From the Editor's Desk


By Mark Andrews

JFC^TM/Swing 1.1.1 -- which many developers have been using for some time now in a beta edition -- has graduated from beta status and is now an official release. JFC/Swing 1.1.1 has many bug fixes, some performance improvements, and a few new features such as multi-line labels and HTML in all text-based components. You can download it at no cost from the JFC Web site.

JFC/Swing 1.1.1 has been tested against JDK^TM 1.1.7 and JDK 1.1.8, as well as against the current releases of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. JFC/Swing 1.1.1 is the last planned release for development using JDK 1.1. For more information on the differences between Swing 1.1.1 and Swing 1.1, read the CHANGES.txt file that ships with JFC/Swing.

JFC SwingTutorial Goes to Press 

The JFC Swing Tutorial -- From the authors of the best-selling Java^TM Tutorial -- in now available at all better bookstores and at bookseller sites online.

The subject of the book is, of course, using the the Swing component set. Co-written by Mary Campione and Kathy Walrath -- the lead writer on Java Software's Swing team -- The JFC Swing Tutorial covers everything you need to know to write GUIs that use Swing components. It uses a task-oriented, example-driven approach to introduce you to fundamental concepts and applications. You can learn more about the book -- and even buy it -- by surfing on over to amazon.com.

Java Solutions Guide Spotlights Swing Apps

Are you developing commercial products that use the JFC API? Or would you like to track down information on products that use JFC? If you answered "true" to either of those questions, be sure to take a look at the new JFC Directory, now open for business online. You can list your company's JFC-enabled products for free in the JFC Directory, and you can search for products from other companies that are now building software using JFC.

The JFC Directory, a new addition to the Java Solutions Guide, is maintained by Sun Microsystems, Inc. Potential customers can use the directory to search for products by company, name, product type, or market sector. To list your JFC-enabled product, just jump to the JFC Directory and fill out the form on the enrollment page.

 The README and CHANGES Files  

Before you start using Swing, be sure to read the README.txt and CHANGES.txt files that are shipped with each release of Swing. Both files contain late-breaking information that may not yet have found its way into The Swing Connection.

Another text file supplied with Swing, named LICENSE, contains licensing information to help you stay within the bounds of the law when you use Swing.

What's The Swing Connection? 

The Swing Connection is just what its title says: It's your direct connection to the Swing team. Send us swing-feedback on what you'd like to see covered in these pages, and we'll make sure you get the information you need, provided by the engineers who actually created the components you're asking about.

Mention the words "Swing Connection" in the title or text of your e-mail, and your message will be flagged to the attention of the Swing Connection's editors. We promise that we'll carefully consider every article idea that's submitted.

Call for Papers  

Would you like to write a guest article for The Swing Connection? Then send an e-mail to
swing-feedback@java.sun.com. Our pay consists of a guaranteed audience for your article, a crisp blue byline (including the name of your company, if you like), and a nice listing in the Contents column. We're always looking for new articles!

Getting Started with Swing 

For detailed instructions on how to use Swing and other parts of the Java Foundation Classes, see the JFC Web page. To build and compile the sample programs that you get when you download Swing, you'll need:

• A UNIX workstation, Windows-equipped PC, or Macintosh or other Swing-compatible computer system, with at least 32 MB of RAM and at least 100 MB of free hard-disk space available.
   
• Version 1.1.2 or later of the Java Development Kit (Version 1.1.5 or later preferred) installed on your system. You can download the newest version of the JDK from the java.sun.com Web site.
   
• An Internet browser capable of running programs written using JDK 1.1.2 or later. (The latest version of the Netscape browser works nicely, and so does Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0; you can even configure them to run Swing applets. For more details, see the "Java Plug-in Power" and "Make Your Applets Swing!" articles in this issue.)
   
• Network or CD-ROM access to the latest release of Swing. (You can download Swing from the Java Software Web site.)

Feedback: Let Us Hear from You 

The Swing team welcomes feedback from developers -- especially bug reports, which are particularly important as we approach the incorporation of Swing into the core JDK 1.2 core.

We even have a bug-reporting tool, called the Bug Parade, which is maintained by the Java Developer Connection (see next heading). To get a listing of all open Swing bugs, send mail to swing-buglist@sun.com.

But before you report a bug, please make sure that it causes problems when you run Swing under JDK 1.1.5. The only bugs currently considered high-priority are those that manifest themselves under JDK 1.1.5 or later.

And please be sure to report bugs using the Bug Parade, not the swing-feedback mechanism. The swing-feedback e-mail address should be reserved for feedback about other kinds of important issues regarding Swing. The swing-feedback address is:

swing-feedback@java.sun.com

We can't promise that we'll respond personally to every feedback message. But please do send us feedback about issues that you consider really important. We'll carefully consider your ideas, remarks, suggestions, and comments.

Track Down Bugs with Bug Parade 

As much as we hate to admit it, there may actually be some bugs in Swing. To find out about the bugs that have been found in Swing or to tell the Swing team about any bugs that you encounter, use the Bug Parade, a bug-reporting tool maintained by the Java Developer Connection. You can find it at

http://java.sun.com/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi

To get a listing of all open Swing bugs, send mail to swing-buglist@sun.com. Note that this alias is an auto-responder: No human reads mail sent to swing-buglist. So the subject and body of any message you send to the swing-buglist address will be ignored.

To find out about the status of a known bug, just register with the Java Developer Connection, if you haven't already (it's free), and follow the links to the Bug Parade. Then enter the word "Swing" in the Bug Parade's search tool. In response, the Bug Parade will display a list of known Swing bugs and inform you of their status.

If you run across a bug that no one seems to have reported yet, open the Bug Parade's home page and locate the "submit a bug" link near the bottom of the page. (You'll find that link hiding out under the heading "If it isn't in the database, you can't vote for it!") Once you've found the link, just click it and submit your bug. 

No Matter How You Spell It, It's Swing 

Swing got its name at the 1997 Java

One^SM convention in San Francisco when the engineers who had created the new component set were planning a demo that featured music.

Swing team member Georges Saab mentioned

in passing that swing music seemed to be enjoying a comeback, and suggested that Swing might be an appropriate code name for the new project.

Everyone agreed. "Swing" sounded great and was loaded with slogan possibilities -- including one coined by the late bandleader Duke Ellington himself, who had declared in song, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that Swing."

The name caught on so successfully that when the Swing set was officially absorbed into JFC 1.1, the toolkit's designers -- and thousands of users as well -- continued to call it "Swing."

They still do. As one member of the Swing team observed, "It's spelled JFC, but it's pronounced Swing!"

How The Swing Connection Search Engine Works

When you look up a word or a phrase using The Swing Connection search engine, your search is limited to past and present issues of TSC. (If you really want to search all of java.sun.com, you can still do that, by using the big search engine that has always been provided on the Java Software site.)

With TSC's new and improved search engine, you can still fine-tune your searches using arithmetic symbols such as + and -, as well as by using Boolean operators such as AND, AND NOT, and OR. For example, to search for material containing both the word "fancy" and the word "borders," you could enter "fancy AND Borders" in the text box that appears below, and then hit the Search button.

For more tips on searching using the new Swing Connection search engine, click this Help link

Copyright Notice and Disclaimer

Articles in The Swing Connection may not be reproduced for profit or reproduced in multiple copies. Copyright 1997, 1998, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.

The sample code you find in various places in The Swing Connection is placed there for your convenience and to help you improve your understanding of Swing. We certainly hope it helps you achieve your goals. Please feel free to use or modify the code and redistribute it as you'd like. But understand that, as it is example code, we do not support it, nor do we test it in the same fashion as we do our product code.