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Java Look-and-Feel Design Guidelines

Java Look-and-Feel Design Guidelines. Eileen Kraemer University of Georgia CSCI 4800/600. An online book …. The Java Look-and-Feel Design Guidelines, Second Edition are available online Target audience:

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Java Look-and-Feel Design Guidelines

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  1. Java Look-and-Feel Design Guidelines Eileen Kraemer University of Georgia CSCI 4800/600

  2. An online book … • The Java Look-and-Feel Design Guidelines, Second Edition are available online • Target audience: • the designer who chooses the interface elements, lays them out in a set of components, and designs the user interaction model for an application

  3. Focus of the book …. • design guidelines for software that uses the Swing classes together with the Java look and feel. • oncreating cross-platform GUI (graphical user interface) applications and applets in the JavaTM programming language. • on design issues and human-computer interaction in the context of the Java look and feel. • guidelines are appropriate for GUI applications and applets on PCs and network computers; doesn’t address the problem of S/W that runs on consumer electronic devices.

  4. What is the “Java Look and Feel”? • First of all, what is a “look-and-feel”? • The appearance and behavior of a complete set of GUI components. • Why do we need a Java look-and-feel? • Want to have Java applications that have a consistent look and behavior across multiple platforms • The goal of the Java look-and-feel is to provide a distinctive platform-independent appearance and standard behavior.

  5. Java look-and-feel • Flush 3D style • surfaces appear to be in the same plane as the surrounding canvas • border has a bevel • Drag texture • Color model

  6. Elements of the Java L&F • Style of use/appearance of: • Windows • Menus • Toolbars • editor panes • dialog boxes • alert boxes

  7. Java L&F Windows • Platform-specific borders, title bar, and window controls • “Metal” look and feel window contents – menu bar, toolbar, editor pane, etc. • Here’s the code

  8. Menus, the Menu Bar • Provide access to and info about application’s primary functions • Later: guidelines for creation of such menus

  9. Drop-down menus • Menu separators divide choices into logical groupings • Titles highlighted in blue (default Java look and feel theme) • Can use keyboard shortcuts instead of the mouse. • Mnemonics – another way to access menu items..

  10. Keyboard shortcuts • keystroke combinations that activate a menu item from the keyboard even if the menu for that command is not currently displayed. • usually consist of a modifier key and a character key, like Control-Z, plus a few special keys such as F1 and Delete. • Don’t post menus; rather, perform the indicated actions directly.

  11. Mnemonic • an underlined alphanumeric character in a menu title, menu item, or other interface component. • reminds the user how to activate the equivalent command by simultaneously pressing the Alt key and the character key that corresponds to the underlined letter or numeral. • See example code for both shortcuts and mnemonics

  12. Guidelines for shortcuts … • Specify keyboard shortcuts for frequently used menu items; don’t need a shortcut for every command •  Display shortcuts using the standard abbreviations for key names (such as Ctrl for the Control key), separated by hyphens. • Know the common shortcuts across platforms; use them. •  Don’t use the Meta key (the Command key on the Macintosh platform) for a shortcut, except as an alternate for Control. It isn’t available on some target platforms.

  13. Java L&F Toolbar • displays command and toggle buttons that offer immediate access to the functions of many menu items. • divided into functional areas • Flush 3D style

  14. Java L&F Editor Pane • Editor pane inside a scroll pane

  15. Java L&F Dialog Boxes • use the borders and title bars of the platform they are running on • dialog box contents have the Java look and feel • Windows, Mac, CDE

  16. Java L&F Alert boxes • Windows, Mac, CDE

  17. Java Foundation Classes • An extension to the original Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT), • Includes: • the Swing classes, which define a complete set of GUI components for JFC applications • pluggable look and feel designs • the Java Accessibility API, • all implemented without native code (code that refers to the functions of a specific operating system or is compiled for a specific processor). • components include: • windows and frames, panels and panes, dialog boxes, menus and toolbars, buttons, sliders, combo boxes, text components, tables, list components, and trees.

  18. The Java 2 SDK • contains the AWT, • the class library that provides the standard application programming interfaces for building GUIs for Java programs. • Contains a JFC that also includes • the Java 2D API • drag and drop • other enhancements

  19. Support for Accessibility • features of the Java 2 SDK that support people with special needs: • the Java Accessibility API • provides “hooks” for an assistive technology to interact and communicate with JFC components ( screen readers and screen magnifiers.) • the Java Accessibility Utilities • provides support in locating the objects that implement the Java Accessibility API. (These utilities are necessary for developers who develop only assistive technologies, not mainstream applications.) • keyboard navigation, mnemonics, keyboard shortcuts (also called "accelerators"), customizable colors and fonts, and dynamic GUI layout. • A “pluggable” look and feel architecture that can be used to build both visual and nonvisual designs, such as audio and tactile UIs

  20. Accessibility, continued • Keyboard navigation • enables users to use the keyboard to move between components, open menus, highlight text, and so on. • makes an application accessible to people who find it difficult or impossible to use a mouse.

  21. Support for Internationalization • J2SDK provides internationalized text handling and resource bundles. • support for the bidirectional display of text lines • J2SDK provides • resource bundles • locale-sensitive sorting • support for localized numbers, dates, times, and messages.

  22. User Interface Components of the JFC • Swing, a complete set of user interface components, including windows, dialog boxes, alert boxes, panels and panes, and basic controls. • Each JFC component contains • a model (the data structure) • a user interface (the presentation and behavior of the component)

  23. Major JFC UI Components • See table of components

  24. Java L&F - Recommendations • Don’t specify look and feel explicity. • cross-platform l&f allows app to appear and perform the same everywhere • simplifies the app's development and doc • Java look and feel is used by default. • If error occurs while specifying name of any l&f, the Java l&f is used by default. • Available Look and Feel Designs: • Metal • Windows • CDE/Motif

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