Training Index
Fundamentals of Swing: Part I
Magercises
[Short Course
|
About This Short Course]
These Magercises show how to use the Swing components of the
JavaTM platform to interact with Java forms and windows.
When you finish these Magercises, you should be comfortable using the Swing component
set where you would previously have used AWT components.
Magercise Outline
About Magercises
A Magercise is a flexible exercise that provides varying levels
of help according
to the student's needs. Some students may complete
the
magercise using only the information and the task list in the Magercise body;
some may want a few hints; (Help) while others may want a step-by-step
guide
to successful completion (Solution). Since complete solutions
are
provided in addition to help, students can skip a Magercise (or several)
and still be able to
complete later Magercises that required the skipped
one(s).
The Anatomy of a Magercise
Each Magercise includes a list of any prerequisite Magercises, a list of
skeleton
code for you to start with, links to necessary API pages, and a
text
description of the Magercise's educational goal. In addition, buttons
link you to the following information:
- Help
: Gives you help or hints on the current Magercise
(an annotated solution).For ease of use,
the task information is duplicated on the help page with the
actual help information indented beneath it.
- Solution: The
<applet>
tag and JavaTM source resulting
in the expected behavior.
- API Documentation: A link directly to
any necessary online API documentation.
Magercise Design Goals
There are three fundamental magercise types that you may encounter:
- "Blank screen"
- You are confronted with a "blank screen" and
you
create the entire desired functionality yourself.
- Extension
- You extend the functionality of an existing,
correctly-working program.
- Repair
- You repair undesirable behavior in an existing
program.
To make learning easier, Magercises, where possible, address only
the specific technique being taught in that Magercise. Irrelevant,
unrelated, and overly complex materials are avoided.
Where possible, Magercises execute via the web. However, Magercises
that must access JavaTM features or
library elements that could cause security violations are not executed
on the web.
Magercises, Swing: Part I
1. Installing Swing and
SwingSet Demonstration
Install Swing and demonstrate the SwingSet examples.
Educational goal(s):
See the different Swing components in action
2. Creating Your First JFC
Application
Create a simple application with a Frame
and a few Swing buttons.
Educational goal(s):
- Setup the environment to compile and run Swing programs
- Examine basic Swing
Frame
-based application
- Learn that Swing components can be used just like AWT components
- Use JDK 1.1 events to respond to button presses
3. Creating Buttons With Icons
Create image buttons with keyboard accelerators.
Educational goal(s):
- Learn to use an
Icon
as a JButton
label
- Learn to use keyboard accelerators with buttons
- Use JDK 1.1 events to respond to button presses
- Add components to a
JFrame
4. Using Toggles
Create a program to demonstrate checkboxes and radio buttons.
Educational goal(s):
- Learn about the
JCheckbox
class
- Learn about the
JRadioButton
class
- Learn about using icons with your checkboxes
- Learn about the
JScrollPane
class
5. Using Borders
Change the default border around a JButton
and create your own dashed
border.
Educational goal(s):
- Learn about the
javax.swing.border
package
- Learn to change a button's border
- Learn to create your own borders
6. Using Menus, Toolbars, and
Tool Tips
Setup the menus, toolbar, and toolbar tool tips for a simple text editor.
Educational goal(s):
- Learn about
JMenu
, JMenuItem
,
and JMenuBar
- Learn how to work with
JToolBar
and tool tips
- Learn about the
JDialog
class
7. Using BoxLayout
Create an application using the BoxLayout
layout manager.
Educational goal(s):
- Learn about the
Box
class
- Learn about the
BoxLayout
class ("glue" and
"struts") and how to use it for simple layouts
- Learn about using animated
ImageIcon
objects
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