Java Swing Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples
Dr. Herong Yang, Version 4.01

showConfirmDialog() - Displaying Confirmation Dialog Boxes

This section provides a tutorial example on how to use the static method, showConfirmDialog(), to create and display confirmation dialog boxes for 3 different types of options and 4 different types of messages: information, warning, error, and plain.

The second type of dialog boxes you can create and display with the javax.swing.JOptionPane class is the confirmation dialog box. This can be done with the static method: showConfirmDialog(frame, message, title, option, type), where:

  • "frame" is a frame object to be used as the parent frame.
  • "message" is the message string to be display on the dialog box.
  • "title" is the title string to be used as the dialog box title.
  • "option" is an integer code representing a specific confirmation option type. Valid type codes are predefined as constants in the JOptionPane class: YES_NO_OPTION, YES_NO_CANCEL_OPTION, and OK_CANCEL_OPTION.
  • "type" is an integer code representing a specific message dialog box type. Valid type codes are predefined as constants in the JOptionPane class: INFORMATION_MESSAGE, WARNING_MESSAGE, ERROR_MESSAGE and PLAIN_MESSAGE.

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

/**
 * JOptionPaneShowConfirmDialog.java
 * Copyright (c) 2009 by Dr. Herong Yang, http://www.herongyang.com/
 */
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
public class JOptionPaneShowConfirmDialog implements ActionListener {
   JFrame myFrame = null;
   int optionType = JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION;
   int messageType = JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE;
   public static void main(String[] a) {
      (new JOptionPaneShowConfirmDialog()).test();
   }
   private void test() {
      myFrame = new JFrame("showConfirmDialog() Test");
      myFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      Container myPane = myFrame.getContentPane();
      myPane.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
      GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
      setMyConstraints(c,0,0,GridBagConstraints.CENTER);
      myPane.add(getFieldPanel(),c);
      setMyConstraints(c,0,1,GridBagConstraints.CENTER);
      myPane.add(getButtonPanel(),c);
      myFrame.pack();
      myFrame.setVisible(true);
   }
   private JPanel getFieldPanel() {
      JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
      p.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Settings"));
      GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
      setMyConstraints(c,0,0,GridBagConstraints.EAST);
      p.add(new JLabel("Option Type:"),c);
      setMyConstraints(c,1,0,GridBagConstraints.WEST);
      p.add(getOptionPanel(),c);
      setMyConstraints(c,0,1,GridBagConstraints.EAST);
      p.add(new JLabel("Message type:"),c);
      setMyConstraints(c,1,1,GridBagConstraints.WEST);
      p.add(getMessagePanel(),c);
      return p;
   }
   private JPanel getOptionPanel() {
      JPanel myPanel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
      ButtonGroup myGroup = new ButtonGroup();
      JRadioButton myButton = new JRadioButton("Yes-No",true);
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myGroup.add(myButton);
      myPanel.add(myButton);

      myButton = new JRadioButton("Yes-No-Cancel",false);
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myGroup.add(myButton);
      myPanel.add(myButton);

      myButton = new JRadioButton("Ok-Cancel",false);
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myGroup.add(myButton);
      myPanel.add(myButton);
      return myPanel;
   }
   private JPanel getMessagePanel() {
      JPanel myPanel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
      ButtonGroup myGroup = new ButtonGroup();
      JRadioButton myButton = new JRadioButton("Information",true);
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myGroup.add(myButton);
      myPanel.add(myButton);
      
      myButton = new JRadioButton("Warning",false);
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myGroup.add(myButton);
      myPanel.add(myButton);

      myButton = new JRadioButton("Error",false);
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myGroup.add(myButton);
      myPanel.add(myButton);

      myButton = new JRadioButton("Plain",false);
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      myGroup.add(myButton);
      myPanel.add(myButton);
      return myPanel;
   }
   private JPanel getButtonPanel() {
      JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
      JButton myButton = new JButton("Show");
      myButton.addActionListener(this);
      p.add(myButton);
      return p;
   }
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
      String cmd = ((AbstractButton) e.getSource()).getText();
      System.out.println("Button clicked: "+cmd);
      if (cmd.equals("Information")) {
      	 messageType = JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE;
      } else if (cmd.equals("Warning")) {
      	 messageType = JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE;
      } else if (cmd.equals("Error")) {
      	 messageType = JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE;
      } else if (cmd.equals("Plain")) {
      	 messageType = JOptionPane.PLAIN_MESSAGE;
      } else if (cmd.equals("Yes-No")) {
      	 optionType = JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION;
      } else if (cmd.equals("Yes-No-Cancel")) {
      	 optionType = JOptionPane.YES_NO_CANCEL_OPTION;
      } else if (cmd.equals("Ok-Cancel")) {
      	 optionType = JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION;
      } else if (cmd.equals("Show")) {
         JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(myFrame, 
         "Confirmation dialog box text message.", 
         "Confirmation Dialog Box", optionType, messageType);
      }
   }
   private void setMyConstraints(GridBagConstraints c, 
      int gridx, int gridy, int anchor) {
      c.gridx = gridx;
      c.gridy = gridy;
      c.anchor = anchor;
   }
}

If you run this example, select an option type and a message type, then click the "Show" button, you will see a confirmation dialog box showing up like this:
Confirm Dialog Box

Interesting notes about this tutorial example:

  • I used several panels and layouts to organize the settings area.
  • An action listener has been added to all radio buttons and the "Show" button.
  • The actionPerformed() method in the action listener is implemented to handle all changes.
  • What is missing in this example is how to catch input on option buttons on the confirmation dialog box.

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

Last update: 2009.

Table of Contents

 About This Java Swing Tutorial 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

 References

 Printable Copy - PDF Version

Dr. Herong Yang, updated in 2009
showConfirmDialog() - Displaying Confirmation Dialog Boxes