Synth Look and Feel

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This article is about the Java Look and Feel. For other uses see Synth (disambiguation).

synth is a skinnable Java look and feel, which is configured with an XML property file.

According to Sun, goals for synth were:

  • Enable to create custom look without writing any code.
  • Allow appearance to be configured from images.
  • Provide the ability to customize the look of a component based on its named properties.
  • Provide a centralized point for overriding the look of all components.
  • Enable custom rendering based on images.

Contents

[edit] History

synth is available beginning with version J2SE 5.0 of Java (see Java version history).

Java upcoming Java SE 6 Update 10 release (which was called Consumer JRE by Sun) will use Nimbus, a cross-platform Look and Feel implemented with synth, as the default Look and Feel[1][2].

[edit] Architecture

Synth is a skinnable look and feel in which all painting is delegated to the components, without having to write any code (see Synth Look and Feel).

However synth does not provide a default look, and components that are not defined in the synth XML file will not be painted.

[edit] Example

The following XML declaration defines a style named textfield and binds it to all text fields.

<synth>
  <style id="textfield">
    <state>
      <color value="yellow" type="BACKGROUND"/>
    </state>
    <imagePainter method="textFieldBorder" path="textfieldborder.png"
                  sourceInsets="5 6 6 7" paintCenter="false"/>
    <insets top="5" left="6" bottom="6" right="7"/>
  </style>
  <bind style="textfield" type="region" key="TextField"/>
 </synth>

Supposing that the XML declaration is defined in a file named synthExample.xml, the following code loads the XML definition file and sets the current look and feel to synth (loading a synth Look and Feel is done using the load method of the SynthLookAndFeel class):

SynthLookAndFeel laf = new SynthLookAndFeel();
 laf.load(new File("synthExample.xml").toURL());
 UIManager.setLookAndFeel(laf);

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Welcome to the Java SE 6 Update N Early Access Program!. Sun Microsystems. Retrieved on 2007-11-01.
  2. ^ Haase, Chet (May 2007). Consumer JRE: Leaner, Meaner Java Technology. Sun Microsystems. Retrieved on 2007-11-01.

[edit] External links

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