Customizing the JTabbedPane to mimic Eclipse toolbar addition

[lancout]

One thing I really, really want in Swing is this:

http://www.osrmt.com/downloads/temp/usability_want.png

specifically the context sensitive placement of the toolbar and menu
access in relation to the tabs i.e. same level (vital to preserve
space) and far right.

As far as I can tell I could do it if I subclassed JTabbedPane,
override one of the paint methods, draw the images, add mouse events
to rollover images and interact on click. But, no doubt I would
eventually run into problems (especially with changing lafs).

I havent tried it but I assume with JDK 1.6 I can create a toolbar on
a JPanel and then use the panel for the tab portion of the tab. A
long toolbar might look silly but perhaps the following looks decent:

http://www.osrmt.com/downloads/temp/usability_have.png

What do you think?

 

[IchBin]

One thing I really, really want in Swing is this:

http://www.osrmt.com/downloads/temp/usability_want.png

specifically the context sensitive placement of the toolbar and menu
access in relation to the tabs i.e. same level (vital to preserve
space) and far right.

As far as I can tell I could do it if I subclassed JTabbedPane,
override one of the paint methods, draw the images, add mouse events
to rollover images and interact on click. But, no doubt I would
eventually run into problems (especially with changing lafs).

I havent tried it but I assume with JDK 1.6 I can create a toolbar on
a JPanel and then use the panel for the tab portion of the tab. A
long toolbar might look silly but perhaps the following looks decent:

http://www.osrmt.com/downloads/temp/usability_have.png

What do you think?

Why not just code it using Eclipse SWT library.

--
Thanks in Advance... http://weconsultants.prophp.org
IchBin, Pocono Lake, Pa, USA http://ichbinquotations.awardspace.com
______________________________________________________________________
'If there is one, Knowledge is the "Fountain of Youth"'
-William E. Taylor, Regular Guy (1952-)

 

[Lew]

Why not just code it using Eclipse SWT library.

Why is SWT worth it?

I have read that it is "proprietary" and "non-standard", but a lot of people
seem to like it.

My prejudice is to stick with Swing, though I admit the need for me to write
Java GUIs is pretty close to non-existent.

- Lew

 

[IchBin]

Why is SWT worth it?

I have read that it is "proprietary" and "non-standard", but a lot of
people seem to like it.

My prejudice is to stick with Swing, though I admit the need for me to
write Java GUIs is pretty close to non-existent.

- Lew

I would guess most of those people are just Eclipse enthusiast.

If it does what you want without selling the farm it maybe worth it.

Then again, I am just offering plan B.

--
Thanks in Advance... http://weconsultants.prophp.org
IchBin, Pocono Lake, Pa, USA http://ichbinquotations.awardspace.com
______________________________________________________________________
'If there is one, Knowledge is the "Fountain of Youth"'
-William E. Taylor, Regular Guy (1952-)