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How to Use Check Boxes

The J CheckBox
[11]
class provides support for check box buttons. You can also put check boxes in
menus using the J CheckBoxMenuI t em
[12]
class. Because J CheckBox and J CheckBoxMenuI t eminherit
from Abst r act But t on, Swing check boxes have all of the usual button characteristics, as discussed
in How to Use Buttons (page 156). For example, you can specify images to be used in them.
[11]
J Checkbox API documentation: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/javax/swing/JCheckBox.html.

[12]
J CheckboxMenuI t emAPI documentation:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/javax/swing/JCheckBoxMenuItem.html.
Check boxes are similar to radio buttons, but their selection model is different, by convention. Any
number of check boxes in a groupnone, some, or allcan be selected. A group of radio buttons,
on the other hand, can have only one button selected. See How to Use Radio Buttons (page 311)
later in this chapter.
Figure 4 is a picture of an application that uses four check boxes to customize a cartoon.
Figure 4. The CheckBoxDemo application.

Try This:
1.
2. Click the Chin button or press Alt-c. The Chin check box becomes unselected, and the chin
disappears from the picture; the other check boxes remain selected. This application has one
item listener that listens to all of the check boxes. Each time it receives an event, the
application loads a new picture that reflects the current state of the check boxes.
A check box generates one item event and one action event per click. Usually, you listen only for
Run CheckBoxDemo using Java Web Start, or compile and run the example
yourself.
[13]

[13]
To run CheckBoxDemo using Java Web Start, click the CheckBoxDemo link on
the RunExampl es/ component s. ht ml page on the CD. You can find the source
files here: J avaTut or i al / ui swi ng/ component s/ exampl e-
1dot 4/ i ndex. ht ml #CheckBoxDemo.
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item events since they let you determine whether the click selected or deselected the check box.
Below is the code from CheckBoxDemo. j ava that creates the check boxes and reacts to clicks.
//In initialization code:

chi nBut t on = new J CheckBox( " Chi n" ) ;

chi nBut t on. set Mnemoni c( KeyEvent . VK_C) ;

chi nBut t on. set Sel ect ed( t r ue) ;



gl assesBut t on = new J CheckBox( " Gl asses" ) ;

gl assesBut t on. set Mnemoni c( KeyEvent . VK_G) ;

gl assesBut t on. set Sel ect ed( t r ue) ;



hai r But t on = new J CheckBox( " Hai r " ) ;

hai r But t on. set Mnemoni c( KeyEvent . VK_H) ;

hai r But t on. set Sel ect ed( t r ue) ;



t eet hBut t on = new J CheckBox( " Teet h" ) ;

t eet hBut t on. set Mnemoni c( KeyEvent . VK_T) ;

t eet hBut t on. set Sel ect ed( t r ue) ;



/ / Regi st er a l i st ener f or t he check boxes.

chi nBut t on. addI t emLi st ener ( t hi s) ;

gl assesBut t on. addI t emLi st ener ( t hi s) ;

hai r But t on. addI t emLi st ener ( t hi s) ;

t eet hBut t on. addI t emLi st ener ( t hi s) ;

. .

publ i c voi d i t emSt at eChanged( I t emEvent e) {

. . .

Obj ect sour ce = e. get I t emSel ect abl e( ) ;



i f ( sour ce == chi nBut t on) {

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//...make a note of it...

} el se i f ( sour ce == gl assesBut t on) {

//...make a note of it...

} el se i f ( sour ce == hai r But t on) {

//...make a note of it...

} el se i f ( sour ce == t eet hBut t on) {

//...make a note of it...

}



i f ( e. get St at eChange( ) == I t emEvent . DESELECTED)

//...make a note of it...

. . .

updat ePi ct ur e( ) ;

}

The Check Box API
Table 6 lists the commonly used check box-related API. Check boxes also use the common button
API, which is listed in the tables in The Button API (page 160). Other methods you might call, such
as set Font and set For egr ound, are listed in the API tables in The JComponent Class (page 53) in
Chapter 3. Also refer to the API documentation for J CheckBox
[14]
and J CheckBoxMenuI t em.
[15]

[14]
J Checkbox API documentation: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/javax/swing/JCheckBox.html.

[15]
J CheckboxMenuI t emAPI documentation:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/javax/swing/JCheckBoxMenuItem.html.
Table 6. Check Box Constructors
Constructor Purpose
J CheckBox( Act i on)

J CheckBox( St r i ng)

J CheckBox( St r i ng, bool ean)

J CheckBox( I con)

J CheckBox( I con, bool ean)

J CheckBox( St r i ng, I con)

Create a J CheckBox instance. The string
argument specifies the text, if any, that the
check box should display. Similarly, the I con
argument specifies the image that should be
used instead of the look and feel's default check
box image. Specifying the boolean argument as
true initializes the check box to be selected. If
the boolean argument is absent or false, then
the check box is initially unselected. The
J CheckBox( Act i on) constructor was introduced
in 1.3.
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Examples That Use Check Boxes
The following table lists two examples that use check boxes.
J CheckBox( St r i ng, I con, bool ean)

J CheckBox( )

J CheckBoxMenuI t em( Act i on)

J CheckBoxMenuI t em( St r i ng)

J CheckBoxMenuI t em( St r i ng, bool ean)

J CheckBoxMenuI t em( I con)

J CheckBoxMenuI t em( St r i ng, I con)

J CheckBoxMenuI t em( St r i ng, I con, bool ean)

J CheckBoxMenuI t em( )

Create a J CheckBoxMenuI t eminstance. The
arguments are interpreted in the same way as
the arguments to the J CheckBox constructors,
except that any specified icon is shown in
addition to the normal check box icon. The
J CheckBoxMenuI t em( Act i on) constructor was
introduced in 1.3.
Example Where Described Notes
CheckBoxDemo
How to Use Check Boxes
(page 163)
Uses check box buttons to determine which of 16
images it should display.
Act i onDemo
How to Use Actions (page
513)
Uses check box menu items to set the state of the
program.
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