I know it's probably not possible, but that is the best way to describe the resulting effect. I need to make a window always on top of a certain set of other windows, much in the same way that a child window will always stay on top of its parent. The thing is, now I want to have multiple "parents". How do I do that? I know it's possible since the GIMP application does it with its toolbox.
Related
I was wondering if there was a way to make one component (in this case a JPanel) visible in more than one of the tabs.
I have a simple JFrame which is completely filled with a JTabbedPane. Each tab has a slightly different function, which is why they're in different tabs. However, they each output the same type of information. I was wondering if there was a way to make it so the same output panel could be seen in all the tabs, without having to create one panel for each tab.
I realize that it is impossible to add one component multiple times (and have it display independently each time), which is why I'm not optimistic about this being possible, however if it is, it would make my code much cleaner. In the case that this is not possible, I am completely open to alternate suggestions that achieve a similar result. I am in the very beginning of my project, so it won't be too difficult to change things.
This image gives a rough idea of what I'm trying to make it look like:
I have searched around for anyone dealing with this issue, however I have had little luck finding anything relevant. If I missed something, I apologize for wasting your time.
I want to change the color of the title bar and also the Java icon on the upper left of the frame, so I can make my program (GUI) look better. Is there a simple way to change it?
I'm not sure how useful this observation is, but under the X Window System (e.g. on Linux), the titlebar and the icons in it aren't usually under the control of the application, they're “decorations” under the control of the window manager (WM). I'm not sure exactly how this might impact a Java program — they might be able to use undecorated windows and add their own equivalent — but it's equally possible that what you want to do simply isn't possible (without an inordinate amount of effort) on any platform.
I am developing desktop GUI application using java swing. And I want to show several "subwindow" on the same window(JFrame). And I want the layout is similar to iGoogle such that user can add and remove new subwindow. To be simple, I assume all the "subwindows" have the same size and similar content(all are showing chart). By the way, the maximum number of "subwindow" would not be a huge number. I think it is less than 8.
if there is no drag and drop, can I just use grid layout to
implement it?
if there is drag and drop, what is the easy way to
do it?
Thank You very much.
FYI: iGoogle http://www.google.com.hk/ig
I don't know what iGoogle is, but it sounds like you should be using internal frames. See the section from the Swing tutorial on How to Use Internal Frames.
If all the "sub windows" will be equal size and not draggable, I'd just use a simple layout. seems like a good case to use TableLayout. In a simple case where you know the max amount of slots, you could have 8 corresponding JPanels and add them to Container using the table layout (making sure to revalidate()) as the user requests them. if a user closes one, you just remove it from the container and revalidate. Hope that helps. if you don't need docking functionality, don't even go down that road is my advice.
EDIT:
you could also still implement drag and drop by using your own mouse handlers.
I'm creating a standalone SWT desktop application that has around 10 different screens (few wizards, help, forms, etc). Some elements on screen don't change at all (like header, background, etc) and there is a working area that changes depending on what is clicked, etc.
What is the best way to manage application screens? Do I need to create all screen at startup and then show/hide them depending on what is clicked? Or do I need to create those screens dynamically?
Also, I couldn't find any way to show/hide a Composite, do I need to dispose it and then create again?
What is the best practice? I'm new to SWT developing outside of Eclipse so any help would be beneficial.
Deciding whether to create screens up front or creating them the first time they need to be displayed is a decision that needs to be made on a per application basis. If there is a good chance that all the screens are going to need to be used on a particular application run and the number of screens is low (10 screens is relatively low) then you may want to create them at application startup so the UI is snappier once the application loads.
If you use bindings then you may need to come up with a dispose strategy (even if you only dispose the bindings) so you don't have too many events flying around.
Control has a setVisible(boolean) method (and Composite inherits from Control) which you can use to show and hide a component. Note this will only prevent the composite from being shown on the screen, the layout manager will still allocate a blank space for it. Many SWT layouts have a way to exclude a control from the layout which will get rid of the blank space. For example if you are using GridLayout then you would set the exclude variable on you GridData object to true when you hide that control.
Another option is to use StackLayout. This lets you stack a bunch of Composites on top of each other and then choose which on is on top. This might be a good fit for you if you have static areas plus a working area like you described. I would put the header, footer, and an empty composite with a StackLayout in a class file. I would then put each screen that will be displayed in the working area in their own classes. You can either have these screen classes extend Composite and then set up themselves in the constructor or you can use a factory method to setup the screen. Either one is a common and acceptable practice and comes down to a matter of taste.
I try to build a gui (Swing) for a simple java application. The application should have a start window like a menu. From there I would like to navigate to several other windows.
My question is what is the best-practice to achieve such a navigation? Should I build several JFrames and switch the visibility of them on/off when navigating OR should I better have one JFrame and add/remove JPanels in this single frame to navigate between the windows?
Thanks.
I recommend
Do not do a MDI application with sub-frames like those found in the old Windows days. They suck as they make the matter confusing.
Do design a tabbed interface. The welcome page/menu will be displayed on a first tab that is always created on the start.
All cool kids do that nowadays:
Visual Studio
Eclipse
Firefox
If each of your windows correspond to different task (possibly nested), you could present your application as a SDI, with on the left a task panel like:
Each of the task would display one JFrame with the associated window.
Other solution: a table of content like this picture on the left side
(note: it actually also displays a task panel in this example on the bottom right)
Multiple JFrames sounds like a better idea to me. Much more OO.
You must find a balance between these goals:
Not too many things in one "window"
The user must quickly be able to find the correct window to do the next step of work
All relevant information must be visible at any time
Eclipse solves this by creating many small editors where each editor shows some specific information and allows to modify it. Editors are then arranged within one OS window in tabs and "views". A view is always completely visible and they can be arranged. Think of a view as a way to cut an existing editor in half (horizontal or vertical) and then being able to replace one of the halves with another editor. Between each half, you have a splitter so you can adjust the sizes.
Arrangements of views are then saved in "perspectives".
This allows every user to create a perspective which contains all the necessary editors at the same time, arrange them as they need it and work effectively.