Articles by Jim Crafton

Components, and Creating a Custom Property Editor

Mon, 01 Nov 1999 00:00:00 EST

This column discusses property editors and how to implement one for Java -specifically, how to make one work for our CodeDocument class. When last we talked, we saw how to build a CodeDocument class, but it wasn't something we could work with in a visual designer like JBuilder, say, or Visual Cafe. In this column we'll build a special case of the JTextArea component and add some specialty properties and property editors to support the CodeDocument class we worked on before. The code listings at the end of the article are excerpted from the complete code, which you can download from www.JavaDevelopersJournal.com.

A Return to Reflection

Fri, 01 Oct 1999 00:00:00 EDT

When we last talked, I promised to finish up the CodeDocument class I'd so abruptly left behind back in July (JDJ Vol. 4, issue 7). Now, due to millions of desperate letters from fans around the globe, I've decided to finish off the series in this article, tackling reflection once again and ending with a text component that supports syntax highlighting and a simplified version of something similar to Borland's Code Insight. Along the way we'll see a few more tricks that JTextArea can do, and in general we'll just go hog wild in code!

Reflecting a Bean onto a Table

Sun, 01 Aug 1999 00:00:00 EDT

Originally I planned to continue with the syntax-highlighting CodeDocument component, but I decided to switch gears and discuss some neat uses for the JTable component that comes with Swing (my apologies go out to all those weeping in the aisles, anxiously awaiting more syntax-highlighting code...oh, just a second, let's dab the tears away before continuing).

More on Syntax Highlighting

Thu, 01 Jul 1999 00:00:00 EDT

Last month we discussed the use of Swing's Document model to create a syntax-highlighting Document model that we could just plug into JTextPane and use. This month we'll continue with that and add complete support for comments, strings and numbers. We'll also cover how easy it is to actually use the model we've developed, and test things out as we go along.

Text Controls by Swing

Tue, 01 Jun 1999 00:00:00 EDT

When Java first came out, one of its acknowledged weaknesses was the lack of an advanced set of GUI components. This was especially evident in the text controls, which lacked many of the advanced features found in the native text controls of operating systems such as Windows. With the release of the Java Foundation Classes (also known as Swing), Java finally had a robust and sophisticated collection of controls, especially text controls.