LAF : Java Glossary

Mac L&F

public boolean isSupportedLookAndFeel()
   {
   return isNativeLookAndFeel();
   }

public boolean isSupportedLookAndFeel()
   {
   return true;
   }

Selecting L&F Programmatically

Using the Nimbus look & feel that comes with JDK (Java Development Kit) 1.8.0_131+, is tricky since the class file that implements it might

Selecting L&F On the Command Line

Discovering Installed L&Fs

Discovering Active L&Fs

// discovering the current active Look and Feel
LookAndFeel laf = UIManager.getLookAndFeel();
String lafName = laf.getName();

Decorating

L&F Icons

// Get an icon that looks just like the one the L&F uses
// for closing internal frames.
Icon closeIcon = UIManager.getIcon( "InternalFrame.closeIcon" );

Overriding

// overriding a colour in the L&F
UIManager.put( "TabbedPane.selected", Color.RED );

Another approach is to write your own Look & Feel that extends some other one, and just overrides a few font-defining methods or colour-defining methods. See this sample code for a writing a derived LAF.

Persistence

User Selected

Gotchas

• If you change the L&F dynamically, sometimes parts of your app won’t change. You can find all frames 
• If you load your look and feel with a custom class loader, you must use this undocumented hook so that Swing 

  // persuade Swing to use your custom class loader to load LAF classes
  UIManager.getDefaults().put( "ClassLoader", loader );

• Nimbus LAF is part of JDK 1.0.6_10+, but it is not the default. It does not use any bit map graphics. It uses scalable 2D graphics and gradients. It has hardware acceleration support. It seems to render JTable columns and JSpinners larger, but the layout managers do not seem to notice. You must manually pad their sizes. Nimbus buttons are ugly, but it does JTables better than other LAFs (Look And Feels).
• Motif looks ratty rendered on Windows, as if anti-aliasing had been disabled. The default background for components is too dark making the text hard to read.
• On the Macintosh, you usually use the command clover key ⌘ to copy/paste. With most look and feels, this stops working. You must use the Control key instead. To leave it as native, you need to use the UIManager. getSystemLookAndFeelClassName(). Arggh! would it have been that hard to make both keys work?
• Different LAFs render different sizes. You will need to allocate more real estate for metal and less for CDE/Motif. So view your layout in all the LAFs you plan to support and adjust sizes for equal tempering (a metaphoric reference to Bach’s √12 equal tempered tuning that minimised problems when you switch keys.)

Books

Book referral for GUI Bloopers 2.0: Don’ts and Do’s for Software Developers and Web Designers

	recommend book⇒GUI Bloopers 2.0: Don’ts and Do’s for Software Developers and Web Designers
	by	Jeff Johnson	978-0-12-370643-0	paperback
	publisher	Morgan Kaufmann	978-0-08-055214-9	eBook
	published	2007-10-12	B006L1ZUWU	kindle
Works by analysing 82 examples of bad design.
Online bookstores carrying GUI Bloopers 2.0: Don’ts and Do’s for Software Developers and Web Designers abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.

Book referral for Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines: Advanced Topics

	recommend book⇒Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines: Advanced Topics
	by	Sun Microsystems	978-0-201-77582-2	paperback
	birth	1982 age:35
	publisher	Addison-Wesley
	published	2001-12-27
It is about how to design a good UI using Metal as an example.
Online bookstores carrying Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines: Advanced Topics abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.

Book referral for Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, second edition

	recommend book⇒Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, second edition
	by	Sun Microsystems	978-0-201-72588-9	paperback
	birth	1982 age:35
	publisher	Addison-Wesley
	published	2001-03-19
This book contains no code. It about how to design a good UI using Metal as an example. It contains Oracle’s standards for how many pixels to use for various purposes.
Online bookstores carrying Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, second edition abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.

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