Java - How to create a custom dialog box?

Question

I have a button on a JFrame that when clicked I want a dialog box to popup with multiple text areas for user input. I have been looking all around to try to figure out how to do this but I keep on getting more confused. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

This lesson from the Java tutorial explains each Swing component in detail, with examples and API links.

Answer 2

If you use the NetBeans IDE (latest version at this time is 6.5.1), you can use it to create a basic GUI java application using File->New Project and choose the Java category then Java Desktop Application.

Once created, you will have a simple bare bones GUI app which contains an about box that can be opened using a menu selection. You should be able to adapt this to your needs and learn how to open a dialog from a button click.

You will be able to edit the dialog visually. Delete the items that are there and add some text areas. Play around with it and come back with more questions if you get stuck :)

Answer 3

Well, you essentially create a JDialog, add your text components and make it visible. It might help if you narrow down which specific bit you're having trouble with.

Answer 4

If you don't need much in the way of custom behavior, JOptionPane is a good time saver. It takes care of the placement and localization of OK / Cancel options, and is a quick-and-dirty way to show a custom dialog without needing to define your own classes. Most of the time the "message" parameter in JOptionPane is a String, but you can pass in a JComponent or array of JComponents as well.

Example:

JTextField firstName = new JTextField();
JTextField lastName = new JTextField();
JPasswordField password = new JPasswordField();
final JComponent[] inputs = new JComponent[] {
  new JLabel("First"),
  firstName,
  new JLabel("Last"),
  lastName,
  new JLabel("Password"),
  password
};
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, inputs, "My custom dialog", JOptionPane.PLAIN_MESSAGE);
System.out.println("You entered " +
  firstName.getText() + ", " +
  lastName.getText() + ", " +
  password.getText());