Java Notes

Look and Feel

For best portability use the default Java cross-platform Look & Feel. There are several good reasons to change it however.

• Avoid ugliness. Before Java 5, the default L&F, Metal, was relatively unattractive.
• System L&F. It's nice to match the system L&F, eg, on Windows the program should have a Windows L&F, on the Macintosh it should use the standard Macintosh L&F..
• Special. You would like some special appearance.

The javax.swing.UIManager class methods can be used to set it.

To Set the Look and Feel

try {
    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(XXX);
} catch (Exception e) {
    // This is one of the few places where silently ignoring an exception
    // might be the right thing to do, altho it is almost always
    // a very bad practice.  What else can we do in this case?
    // The default look & feel will be used if we ignore this.
}

Where XXX is one of the following:

The Java cross-platform L&F

UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getCrossPlatformLookAndFeelClassName());

The current OS L&F

UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());

Windows L&F

"com.sun.java.swing.plaf.windows.WindowsLookAndFeel" can currently only be used on Windows.

Macintosh L&F

"javax.swing.plaf.mac.MacLookAndFeel" can currently only be used on the Macintosh [still true?]. Note: The look and feel code doesn't move menu elements around to match the the relevant system.

CDE/Motif Look and Feel

"com.sun.java.swing.plaf.motif.MotifLookAndFeel" can be used on any system.

Custom Look and Feel

A number of custom Looks and Feels have been developed. Take a look at www.javootoo.com for examples and links to some. A nice L&F for informal appearance is Napkin, at napkinlaf.sourceforge.net/.

You can easily install these: just put the .jar file in the CLASSPATH, and make the ap