createDialog() - Creating Dialog Boxes Directly

This section provides a tutorial example on how to use the static method, showInputDialog(), to create and display input dialog boxes to take text string input from the user.

If you don't want to use show*Dialog() methods to create and display dialog boxes automatically, you can use the createDialog() method to create dialog boxes manually.

1. Use "myPane = new JOptionPane()" to create an empty option pane object, which represents content pane of the dialog box.

2. Use "myPane.setMessageType(type)" to set the message type on the option pane with a type code, INFORMATION_MESSAGE, WARNING_MESSAGE, ERROR_MESSAGE, PLAIN_MESSAGE, or QUESTION_MESSAGE.

3. Use "myPane.setMessage(message)" to set the message text on the option pane with a string.

4. Use "myPane.setOptionType(type)" to set the option type on the option pane with an option code, YES_NO_OPTION, YES_NO_CANCEL_OPTION, or OK_CANCEL_OPTION. This is not needed if you are setting your own options.

5. Use "myPane.setOptions(options)" to set options on the option pane with a string array. This will override options created by the option type.

6. Use "myPane.setInitialValue(default)" to set the default option on the option pane with a string.

7. Use "myDialog = myPane.createDialog(parent, title)" to create the final dialog box with a parent frame and a title string.

8. Use "myDialog.setVisible(true)" to set the final dialog box visible.

9. Use "answer = myPane.getValue()" to get the answer selected/entered by the user on the dialog box. The answer could be an integer if options are provided with an option type, or an string in other cases.

Here is an example program I wrote to test the createDialog() method:

/* JOptionPaneCreateDialog.java
 * Copyright (c) 2014, HerongYang.com, All Rights Reserved.
 */
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
public class JOptionPaneCreateDialog 
   implements ActionListener {
   JFrame myFrame = null;
   public static void main(String[] a) {
      (new JOptionPaneCreateDialog()).test();
   }
   private void test() {
      myFrame = new JFrame("createDialog() Test");
      myFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      Container myPane = myFrame.getContentPane();
      JButton myButton = new JButton("Create");
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myPane.add(myButton);
      myFrame.pack();
      myFrame.setVisible(true);
   }
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
      String[] options = {"Java", "C++", "VB", "PHP", "Perl"};
      JOptionPane myPane = new JOptionPane();
      myPane.setMessageType(JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE);
      myPane.setMessage("What language do you prefer?");
      myPane.setOptions(options);
      myPane.setInitialValue("PHP");
      JDialog myDialog = myPane.createDialog(
         myFrame, "Option Dialog Box");
      myDialog.setVisible(true);
      Object answer = myPane.getValue();
      System.out.println("Answer: "+answer);
   }
}

If you run this example, and click the Create button, you will see an input dialog box showing up like this:
Congirmation Dialog Box Input

Select "Perl" on the option dialog box. Repeat the test with the "Java" option button and the close dialog box icon. You will see some messages printed on the Java console window:

Answer: Perl
Answer: Java
Answer: null

Interesting notes about this tutorial example:

Sample programs listed in this section have been tested with JDK 1.6.0 to 1.8.0.

Last update: 2014.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of Java Swing Package

 Graphics Environment of the Local System

 JFrame - Main Frame Class

 JLabel - Swing Label Class

 JButton - Swing Button Class

 JRadioButton - Swing Radio Button Class

 JTextField - Swing Text Field Class

 Menu Bar, Menus, Menu Items and Listeners

 Creating Internal Frames inside the Main Frame

 Layout of Components in a Container

 LookAndFeel and UIManager

Option Dialog Boxes

 javax.swing.JOptionPane - Creating and Displaying Option Dialog Boxes

 showMessageDialog() - Displaying Message Dialog Boxes

 showConfirmDialog() - Displaying Confirmation Dialog Boxes

 Receiving Inputs from Confirmation Dialog Boxes

 showInputDialog() - Displaying Input Dialog Boxes

 showOptionDialog() - Displaying Option Dialog Boxes

 showInternal*Dialog() - Displaying Internal Dialog Boxes

createDialog() - Creating Dialog Boxes Directly

 JEditorPane - The Editor Pane Class

 SwingWorker - The Background Task Worker

 References

 PDF Printing Version