GUI Basics
First three slides are repeated from previous lecture notes! You will probably (in fact should) never write Java codes like the program examples given in these notes. You will use IDEs (integrated development environment / integrated design environment / integrated debugging environment) like Netbeans, Eclipse JDT, Kdeveloper etc. to design / develope / test GUIs. Java codes given in these notes are for reference, understanding the underlying workings and design of Java GUI API, introducing key concepts, naming convensions and key terms , which you must know for sure to learn and practice in Java GUI API. Key Terms: GUI, API, Swing, Component, Container, JFrame, JPanel, LayoutManager, GUI Helper Classes, Swing GUI Components (JButton, JTextField, JLabel, JComboBox, J...) , Common Features
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The Java API
The Java API (Application Program Interface, Application Programming Interface, or Application Programmer interface) consists of numerous classes and interfaces grouped into more than a dozen of packages. You have used classes and interfaces in the [Link], [Link], and [Link] packages.
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Framework-Based Programming
To create comprehensive projects, you have to use more classes and interfaces in the Java API. The classes and interfaces in the Java API establish a framework for programmers to develop applications using Java. For example, the classes and interfaces in the Java GUI API establish a framework for developing GUI programs. You have to use these classes and interfaces and follow their conventions and rules to create applications. This is referred to as framework-based programming.
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Framework-Based Programming, cont.
Once you understand the concept of Java and object-orient programming, the most important lesson from now on is learning how to use the API to develop useful programs. The most effective way to achieve it is to imitate good examples. The book provides many carefully designed examples to demonstrate the concept of the framework-based programming using the Java API.
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Motivations
The design of the API for Java GUI programming is an excellent example of how the object-oriented principle is applied. In the chapters that follow, you will learn the framework of Java GUI API and use the GUI components to develop user-friendly interfaces for applications and applets.
Objectives
To distinguish between Swing and AWT. To describe the Java GUI API hierarchy. To create user interfaces using frames, panels, and simple GUI components. To understand the role of layout managers. To use the FlowLayout, GridLayout, and BorderLayout managers to layout components in a container. To use JPanel as subcontainers. To specify colors and fonts using the Color and Font classes. To apply common features such as borders, tool tips, fonts, and colors on Swing components. To use borders to visually group user-interface components. To create image icons using the ImageIcon class.
Creating GUI Objects
// Create a button with text OK JButton jbtOK = new JButton("OK"); // Create a label with text "Enter your name: " JLabel jlblName = new JLabel("Enter your name: ");
Label
Text field
Check Box
Radio Button
Button
// 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"});
Combo Box
Swing vs. AWT
So why do the GUI component classes have a prefix J? Instead of JButton, why not name it simply Button? In fact, there is a class already named Button in the [Link] package.
When Java was introduced, the GUI classes were bundled in a library known as the Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT). For every platform on which Java runs, the AWT components are automatically mapped to the platform-specific components through their respective agents, known as peers. AWT is fine for developing simple graphical user interfaces, but not for developing comprehensive GUI projects. Besides, AWT is prone to platform-specific bugs because its peer-based approach relies heavily on the underlying platform. 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 painted directly on canvases using Java code, except for components that are subclasses of [Link] or [Link], which must be drawn using native GUI on a specific platform. Swing components are less dependent on the target platform and use less of the native GUI resource. For this reason, Swing components that dont 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 Font FontMetrics Object Color Graphics Component
* LayoutManager 1 Classes in the [Link] package Heavyweight
Panel
Applet
JApplet
Container
Window
Frame Dialog
JFrame JDialog
JComponent
Swing Components in the [Link] package
Lightweight
Container Classes
Dimension Font FontMetrics Object Color Graphics Component
* LayoutManager 1 Classes in the [Link] package Heavyweight
Panel
Applet
JApplet
Container
Window
Frame Dialog
JFrame JDialog
Container classes can contain other GUI components.
JComponent
JPanel
Swing Components in the [Link] package
Lightweight
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GUI Helper Classes
Dimension Font FontMetrics Object Color Graphics Component
* LayoutManager 1 Classes in the [Link] package Heavyweight
Panel
Applet
JApplet
Container
Window
Frame Dialog
JFrame JDialog
The helper classes are not subclasses of Component. They are used to describe the properties of GUI components such as graphics context, colors, fonts, and dimension.
JComponent
JPanel
Swing Components in the [Link] package
Lightweight
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Swing GUI Components
JCheckBoxMenuItem JMenuItem JMenu JRadioButtonMenuItem JCheckBox JRadioButton
AbstractButton
JButton JToggleButton
JComponent
JTextComponent
JEditorPane JTextField JTextArea
JPasswordField
JLabel
JList
JComboBox JSplitPane
JPanel
JOptionPane JSeparator JFileChooser
JScrollBar JScrollPane JColorChooser
JSlider JRootPane JToolTip
JTabbedPane JToolBar JTree
JLayeredPane JPopupMenu
JMenuBar JTable
JTableHeader
JInternalFrame
JProgressBar
JSpinner
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Components Covered in the Brief Version
JCheckBoxMenuItem JMenuItem JMenu JRadioButtonMenuItem JCheckBox JRadioButton
AbstractButton
JButton JToggleButton
JComponent
JTextComponent
JEditorPane JTextField JTextArea
JPasswordField
JLabel
JList
JComboBox JSplitPane
JPanel
JOptionPane JSeparator JFileChooser
JScrollBar JScrollPane JColorChooser
JSlider JRootPane JToolTip
JTabbedPane JToolBar JTree
JLayeredPane JPopupMenu
JMenuBar JTable
JTableHeader
JInternalFrame
JProgressBar
JSpinner
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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. Swing GUI programs, use JFrame class to create widows.
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For
Creating Frames
import [Link].*; public class MyFrame { public static void main(String[] args) { JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Frame"); [Link](400, 300); [Link](true); [Link]( JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); } } MyFrame Run
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Adding Components into a Frame
Title bar // Add a button into the frame [Link]().add( new JButton("OK"));
Content pane
MyFrameWithComponents
Run
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Content Pane Delegation in JDK 1.5
Title bar // Add a button into the frame [Link]().add( new JButton("OK"));
Content pane
// Add a button into the frame [Link]( new JButton("OK"));
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JFrame Class
[Link] +JFrame() +JFrame(title: String) +setSize(width: int, height: int): void +setLocation(x: int, y: int): void +setVisible(visible: boolean): void +setDefaultCloseOperation(mode: int): void +setLocationRelativeTo(c: Component): void +pack(): void Creates a default frame with no title. Creates a frame with the specified title. Specifies the size of the frame. Specifies the upper-left corner location of the frame. Sets true to display the frame. Specifies the operation when the frame is closed. Sets the location of the frame relative to the specified component. If the component is null, the frame is centered on the screen. Automatically sets the frame size to hold the components in the frame.
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Layout Managers
Javas 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 is introduced in textbooks chapter Containers, Layout Managers, and Borders
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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
Run
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The FlowLayout Class
The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity. The alignment of this layout manager (default: CENTER). The horizontal gap of this layout manager (default: 5 pixels). The vertical gap of this layout manager (default: 5 pixels). Creates a default FlowLayout manager. Creates a FlowLayout manager with a specified alignment. Creates a FlowLayout manager with a specified alignment, horizontal gap, and vertical gap.
[Link] -alignment: int -hgap: int -vgap: int +FlowLayout() +FlowLayout(alignment: int) +FlowLayout(alignment: int, hgap: int, vgap: int)
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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 Run
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The GridLayout Class
[Link] -rows: int -columns: int -hgap: int -vgap: int +GridLayout() The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity. The number of rows in this layout manager (default: 1). The number of columns in this layout manager (default: 1). The horizontal gap of this layout manager (default: 0). The vertical gap of this layout manager (default: 0). 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 manager divides the container into five areas: East, South, West, North, and Center. Components are added to a BorderLayout by using the add method.
add(Component, constraint), where constraint is [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], or [Link].
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BorderLayout Example
ShowBorderLayout
Run
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The BorderLayout Class
[Link] -hgap: int -vgap: int +BorderLayout()
The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity. The horizontal gap of this layout manager (default: 0). The vertical gap of this layout manager (default: 0). 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 [Link] 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 [Link]. 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. Thus the color names violate the Java naming convention. 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 components background and foreground colors:
setBackground(Color c) setForeground(Color c)
Example:
[Link]([Link]); [Link]([Link]);
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The Font Class
Font Names
Standard font names that are supported in all platforms are: SansSerif, Serif, Monospaced, Dialog, or DialogInput.
Font Style
[Link] (0), [Link] (1), [Link] (2), and [Link] + [Link] (3)
Font myFont = new Font(name, style, size);
Example:
Font myFont = new Font("SansSerif ", [Link], 16); Font myFont = new Font("Serif", [Link]+[Link], 12); JButton jbtOK = new JButton("OK); [Link](myFont);
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Finding All Available Font Names
GraphicsEnvironment e = [Link](); String[] fontnames = [Link](); for (int i = 0; i < [Link]; i++) [Link](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(); [Link](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
Run
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Common Features of Swing Components
[Link]
-font: [Link] -background: [Link] -foreground: [Link] -preferredSize: Dimension -visible: boolean +getWidth(): int +getHeight(): int +getX(): int +getY(): int The get and set methods for these data fields are provided in the class, but omitted in the UML diagram for brevity. The font of this component. The background color of this component. The foreground color of this component. The preferred size of this component. Indicates whether this component is visible. Returns the width of this component. Returns the height of this component. getX() and getY() return the coordinate of the components upper-left corner within its parent component.
[Link]
+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. Removes the component from the container. +remove(comp: Component): void +getLayout(): LayoutManager +setLayout(l: LayoutManager): void +paintComponents(g: Graphics): void Returns the layout manager for this container. Sets the layout manager for this container. 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.
[Link]
-toolTipText: String -border: [Link] The tool tip text for this component. Tool tip text is displayed when the mouse points on the component without clicking. 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(); [Link](new TitleBorder(My Panel));
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Test Swing Common Features
Component Properties
font background foreground preferredSize minimumSize maximumSize
JComponent Properties
toolTipText border
TestSwingCommonFeatures
Run
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Image Icons
Java uses the [Link] class to represent an icon. An icon is a fixed-size picture; typically it is small and used to decorate components. 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 [Link] in the image directory under the current class path:
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon("image/[Link]");
TestImageIcon Run
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Splash Screen
A splash screen is an image that is displayed while the application is starting up. If your program takes a long time to load, you may display a splash screen to alert the user. For example, the following command:
java splash:image/[Link] TestImageIcon
displays an image while the program TestImageIcon is being loaded.
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