Home > Articles

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Menu Designer

The Screen Designer is used to show all graphical aspects of your screen, but it does not show a menu assigned to a given frame. They are available only in the Component tree on the bottom left, but not shown graphically. If the Component tree is not enough to visually interpret the menu, you can also see the menu graphically by activating the Menu Designer. There are two methods by which you can activate the designer. Double-clicking on the Component tree menu item starts the Menu Designer in addition to right-clicking on and selecting Activate Designer. The Menu Designer toolbar becomes available. To ultimately use the Menu Designer, you must first drop the component for a menu onto the desired frame. The following menu types are available within the JBuilder environment:

  • From the Swing Containers palette: JMenuBar JPopUpMenu

  • From the AWT palette: MenuBar PopUpMenu

Drop a menu component anywhere onto on the frame or drop it onto the Component tree. Menu components are always placed under the Menu folder of the Component tree regardless of where it is dropped.

Menu Designer Buttons

When the Menu Designer is instantiated by JBuilder, many tools become available, which were not seen in the Screen Designer, to build your menu. For a description of all the Menu Designer tools, see Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Action Buttons for the Menu Designer

Button

Action

Insert Item

Adds a new menu item before the selected one.

Insert Separator

Adds a separator between items to divide them into logical groupings.

Insert Nested Menu

Adds a submenu or nested menu to the selected menu item.

Delete Item

Deletes the selected menu item.

Enable/Disable Toggle

Enables or disables the selected item. (This is the initial state unless changed programmatically.)

Checkable/Uncheckable

Makes the selected item have an initial state of checked or unchecked.

Toggle

Toggles the menu item between being a JMenuItem or a JradioButtonMenuItem.


Building a Menu with the Menu Designer

Now we'll build a simple menu and see the results that JBuilder gives us. Just like in the Screen Designer, JBuilder is a two-way tool in the Menu Designer also. As a menu is constructed graphically, JBuilder is developing the physical source code.

NOTE

A menu is visible only while either in the Menu Designer or during application execution. You will not see a menu while in the Screen Designer.

When you build a menu, JBuilder implements the menu in the jbInit() method of your frame class. This also includes any design-time properties for the menu, such as disable/enable and accelerators. For example, let's build a menu that has two headings File and Help. Under File, we will place a menu item to exit us from the system. Under Help, we'll create Help Topics and About menu choices. Place a keyboard accelerator for the exit to be Ctrl+X. The following code demonstrates the successful implementation of a menu constructed by JBuilder. We'll go step-by-step through the process of building the menu. To help in this construction, the following steps are required to build this menu:

  1. Select the Screen Designer—yes, the Screen Designer. This enables you to drop a container to hold your menu.

  2. Drop a JMenuBar anywhere on your frame. This component is located under the Swing Containers tab.

  3. Right-click on the jMenuBar1 object created under the Menu folder of the Component tree and choose Activate Designer.

  4. In the blank of the first menu item, type File. The Menu Designer automatically adds a blank menu item to append to a menu list.

  5. In the Inspector, change the properties as desired.

  6. Repeat until all the menu items are completed.

Now that the menu is complete, Listing 3.5 shows the code that JBuilder constructed while we were building the menu. We did not write any code; the Menu Designer did it all.

Listing 3.5 The Results of Building a Menu with the Menu Designer

...
 private void jbInit() throws Exception {
  //setIconImage(Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().createImage(
_ FrmDemo.class.getResource("[Your Icon]")));
  contentPane = (JPanel) this.getContentPane();
  contentPane.setLayout(xYLayout1);
  this.setSize(new Dimension(400, 300));
  this.setTitle("Designer Demo");
  //Code to setup the menu
  jmnFile.setText("File");
  jmnitmExit.setText("E&xit");
  jmnitmExit.setAccelerator(javax.swing.KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(88, 
_ java.awt.event.KeyEvent.CTRL_MASK, false));
  jmnitmExit.addActionListener(new FrmDemo_jmnitmExit_actionAdapter(this));
  jmnHelp.setText("Help");
  jmnitmHelpTopics.setText("Help Topics");
  jmnitmAbout.setEnabled(false);
  jmnitmAbout.setText("About");
  jMenuBar1.add(jmnFile);
  jMenuBar1.add(jmnHelp);
  jmnFile.add(jmnitmExit);
  jmnHelp.add(jmnitmHelpTopics);
  jmnHelp.addSeparator();
  jmnHelp.add(jmnitmAbout);
 }
...

Implementing a Menu Action

When a menu is defined, it may—but nothing requires it—have an event handler just like the event handlers identified earlier with GUI components. To create an event handler and implement an action for a menu item, execute the following steps:

  1. Activate the Menu Designer.

  2. Select the menu item to create an event handler.

  3. Click on the Events tab of the Inspector pane.

  4. Double-click on the appropriate event.

  5. Add implementation code for desired business logic. For example, add System.exit(0) for the Exit menu item of your menu.

  6. Finally, associate the newly created menu with the panel. This is accomplished by setting the JPanel property for JMenu to the menu name.

Notice after the event has been produced that the code generated follows the same rules as anonymous and standard adapters for the events in components. For example, every application needs the capability to exit. The following example implements the System.exit(0) to shut down the application. Listing 3.6 shows what the generated code looks like.

Listing 3.6 Implementing an Event Within a Menu Item

 private void jbInit() throws Exception {
  ...
  jmnitmExit.setText("Exit");
  jmnitmExit.setAccelerator(javax.swing.KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(88, 
_ java.awt.event.KeyEvent.CTRL_MASK, false));
  jmnitmExit.addActionListener(new FrmDemo_jmnitmExit_actionAdapter(this));
...
 }
...
 void jmnitmExit_actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
  System.exit(0);
 }

}

class FrmDemo_jmnitmExit_actionAdapter implements 
_ java.awt.event.ActionListener {
 FrmDemo adaptee;

 FrmDemo_jmnitmExit_actionAdapter(FrmDemo adaptee) {
  this.adaptee = adaptee;
 }
 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
  adaptee.jmnitmExit_actionPerformed(e);
 }
}

Creating a Pop-Up Menu

A pop-up menu is simply a menu that is not attached to any menu bar but floats when activated. The activation sequence for a pop-up menu is typically implemented using the secondary mouse button. A pop-up menu is useful for context-sensitive actions that need to be accomplished based on a certain selection or range. A good example is cut, copy, and paste. You can create a pop-up menu by doing the following:

  1. In the UI Designer, click on a PopupMenu component from the AWT page of the Component palette or a JPopupMenu component from the Swing Containers page and drop it onto the Component tree.

  2. Name the component jpmnuEdit.

  3. Activate the Menu Designer for the dropped objects.

    Add Cut, Copy, and Paste menu items as you did with JMenu.

  4. Select any component on the UI and activate the Screen Designer.

  5. Select the component you want to activate the pop-up menu with.

  6. Select the event to activate the pop-up menu. The event normally tasked with this event is mouse click.

  7. Add this code to the event chosen to activate the pop-up menu.

  8. Review what has been generated by the designer by switching to the Source tab. Listing 3.7 demonstrates what the generated code should look like.

Listing 3.7 Generation of a Pop-Up Menu Using the Menu Designer

 void contentPane_mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
  contentPane.add(jpmnuEdit);
  if (e.getModifiers() == Event.META_MASK) {
   // Make the jPopupMenu visible relative to the 
_ current mouse position in the container.
   jpmnuEdit.show(contentPane, e.getX(), e.getY());
  }
 }
  1. Add event handlers to the pop-up menu to support the required functionality.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020