Features

JGoodies Looks 1.3.1 Released

Karsten Lentzsch has announced the release of JGoodies Looks 1.3 and 1.3.1. JGoodies Looks is a bundle that consists of an enhanced Windows look and feel and the cross-platform Plastic look and feel family. These beautiful look and feels have been optimized for readability, precise micro-design, and usability. You can support Karsten's work by licensing his commercial JGoodies Swing Suite.
  (Apr 01, 2005)

A Desktop Java "Killer Application"

I've often fielded questions about the apparent lack of a killer java desktop application. Ask no more: we've got one.  —  Hans Muller
  (2005-03-30T10:35-08:00)

Swing Pointers Updated

Charles Ditzel has updated his Swing Pointers page. As before, the page has links for both beginners and experts, from blogs and forum postings to online articles and projects. Now the page also has a table of "Key Swing Pointers" (including this website) — you can find it at the bottom of the page.
  (Mar 29, 2005)

Swing Sightings Preview: zipcreator

Here's a great-looking, cross-platform (Mac OS X, Windows, Linux) zip utility that's free. During a brief trial run, we found it to be fast and easy to use. The web site includes a comprehensive and very professional looking user manual, along with the free app download. Check out these screenshots: 1 2 3 4
  (Mar 25, 2005)

Java GUI Builders

Mitch Stuart has published this article, which reviews 8 GUI builders for the Java platform and lists 15 more. He announced it with a post on JavaLobby, which has gathered some comments. Check out the article if you're at all interested in using a GUI builder.
  (Mar 25, 2005)

Where's JDIC Going?

JDIC has been under active discussion and development since its debut at JavaOne 2004. With the latest milestone release 0.9, a couple of new features and APIs are introduced. Check out what's new in 0.9 and an overall status update of the project.  —  George Zhang
  (2005-03-24T08:41-08:00)

Swing Pointers

Charles Ditzel has created a handy page of links to Swing information that he calls Swing Pointers. It has links for both beginners and experts, from blogs and forum postings to online articles and projects.
  (Mar 23, 2005)

A tricky issue with java.awt.Font

This blog about a possible hole in the Font API triggered a huge number of followup comments, including a lengthy one by 2D team member Phil Race. Take a look if you care about the fonts your app uses. —  Michael Nascimento Santos
  (2005-03-21T11:40-08:00)

Swing Sightings Preview: Aqua Data Studio 4.0

We covered Aqua Data Studio about two years ago, in Swing Sightings #13, but much has been added since then. Aqua Data Studio is a universal database tool for building, managing, and maintaining enterprise relational databases. It includes support for all major database platforms and operating systems. Check out this press release and these screenshots: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
  (Mar 21, 2005)

Visual Paradigm Wins Jolt Award!

Congratulations to Visual Paradigm, whose Smart Development Environment (a sophisticated Swing app) has just been honored in the 15th Annual Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards, as an Excellent Award winner in the Design Tools category. Check out the screen shots: 1 2 3 4 5
  (Mar 18, 2005)

JDG* seeks bad code for good time

The Desktop Client group is doing 2 sessions this year at JavaOne on improving existing code. Have an application that you think could look better or run faster? Send it on in...  —  Chet Haase
  (2005-03-17T16:42-08:00)

How to create custom popup menus

In this blog entry, chock full of code and screenshots, Kirill Grouchnikov shows how to create custom menu items. It's good stuff (note the nice use of the @Override annotation), but remember to reset the state of the Graphics object after you've changed it (as described at the bottom of this Java Tutorial page). —  Kirill Grouchnikov
  (2005-03-12T08:55-08:00)

STR-Crazy: Improving the OpenGL-based Java 2D Pipeline

A new "single-threaded" implementation of the OpenGL-based Java 2D pipeline (available now in the latest Mustang snapshot)... Details on our internal J2DBench application (available now under the JRL)... Other things on my plate for Mustang...  —  Chris Campbell
  (2005-03-11T19:22-08:00)

Building Swing Using ANT/NetBeans

Swing engineer Bino George has posted two messages to the Mustang Snapshots forum with instructions for compiling the Swing source code without having to build the whole JDK. The posts include the complete XML code you'll need to build using ANT, and then tell you how to create a NetBeans project to do the build.
  (Mar 16, 2005)

Server-Side Swing for Rich Internet Applications

This article submitted by Canoo presents a product that shows how the Java platform's capabilities on the desktop can be leveraged for server-side J2EE applications. Canoo's UltraLightClient offers a server-side API to Swing, enabling development of rich GUIs executing in a thin client presentation engine.
  (Mar 15, 2005)

Why Eclipse Developers Are Moving to NetBeans

This link-heavy blog by Sun employee Charles Ditzel discusses Eclipse performance problems on Linux that he traces to its use of SWT widgets. One paragraph is devoted to SWT vs. Swing adoption, with links to pages listing SWT applications, which he compares to the app listings of Swing Sightings.
  (Mar 14, 2005)

Swing Depot Addition: MiG InfoCom

We've just added MiG InfoCom to the Swing Depot's Component Suites page. They produce MiG Calendar, a component/framework for building direct manipulation calendar and scheduling applications. Don't miss the pretty screenshots and web started demo!
  (Mar 11, 2005)

Chat Transcript Available: Deployment With Java Web Start

The transcript for the March 1 Sun Developer Network chat with Andy Herrick, Stanley Ho, and Thomas Ng — all key members of the engineering team for Java Web Start — is now available. It has lots of good tidbits about how to use the current version and what's planned for the near future, so check it out!
  (Mar 10, 2005)

Tech Tips: Printing JTables

In the March 8 issue of Core Java Technologies Tech Tips, Printing JTables shows how to use the print support added to JTable in 5.0. It also shows you how to customize a table by adding shading to alternate rows, and how to print the table with and without the shading.
  (Mar 09, 2005)

Skin Look And Feel Theme-a-Thon

The Skin Look And Feel is having a theme-a-thon this month. Each day during March, a new themepack — a new look — will be posted at http://www.javootoo.com in the SkinLF section.
  (Mar 08, 2005)

Swing Sightings Preview: DB Solo

DB Solo is a new product for database application developers that uses some great Swing libraries, such as JGraph and JGoodies Looks. DB Solo allows you to explore and manage your database objects as well as execute your own ad-hoc queries. It supports most relational database products, including Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, and MySQL. Check out the screenshots here: 1 2 3 4 5
  (Mar 04, 2005)

JavaHispano Interview with Chet Haase

The JavaHispano Spanish-language website just published an interview with 2D engineer Chet Haase. It's available in both the original English and a Spanish translation. In it, you'll read about Chet's many roles (pixel pusher, client strategist, 6.0 engineering lead). The main focus, though, is on Swing and 2D performance, and on writing games for the Java platform.
  (Mar 02, 2005)

JDNC 0.7 Is Released!

The 0.7 release of JDNC is out, and it has two major new features: DataSet and Authentication. For screenshots and summaries of the new features plus a complete list of bug fixes, see What's new in Milestone .7.
  (Mar 02, 2005)

NetBeans IDE 4.1 Beta

NetBeans IDE 4.1 Beta is available for download. This release includes an Eclipse Project Import module, which is available from the Welcome Screen.
  (Mar 01, 2005)

Big news. I'm going West.

Joshua joins the Swing team, writes a book, and other good news.  —  Joshua Marinacci
  (2005-02-23T13:15-08:00)

How to create your own icons

Where to find good-looking icons for you application? Browse the web for royalty-free icons, hoping that when your application goes popular, you will not be sued? Hiring a designer to make your icons? How about making them yourself? With a little attention to visual details, it's not as hard as it looks.  —  Kirill Grouchnikov
  (2005-02-25T05:50-08:00)