The various form template options are described in more detail below.
After you complete the steps of the New wizard, a blank form of the selected type is created and opened in the Form Editor window.
The first set of templates you can choose from (those starting with J) are Swing form templates. Swing forms use the latest Java Foundation Class (JFC) components for building GUIs that are implemented without native code. Native code is code that refers to methods of a specific operating system or that is compiled for a specific processor.
The AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit) is the original Java class library for building Java GUIs. The AWT contains native code.
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You should use only AWT components in AWT forms and only Swing components in Swing forms. It is possible to mix AWT and Swing components in one form, but doing so can cause repaint problems at both design time and run time. |
The following table lists the types of form templates you can choose. Each differs in the design time and run time look of the form and in the code generated for the form's class.
Form Type | Description |
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Swing JApplet | Program run by a Java-enabled web browser or other applet viewer. |
Swing JDialog | Modal or modeless window for collecting user input. |
Swing JFrame | Top-level application window. |
Swing JInternalFrame | An internal frame that can be placed on a JDesktopPane component to create an MDI application. |
Swing JPanel | Lightweight container for holding parts of an interface. The container can, in turn, be used in any other container, such as a JFrame, JPanel, JApplet, or JDialog component. |
Bean Form |
Template to create a new form based on any JavaBean class you specify. The new form can be visual or nonvisual. Specify the class in the Superclass field in the Basic Class Definition pane (step 3) of the New wizard. The JavaBean class you specify when creating the new form must be in the classpath (mounted in the IDE) and must be already compiled. A JavaBean is any class that complies with the JavaBeans component architecture. It has the basic requirement of having a public constructor without parameters. Use any Swing component as an example of a JavaBean class. For example, you may use javax.swing.JButton to create a form that will produce a customized button. Using this template, you can also create a plain container for holding beans by specifying java.lang.Object as the superclass. |
AWT Forms | Visual forms that are parallel to the Swing forms described above, but that are based on the AWT. The AWT forms include Applet, Dialog, Frame, and Panel. |
Sample Forms | A few customized sample forms. The sample forms include a JFrame-based application with three menus, a JFrame application that can be used as the main window for an MDI application, and a dialog box with OK and Cancel buttons. |
See also | |
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Form Editor
Templates Creating a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) Application |