JList basic tutorial and examples

Details

Written by  Nam Ha Minh

Last Updated on 06 July 2019 &nbsp | &nbsp

 Print 

Email

JList is a Swing component with which we can display a list of elements. This component also allows the user to select one or more elements visually. This article shows how to work with JList and proceeds to show some examples.

We will write code to achieve a

JList

output like:

Output

Table of Contents:

1. Developing A Simple JList

2. Adding a Scrollpane

3. Selection Mode

4. Event Handlers

5. Developing a Selection Listener

1. Developing A Simple JList:

Let us now build a GUI with a

JList

. Let us say we want to show a list of countries. As with other

Swing

components, the data for a

JList

is held in a model. This is represented by

ListModel

interface in the

Swing

API. The API provides a default implementation of this class named

DefaultListModel

. More often than not, we would want to display a list of homogeneous

elements.

Using the DefaultListModel:

Let us now see how to create and use the

DefaultListModel

.

Note that, since version 1.7, the API for

JList

allows the ability to create a

JList

with a parameterized type. So, we will use that syntax to create a

JList

that will accept a

List<String>

:

 

DefaultListModel<String> listModel = new DefaultListModel<>(); 
listModel.addElement("USA");
listModel.addElement("India");
listModel.addElement("Vietnam");
listModel.addElement("Canada");
listModel.addElement("Denmark");
listModel.addElement("France");
listModel.addElement("Great Britain");
listModel.addElement("Japan");

 

The preceding piece of code is quite simple. We create an instance of the DefaultListModel class by declaring it as accepting only String values using the parameterized syntax.

 

Then, we can use this model to create a JList:

JList<String> countryList = new JList<>(listModel);

 

It is important to note that the JList declaration and usage should also be parameterized.

Running the Sample:

Let us provide the full source code and run it:

 

package net.codejava.swing; 

import javax.swing.DefaultListModel; 
import javax.swing.JFrame; 
import javax.swing.JList; 
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities; 

public class JListExample extends JFrame { 
    private JList<String> countryList;
    public JListExample() { 
        //create the model and add elements 
        DefaultListModel<String> listModel = new DefaultListModel<>(); 
        listModel.addElement("USA"); 
        listModel.addElement("India"); 
        listModel.addElement("Vietnam"); 
        listModel.addElement("Canada"); 
        listModel.addElement("Denmark"); 
        listModel.addElement("France"); 
        listModel.addElement("Great Britain"); 
        listModel.addElement("Japan"); 

        //create the list 
        countryList = new JList<>(listModel); 
        add(countryList); 
        
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); 
        this.setTitle("JList Example");        
        this.setSize(200,200); 
        this.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        this.setVisible(true); 
    } 
    
    public static void main(String[] args) { 
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() { 
            @Override 
            public void run() { 
                new JListExample(); 
            } 
        }); 
    }        
}

 

Initial Output

2. Adding a Scrollpane:

Let us now try and resize the frame. We will get the following output:

About the Author:

Nam Ha Minh is certified Java programmer (SCJP and SCWCD). He started programming with Java in the time of Java 1.4 and has been falling in love with Java since then. Make friend with him on

is certified Java programmer (SCJP and SCWCD). He started programming with Java in the time of Java 1.4 and has been falling in love with Java since then. Make friend with him on Facebook and watch his Java videos you YouTube.

Attachments:JListExample.java[Source code for JList basic tutorial and examples]1 kBJList_example_src.zip[Source code and executable jar file]2 kB

Add comment