The Abstract Windowing

Swing
Toolkit
• Since Java was first released, its user • The Swing classes are used to build GUIs
interface facilities have been a significant – Swing does not stand for anything
– Swing is built on top of the 1.1/1.2 AWT libraries
weakness
• Swing makes 3 major improvements on the AWT
– The Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) was part of
– does not rely on the platform’s native components
the JDK form the beginning, but it really was not – it supports “Pluggable Look-and-Feel”
sufficient to support a complex user interface – it is based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC)
• JDK 1.1 fixed a number of problems, and
JFC
most notably, it introduced a new event AWT JDK 1.2

model. It did not make any major additions to Swing

the basic components

Java Foundation Classes Components

• In April 1997, JavaSoft announced the • A GUI consists of different graphic
Java Foundation Classes (JFC). Component objects that are combined into
– a major part of the JFC is a new set of user a hierarchy using Container objects.
interface components called Swing. • Component class
– An abstract class for GUI components such as menus,
buttons, labels, lists, etc.
Drag
Java
AWT Swing Accessibility
2D
And • Container
Drop – An abstract class that extends Component. Containers
can hold multiple components.

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 Weighing Components Additional Swing Features
• Sun makes a distinction between lightweight and • Swing also provides
heavyweight components – A wide variety of components (tables, trees, sliders,
– Lightweight components are not dependent on progress bars, internal frame, …)
native peers to render themselves. They are – Swing components can have tooltips placed over them.
coded in Java. – Arbitrary keyboard events can be bound to components.
– Additional debugging support.
– Heavyweight components are rendered by the
– Support for parsing and displaying HTML based
host operating system. They are resources
information.
managed by the underlying window manager.

Heavyweight Components Applets versus Applications

• Heavyweight components were unwieldy for • Using Swing it is possible to create two different
two reasons: types of GUI programs
– Equivalent components on different platforms do – Standalone applications
• Programs that are started from the command line
not necessarily act alike.
• Code resides on the machine on which they are run
– The look and feel of each component was tied to
– Applets
the host operating system • Programs run inside a web browser
• Almost all Swing components are lightweight • Code is downloaded from a web server
except • JVM is contained inside the web browser
• For security purposes Applets are normally prevented from
– JApplet, JFrame, JDialog, and JWindow doing certain things (for example opening files).
• For now we will write standalone applications

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 JFrames JFrame
• A JFrame is a Window with all of the • Sizing a Frame
adornments added. – You can specify the size.
• Height and width given in pixels.
• A JFrame provides the basic building block • The size of a pixel will vary based on the resolution
for screen-oriented applications. of the device on which the frame is rendered.
JFrame win = new JFrame( “title” ); – The method, pack(), will set the size of the
frame automatically based on the size of the
components contained in the content pane
• Note that pack does not look at the title bar.

– SwingFrame2.java

Creating a JFrame JFrame

Layered pane
• SwingFrame.java • JFrames have several panes:
Glass pane

Menu bar

Content pane

• Components are placed in the content pane

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 Swing Components Hello World Example
• JComponent • SwingFrame3.java – Using a label.
– JComboBox, JLabel, JList, JMenuBar, JPanel,
JPopupMenu, JScrollBar, JScrollPane, JTable,
JTree, JInternalFrame, JOptionPane,
JProgressBar, JRootPane, JSeparator, JSlider,
JSplitPane, JTabbedPane, JToolBar, JToolTip,
Jviewport, JColorChooser, JTextComponent,
…

JLabels JButtons
• JLabels are components that you can • JButton extends Component , displays a
put text into. string and delivers an ActionEvent for
• When creating a label you can specify each mouse click.
the initial value and the alignment you • Normally buttons are displayed with a
wish to use within the label. border.
• You can use getText() and setText() to • In addition to text, JButtons can also
retrieve and modify the value of the display icons.
label. button = new JButton( ”text“ ) ;
label = new JLabel( ”text", JLabel.RIGHT ) ;
• SwingButton.java

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 Layout Manager Layout Managers
• Layout Manager • Layouts allow you to format components on the
screen in a platform independent manner.
– An interface that defines methods for
• The standard JDK provides five classes for
positioning and sizing objects within a
implementing the LayoutManager interface:
container.
– FlowLayout
– Java defines several default – GridLayout
implementations of LayoutManager. – BorderLayout
• Geometrical placement in a Container is – CardLayout
– GridBagLayout
controlled by a LayoutManager object
• Layout managers are defined in the AWT package

Components, Containers, and

Changing the Layout
Layout Managers
• Containers may contain components • To change the layout used in a container the
– that means containers can contain containers!!. program must first create the layout.
• All containers come equipped with a layout • Then the setLayout() method is invoked on the
manager that positions and shapes (lays container that is to use the new layout.
out) the container's components. JPanel p = new JPanel() ;
• Much of the action in the AWT occurs p.setLayout( new FlowLayout() );
between components, containers, and their
layout managers. • The layout manager should be specified before
any components are added to the container.

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 FlowLayout GridLayout
• The GridLayout manager arranges
• FlowLayout is the default layout for the
components in rows and columns.
JPanel class.
– If the number of rows is specified
• When you add components to the screen, • columns = number of components / rows
they are added from left to right (centered) – If the number of columns is specified
based on the order added and the width of • rows = number of components / columns
the screen. – The number of columns is ignored unless the
– Very similar to word wrap and full justification on number of rows is zero.
a word processor.
– If the screen is resized, the components' layout
will change based on the new width and height.

Flow Layout GridLayout

• SwingFlowLayout.java – Resize • The order in which components are
Window. added to the layout manager matters.
– Component 1 Æ (0,0), Component 2 Æ
(0,1), …...
• Components are resized to fit the row-
column area.

• SwingGridLayout.java – Resize.

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 BorderLayout Containers
• BorderLayout provides 5 areas to hold • A JFrame is not the only container in Swing.
components. • The subclasses of Container are:
– The areas are named after the four different – JPanel
borders of the screen: North, South, East, – JWindow
West, and Center. – JApplet

• When a Component is added to the layout, • Window is subclassed as follows:

– JDialog
the area to place it in must be specified. – JFrame
– The order in which components is not
important.

A Simple 4 Function
BoarderLayout
Calculator
• The center area will always be resized
to be as large as possible.

• SwingBoarder.java – Resize.

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 Swing Components
JFrame
with BorderLayout JLabel

JButton

JPanel
with GridLayout