name Here"
JTextField jtfName = new JTextField("Type Name Here");

// Create a check box with text bold

JCheckBox jchkBold = new JCheckBox("Bold");

// Create a radio button with text red

JRadioButton jrbRed = new JRadioButton("Red");

// Create a combo box with choices red, green, and blue

JComboBox jcboColor = new JComboBox(new String[]{"Red",
"Green", "Blue"});
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 Swing vs. AWT

 AWT is fine for developing simple graphical user interfaces, but not for
developing comprehensive GUI projects.
 With the release of Java 2, the AWT user-interface components were
replaced by a more robust, versatile, and flexible library known as Swing
components.
 Swing components are less dependent on the target platform and use less of
the native GUI resource.
 For this reason, Swing components that don’t rely on native GUI are referred
to as lightweight components, and AWT components are referred to as
heavyweight components.

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 GUI Class Hierarchy (Swing)
Dimension Classes in the java.awt
LayoutManager package
Heavyweight
Font 1

FontMetrics

Object Color Panel Applet JApplet

Graphics

Component Container Window Frame JFrame

*
Dialog JDialog

JComponent Swing Components

in the javax.swing package

Lightweight

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 Container Classes

Dimension Classes in the java.awt

LayoutManager package
Heavyweight
Font 1

FontMetrics

Object Color Panel Applet JApplet

Graphics

Component Container Window Frame JFrame

*
Dialog JDialog

Container classes can JComponent JPanel Swing Components

in the javax.swing package
contain other GUI
components. Lightweight

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 GUI Helper Classes

Dimension Classes in the java.awt

LayoutManager package
Heavyweight
Font 1

FontMetrics

Object Color Panel Applet JApplet

Graphics

Component Container Window Frame JFrame

*
Dialog JDialog

The helper classes are not subclasses JComponent JPanel Swing Components

of Component. They are used to in the javax.swing package

describe the properties of GUI

components such as graphics context, Lightweight

colors, fonts, and dimension.

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 Swing GUI Components
JCheckBoxMenuItem

JMenuItem JMenu

AbstractButton JButton JRadioButtonMenuItem

JToggleButton JCheckBox

JRadioButton
JComponent JEditorPane

JTextComponent JTextField JPasswordField

JTextArea

JLabel JList JComboBox JPanel JOptionPane JScrollBar JSlider

JTabbedPane JSplitPane JLayeredPane JSeparator JScrollPane JRootPane

JToolBar JMenuBar JPopupMenu JFileChooser JColorChooser JToolTip

JTree JTable JTableHeader JInternalFrame JProgressBar JSpinner

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 Components Covered in the Core Version

JCheckBoxMenuItem

JMenuItem JMenu

AbstractButton JButton JRadioButtonMenuItem

JToggleButton JCheckBox

JRadioButton
JComponent JEditorPane

JTextComponent JTextField JPasswordField

JTextArea

JLabel JList JComboBox JPanel JOptionPane JScrollBar JSlider

JTabbedPane JSplitPane JLayeredPane JSeparator JScrollPane JRootPane

JToolBar JMenuBar JPopupMenu JFileChooser JColorChooser JToolTip

JTree JTable JTableHeader JInternalFrame JProgressBar JSpinner

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 AWT (Optional)
AWTEvent Container Panel Applet

Font Button Window Frame

FontMetrics Label Dialog FileDialog

TextField
Object Color TextComponent

TextArea
Graphics List

Component Choice

CheckBox

LayoutManager CheckBoxGroup

Canvas

MenuComponent MenuItem Menu

MenuBar
Scrollbar

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 Frames

 Frame is a window that is not contained inside another

window. Frame is the basis to contain other user interface
components in Java GUI applications.
 The JFrame class can be used to create windows.
 For Swing GUI programs, use JFrame class to create
widows.

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 Creating Frames
import javax.swing.*;
public class MyFrame {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame");
frame.setSize(400, 300);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(
JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
}
}

MyFrame Run

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 Adding Components into a
Frame
// Add a button into the frame
frame.getContentPane().add(
Title bar
new JButton("OK"));

Content pane

MyFrameWithComponents

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 Content Pane Delegation in
JDK 1.5
// Add a button into the frame
frame.getContentPane().add(
Title bar
new JButton("OK"));

// Add a button into the frame

Content pane frame.add(
new JButton("OK"));

MyFrameWithComponents

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 JFrame Class

javax.swing.JFrame
+JFrame() Creates a default frame with no title.
+JFrame(title: String) Creates a frame with the specified title.
+getSize(width: int, height: int): void Specifies the size of the frame.
+setLocation(x: int, y: int): void Specifies the upper-left corner location of the frame.
+setVisible(visible: boolean): void Sets true to display the frame.
+setDefaultCloseOperation(mode: int): void Specifies the operation when the frame is closed.
+setLocationRelativeTo (c: Component): Sets the location of the frame relative to the specified component.
void If the component is null, the frame is centered on the screen.

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 Layout Managers

 Java’s layout managers provide a level of

abstraction to automatically map your user
interface on all window systems.

 The UI components are placed in containers.

Each container has a layout manager to arrange
the UI components within the container.

 Layout managers are set in containers using the

setLayout(LayoutManager) method in a container.

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 Kinds of Layout Managers

 FlowLayout

 GridLayout

 BorderLayout

 Several other layout managers …

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 FlowLayout Example

Write a program that

adds three labels
and text fields into
the content pane of a
frame with a
FlowLayout
manager.

ShowFlowLayout
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 The FlowLayout Class

The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in
java.awt.FlowLayout the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity.

-alignment: int The alignment of this layout manager (default: CENTER).

-hgap: int The horizontal gap of this layout manager (default: 5 pixels).
-vgap: int The vertical gap of this layout manager (default: 5 pixels).

+FlowLayout() Creates a default FlowLayout manager.

+FlowLayout(alignment: int) Creates a FlowLayout manager with a specified alignment.
+FlowLayout(alignment: int, hgap: Creates a FlowLayout manager with a specified alignment,
int, vgap: int) horizontal gap, and vertical gap.

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 GridLayout Example

Rewrite the program in

the preceding example
using a GridLayout
manager instead of a
FlowLayout manager
to display the labels
and text fields.

ShowGridLayout

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 The GridLayout Class
The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in
java.awt.GridLayout the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity.

-rows: int The number of rows in this layout manager (default: 1).
-columns: int The number of columns in this layout manager (default: 1).
-hgap: int The horizontal gap of this layout manager (default: 0).
-vgap: int The vertical gap of this layout manager (default: 0).

+GridLayout() Creates a default GridLayout manager.

+GridLayout(rows: int, columns: int) Creates a GridLayout with a specified number of rows and columns.
+GridLayout(rows: int, columns: int, Creates a GridLayout manager with a specified number of rows and
hgap: int, vgap: int) columns, horizontal gap, and vertical gap.

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 The BorderLayout Manager

The BorderLayout add(Component,

constraint), where
manager divides the
constraint is
container into five areas: BorderLayout.EAST,
East, South, West, North, BorderLayout.SOUTH,
and Center. Components BorderLayout.WEST,
are added to a BorderLayout.NORTH, or
BorderLayout by using BorderLayout.CENTER.
the add method.

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 BorderLayout Example

ShowBorderLayout

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 The BorderLayout Class

The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in
java.awt.BorderLayout the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity.

-hgap: int The horizontal gap of this layout manager (default: 0).
-vgap: int The vertical gap of this layout manager (default: 0).

+BorderLayout() Creates a default BorderLayout manager.

+BorderLayout(hgap: int, vgap: int) Creates a BorderLayout manager with a specified number of
horizontal gap, and vertical gap.

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 The Color Class
You can set colors for GUI components by using the
java.awt.Color class. Colors are made of red, green, and blue
components, each of which is represented by a byte value that
describes its intensity, ranging from 0 (darkest shade) to 255
(lightest shade). This is known as the RGB model.
Color c = new Color(r, g, b);
r, g, and b specify a color by its red, green, and blue
components.

Example:
Color c = new Color(228, 100, 255);

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 Standard Colors
 Thirteen standard colors (black, blue, cyan, darkGray, gray, green,
lightGray, magenta, orange, pink, red, white, yellow) are defined as
constants in java.awt.Color.

 The standard color names are constants, but they are named as
variables with lowercase for the first word and uppercase for the first
letters of subsequent words.

 Since JDK 1.4, you can also use the new constants: BLACK, BLUE,
CYAN, DARK_GRAY, GRAY, GREEN, LIGHT_GRAY, MAGENTA,
ORANGE, PINK, RED, WHITE, and YELLOW.

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 Setting Colors

You can use the following methods to set the

component’s background and foreground
colors:
setBackground(Color c)
setForeground(Color c)

Example:
jbt.setBackground(Color.yellow);
jbt.setForeground(Color.red);

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 The Font Class
Font Names Font Style
Standard font names Font.PLAIN (0),
that are supported in Font.BOLD (1),
all platforms are: Font.ITALIC (2), and
SansSerif, Serif, Font.BOLD +
Monospaced, Dialog, Font.ITALIC (3)
or DialogInput.

Font myFont = new Font(name, style, size);

Example:
Font myFont = new Font("SansSerif ", Font.BOLD, 16);
Font myFont = new Font("Serif", Font.BOLD+Font.ITALIC, 12);

JButton jbtOK = new JButton("OK“);

jbtOK.setFont(myFont);

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 Finding All Available Font Names

GraphicsEnvironment e =
GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
String[] fontnames =
e.getAvailableFontFamilyNames();
for (int i = 0; i < fontnames.length; i++)
System.out.println(fontnames[i]);

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 Using Panels as Sub-
Containers
 Panels act as sub-containers for grouping user interface components.
 It is recommended that you place the user interface components in
panels and place the panels in a frame. You can also place panels in
a panel.
 To add a component to JFrame, you actually add it to the content
pane of JFrame. To add a component to a panel, you add it directly to
the panel using the add method.

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 Creating a JPanel
You can use new JPanel() to create a panel with a default FlowLayout
manager or new JPanel(LayoutManager) to create a panel with the
specified layout manager. Use the add(Component) method to add a
component to the panel. For example,

JPanel p = new JPanel();

p.add(new JButton("OK"));

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 Testing Panels Example
This example uses panels to organize components. The
program creates a user interface for a Microwave oven.

frame
A textfield
p2
A button 12
buttons p1

TestPanels

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Common Features of Swing Components The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in
the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity.
java.awt.Component
-font: java.awt.Font The font of this component.
-background: java.awt.Color The background color of this component.
-foreground: java.awt.Color The foreground color of this component.
-preferredSize: Dimension The preferred size of this component.
-visible: boolean Indicates whether this component is visible.
+getWidth(): int Returns the width of this component.
+getHeight(): int Returns the height of this component.
+getX(): int getX() and getY() return the coordinate of the component’s
+getY(): int upper-left corner within its parent component.

java.awt.Container
+add(comp: Component): Component Adds a component to the container.
+add(comp: Component, index: int): Component Adds a component to the container with the specified index.
+remove(comp: Component): void Removes the component from the container.
+getLayout(): LayoutManager Returns the layout manager for this container.
+setLayout(l: LayoutManager): void Sets the layout manager for this container.
+paintComponents(g: Graphics): void Paints each of the components in this container.

The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in
the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity.
javax.swing.JComponent
-toolTipText: String The tool tip text for this component. Tool tip text is displayed when
the mouse points on the component without clicking.
-border: javax.swing.border.Border The border for this component.

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 Borders
You can set a border on any object of the JComponent
class. Swing has several types of borders. To create a titled
border, use
new TitledBorder(String title).
To create a line border, use
new LineBorder(Color color, int width),
where width specifies the thickness of the line. For example,
the following code displays a titled border on a panel:
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.setBorder(new TitleBorder(“My Panel”));

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 Test Swing Common Features
Component Properties JComponent Properties
 font  toolTipText
 background
 foreground  border
 preferredSize
 minimumSize
 maximumSize

TestSwingCommonFeatures

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 Image Icons

 Java uses the javax.swing.ImageIcon class to represent

an icon. An icon is a fixed-size picture.
 Images are normally stored in image files. You can use
new ImageIcon(filename) to construct an image icon.
 For example, the following statement creates an icon
from an image file us.gif in the image directory under
the current class path:
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon("image/us.gif");

TestImageIcon

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