Swing Hacks

by Marinacci, Joshua

• ISBN13: 9780596009076
• ISBN10: 0596009070
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

This book is for the developer who wants to use Swing components to build the perfect user interface. It's for professional client-side Java developers who want to deliver polished applications that look, feel, and run as well as native applications. It's for enthusiasts who want to push the boundaries and the coders who want to bring powerful techniques to their own applications. It teaches how to apply the Swing API in situations that require a more advanced touch. In other words, how to use and extend the Swing component set of tables, trees, sliders, spinners, progress bars, internal frames, and text components in ways that Swing's originators never imagined. Example hacks include, how to filter lists, power-up trees and tables, and how to add drag-and-drop support. Detail is also provided on JTable/JTree, threaded component models, and translucent windows.

Author Biography

Joshua Marinacci is the author of "The Java Sketchbook" column for java.net, covering topics in Java client-side and web development. A Java programmer since 1995, he's currently working on enterprise document management software. Joshua earned his BS from Georgia Tech in 1997, and has been a professional programmer for over a decade.

Chris Adamson is the Associate Online Editor for the O'Reilly web sites ONJava.com and java.net, and is the author of O'Reilly's QuickTime for Java: A Developer's Notebook. His consulting company, Subsequently & Furthermore, Inc., specializes in Java media development. Chris has a BA and BS from Stanford University and an MA from Michigan State University.

Table of Contents

Credits	ix
Preface	xiii
Chapter 1. Basic JComponents	1	(57)
1. Create Image-Themed Components	1	(7)
2. Don't Settle for Boring Text Labels	8	(6)
3. Fill Your Borders with Pretty Pictures	14	(5)
4. Display Dates in a Custom Calendar	19	(4)
5. Add a Watermark to a Text Component	23	(3)
6. Watermark Your Scroll Panes	26	(3)
7. Put a NASA Photo into the Background of a Text Area	29	(3)
8. Animate Transitions Between Tabs	32	(7)
9. Blur Disabled Components	39	(4)
10. Building a Drop-Down Menu Button	43	(6)
11. Create Menus with Drop Shadows	49	(3)
12. Add Translucence to Menus	52	(6)
Chapter 2. Lists and Combos	58	(44)
13. Filter JLists	58	(5)
14. Add a Filter History	63	(3)
15. Make JLists Checkable	66	(4)
16. Make Different List Items Look Different	70	(10)
17. Reorder a JList with Drag-and-Drop	80	(7)
18. Animate Your JList Selections	87	(5)
19. Turn Methods into List Renderers	92	(3)
20. Create a Collections-Aware JComboBox	95	(7)
Chapter 3. Tables and Trees	102	(47)
21. Size Your Columns to Suit Your JTable's Contents	102	(5)
22. Add Column Selection to JTables	107	(3)
23. Let Your JTables Do the Sorting	110	(12)
24. Create a JDBC Table Model	122	(8)
25. Export Table Data to an Excel Spreadsheet	130	(3)
26. Search Through JTables Easily	133	(6)
27. Animate JTree Drops	139	(10)
Chapter 4. File Choosers	149	(26)
28. Add a Right-Click Context Menu to the JFileChooser	149	(5)
29. Display Shortcuts in the JFileChooser	154	(4)
30. Real Windows Shortcut Support	158	(6)
31. Add Image Preview to File Choosers	164	(3)
32. Preview ZIP and JAR Files	167	(8)
Chapter 5. Windows, Dialogs, and Frames	175	(38)
33. Window Snapping	175	(3)
34. Make a Draggable Window	178	(3)
35. Add Windows Resize Icons	181	(6)
36. Add Status Bars to Windows	187	(6)
37. Save Window Settings	193	(4)
38. Earthquake Dialog	197	(5)
39. Spin Open a Detail Pane	202	(5)
40. Minimize to a Mini-Frame	207	(6)
Chapter 6. Transparent and Animated Windows	213	(44)
41. Transparent Windows	213	(6)
42. Make Your Frame Dissolve	219	(6)
43. Create Custom Tool Tips	225	(3)
44. Turn Dialogs into Frame-Anchored Sheets	228	(5)
45. Animating a Sheet Dialog	233	(7)
46. Slide Notes Out from the Taskbar	240	(7)
47. Indefinite Progress Indicator	247	(10)
Chapter 7. Text	257	(30)
48. Make Text Components Searchable	257	(4)
49. Force Text Input into Specific Formats	261	(4)
50. Auto-Completing Text Fields	265	(7)
51. Write Backward Text	272	(3)
52. Use HTML and CSS in Text Components	275	(3)
53. Use Global Anti-Aliased Fonts	278	(5)
54. Anti-Aliased Text Without Code	283	(2)
55. Anti-Aliased Text with a Custom Look and Feel	285	(2)
Chapter 8. Rendering	287	(43)
56. Create a Magnifying Glass Component	287	(6)
57. Create a Global Right-Click	293	(3)
58. Block a Window Without a Modal Dialog	296	(4)
59. Create a Color Eyedropper	300	(4)
60. Changing Fonts Throughout Your Application	304	(3)
61. Load New Fonts at Runtime	307	(2)
62. Build a Colorful Vector-Based Button	309	(7)
63. Add a Third Dimension to Swing	316	(5)
64. Turn the Spotlight on Swing	321	(9)
Chapter 9. Drag-and-Drop	330	(28)
65. Drag-and-Drop with Files	330	(6)
66. Handle Dropped URLs	336	(4)
67. Handle Dropped Images	340	(5)
68. Handling Dropped Picts on Mac OS X	345	(5)
69. Translucent Drag-and-Drop	350	(8)
Chapter 10. Audio	358	(50)
70. Play a Sound in an Applet	359	(5)
71. Play a Sound with JavaSound	364	(4)
72. Play a Sound with Java Media Framework	368	(3)
73. Play a Sound with QuickTime for Java	371	(5)
74. Add MP3 Support to JMF	376	(2)
75. Build an Audio Waveform Display	378	(8)
76. Play Non-Trivial Audio	386	(6)
77. Show Audio Information While Playing Sound	392	(9)
78. Provide Audio Controls During Playback	401	(7)
Chapter 11. Native Integration and Packaging	408	(35)
79. Launch External Programs on Windows	408	(3)
80. Open Files, Directories, and URLs on Mac OS X	411	(2)
81. Make Mac Applications Behave Normally	413	(5)
82. Control iTunes on Mac OS X	418	(3)
83. Control iTunes Under Windows	421	(3)
84. Construct Single-Launch Applications	424	(4)
85. Stuff Stuff in JARs	428	(6)
86. Make Quick Look and Feel Changes	434	(5)
87. Create an Inverse Black-and-White Theme	439	(4)
Chapter 12. Miscellany	443	(60)
88. Display a Busy Cursor	443	(3)
89. Fun with Keyboard Lights	446	(4)
90. Create Demonstrations with the Robot Class	450	(4)
91. Check Your Mail with Swing	454	(5)
92. Don't Block the GUI	459	(6)
93. Code Models That Don't Block	465	(7)
94. Fire Events and Stay Bug Free	472	(6)
95. Debug Your GUI	478	(3)
96. Debug Components with a Custom Glass Pane	481	(5)
97. Mirror an Application	486	(6)
98. Add Velocity for Dynamic HTML	492	(7)
99. Get Large File Icons	499	(1)
100. Make Frames Resize Dynamically	500	(3)
Index	503