JavaFX Basics
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JavaFX vs Swing and AWT
Swing and AWT are replaced by the JavaFX platform for
developing rich Internet applications (RIA).
When Java was introduced, the GUI classes were bundled in a
library known as the Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT). AWT is
fine for developing simple graphical user interfaces, but not for
developing comprehensive GUI projects. In addition, AWT is
prone to platform-specific bugs. The AWT user-interface
components were replaced by a more robust, versatile, and
flexible library known as Swing components. Swing components
are painted directly on canvases using Java code. Swing
components depend less on the target platform and use less of the
native GUI resource. With the release of Java 8, Swing is replaced
by a completely new GUI platform known as JavaFX.
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What is JavaFX
A media/graphics framework for creating GUIs in Java
applications
FavaFX is intended to replace Swing as the standard GUI
library for Java SE
More powerful
Used to create both desktop and web applications
Like Swing, it draws its own components, less communication
with OS
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What is JavaFX
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Scene Builder
Visual UI design tool
Uses drag-and-drop features to create components in
your application
GUIs are created a lot faster
Ability to apply CSS on the components of the UI
Makes use of FXML - new XML-based markup language for
defining UIs
Can setup link to JavaFX Controller class
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Scene Builder
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Basic Structure of JavaFX
Application
Override the start(Stage) method
Stage, Scene, and Nodes
Stage
Scene
Button
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JavaFX Program Structure
JavaFX Main Class
Extends JavaFX Application
Contains main() and launch() methods
launch() method will initialize and call start()
method
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JavaFX Program Structure
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JavaFX Program Structure
FXML
xml based language
Describes UI appearance
Controlled by Scene Builder
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JavaFX Classes
Stage
– Represents the main container and window
Scene
– Adds features to Stage, representing FXML
layouts
FXMLLoader
– Handles parsing of FXML files into Java Class
– @FXML keyword links private Java variables to
corresponding FXML components
– ex: @FXML private Label lblMessage;
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Common JavaFX controls and
their most common methods /
properties
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Common methods and properties
Label and TextField
– getText()
– setText()
– setPromptText(value) – for TextField
– isFocused(), requestFocus – for TextField
Button
– Default Button
– Cancel Button
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Common methods and properties
CheckBox and RadioButton
– isSelected()
– setSelected()
– toggleGroup (property for RadioButton)
TextArea
– setText()
– appendText()
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Common methods and properties
ComboBox and ChoiceBox and ListView
Adding Items:
– getItems().add("Ali");
– getItems().addAll("Abdi", "Ayan");
– getItems().addAll(names); //Array
setPromptText() – for ComboBox
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Common methods and properties
ComboBox and ChoiceBox and ListView
Removing Items:
– getItems().remove(index);
– getItems().remove("Ali");
– getItems().removeAll("Abdi", "Ayan");
– getItems().removeAll(names); //Array
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Common methods and properties
ComboBox and ChoiceBox and ListView
Clearing All Items:
– getItems().clear();
Reading Data:
– getSelectionModel().getSelectedIndex()
– getSelectionModel().getSelectedItem()
– getSelectionModel().getSelectedItems()
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Common methods and properties
ComboBox and ChoiceBox and ListView
Checking if nothing is selected:
– getSelectionModel().isEmpty() will return true
or false.
Change Selection Mode of a ListView:
– getSelectionModel().setSelectionMode(Selectio
nMode.MULTIPLE);
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Common methods and properties
Getting all the items in the ListView:
– lv.getItems();
Count the number of elements in a
ListView:
– lv.getItems().size();
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Displaying Images
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Using Multiple Stages
Create 2 files:
– fxml file & Java class (controller file)
The load the FXML document using
FXMLLoader
Create a Scene using the FXML root node
Create Stage and set the Scene into the
Stage, then show the stage.
Finally, hide the previous Stage
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Using Multiple Stages
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JavaFX Dialogs
JavaFX uses Alert class to create dialogs
Alert a = new Alert(Alert.AlertType.TYPE);
AlertTypes:
– INFORMATION
– WARNING
– ERROR
– CONFIRMATION
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JavaFX Dialogs
setTitle(string)
setContentText(string)
setHeaderText(string) -or- setHeaderText(null)
getDialogPane().setContent(node)
getDialogPane().setExpandableContent(node)
show() and showAndWait()
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