JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

javax.swing.table
Class TableColumn

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--javax.swing.table.TableColumn
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable

public class TableColumn
extends Object
implements Serializable

A TableColumn represents all the attributes of a column in a JTable, such as width, resizibility, minimum and maximum width. In addition, the TableColumn provides slots for a renderer and an editor that can be used to display and edit the values in this column.

It is also possible to specify renderers and editors on a per type basis rather than a per column basis - see the setDefaultRenderer method in the JTable class. This default mechanism is only used when the renderer (or editor) in the TableColumn is null.

The TableColumn stores the link between the columns in the JTable and the columns in the TableModel. The modelIndex is the column in the TableModel, which will be queried for the data values for the cells in this column. As the column moves around in the view this modelIndex does not change.

Note: Some implementations may assume that all TableColumnModels are unique, therefore we would recommend that the same TableColumn instance not be added more than once to a TableColumnModel. To show TableColumns with the same column of data from the model, create a new instance with the same modelIndex.

Warning: Serialized objects of this class will not be compatible with future Swing releases. The current serialization support is appropriate for short term storage or RMI between applications running the same version of Swing. As of 1.4, support for long term storage of all JavaBeansTM has been added to the java.beans package. Please see XMLEncoder.

See Also:
TableColumnModel, DefaultTableColumnModel, JTableHeader.getDefaultRenderer(), JTable.getDefaultRenderer(Class), JTable.getDefaultEditor(Class), JTable.getCellRenderer(int, int), JTable.getCellEditor(int, int)

Field Summary
static String CELL_RENDERER_PROPERTY
          Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3.
protected  TableCellEditor cellEditor
          The editor used to edit the data cells of the column.
protected  TableCellRenderer cellRenderer
          The renderer used to draw the data cells of the column.
static String COLUMN_WIDTH_PROPERTY
          Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3.
static String HEADER_RENDERER_PROPERTY
          Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3.
static String HEADER_VALUE_PROPERTY
          Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3.
protected  TableCellRenderer headerRenderer
          The renderer used to draw the header of the column.
protected  Object headerValue
          The header value of the column.
protected  Object identifier
          This object is not used internally by the drawing machinery of the JTable; identifiers may be set in the TableColumn as as an optional way to tag and locate table columns.
protected  boolean isResizable
          If true, the user is allowed to resize the column; the default is true.
protected  int maxWidth
          The maximum width of the column.
protected  int minWidth
          The minimum width of the column.
protected  int modelIndex
          The index of the column in the model which is to be displayed by this TableColumn.
protected  int resizedPostingDisableCount
          Deprecated. as of Java 2 platform v1.3
protected  int width
          The width of the column.
 
Constructor Summary
TableColumn()
          Cover method, using a default model index of 0, default width of 75, a null renderer and a null editor.
TableColumn(int modelIndex)
          Cover method, using a default width of 75, a null renderer and a null editor.
TableColumn(int modelIndex, int width)
          Cover method, using a null renderer and a null editor.
TableColumn(int modelIndex, int width, TableCellRenderer cellRenderer, TableCellEditor cellEditor)
          Creates and initializes an instance of TableColumn with modelIndex.
 
Method Summary
 void addPropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener)
          Adds a PropertyChangeListener to the listener list.
protected  TableCellRenderer createDefaultHeaderRenderer()
          As of Java 2 platform v1.3, this method is not called by the TableColumn constructor.
 void disableResizedPosting()
          Deprecated. as of Java 2 platform v1.3
 void enableResizedPosting()
          Deprecated. as of Java 2 platform v1.3
 TableCellEditor getCellEditor()
          Returns the TableCellEditor used by the JTable to edit values for this column.
 TableCellRenderer getCellRenderer()
          Returns the TableCellRenderer used by the JTable to draw values for this column.
 TableCellRenderer getHeaderRenderer()
          Returns the TableCellRenderer used to draw the header of the TableColumn.
 Object getHeaderValue()
          Returns the Object used as the value for the header renderer.
 Object getIdentifier()
          Returns the identifier object for this column.
 int getMaxWidth()
          Returns the maximum width for the TableColumn.
 int getMinWidth()
          Returns the minimum width for the TableColumn.
 int getModelIndex()
          Returns the model index for this column.
 int getPreferredWidth()
          Returns the preferred width of the TableColumn.
 PropertyChangeListener[] getPropertyChangeListeners()
          Returns an array of all the PropertyChangeListeners added to this TableColumn with addPropertyChangeListener().
 boolean getResizable()
          Returns true if the user is allowed to resize the TableColumn's width, false otherwise.
 int getWidth()
          Returns the width of the TableColumn.
 void removePropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener)
          Removes a PropertyChangeListener from the listener list.
 void setCellEditor(TableCellEditor cellEditor)
          Sets the editor to used by when a cell in this column is edited.
 void setCellRenderer(TableCellRenderer cellRenderer)
          Sets the TableCellRenderer used by JTable to draw individual values for this column.
 void setHeaderRenderer(TableCellRenderer headerRenderer)
          Sets the TableCellRenderer used to draw the TableColumn's header to headerRenderer.
 void setHeaderValue(Object headerValue)
          Sets the Object whose string representation will be used as the value for the headerRenderer.
 void setIdentifier(Object identifier)
          Sets the TableColumn's identifier to anIdentifier.
 void setMaxWidth(int maxWidth)
          Sets the TableColumn's maximum width to maxWidth; also adjusts the width and preferred width if they are greater than this value.
 void setMinWidth(int minWidth)
          Sets the TableColumn's minimum width to minWidth; also adjusts the current width and preferred width if they are less than this value.
 void setModelIndex(int modelIndex)
          Sets the model index for this column.
 void setPreferredWidth(int preferredWidth)
          Sets this column's preferred width to preferredWidth.
 void setResizable(boolean isResizable)
          Sets whether this column can be resized.
 void setWidth(int width)
          This method should not be used to set the widths of columns in the JTable, use setPreferredWidth instead.
 void sizeWidthToFit()
          Resizes the TableColumn to fit the width of its header cell.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Field Detail

COLUMN_WIDTH_PROPERTY

public static final String COLUMN_WIDTH_PROPERTY
Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

HEADER_VALUE_PROPERTY

public static final String HEADER_VALUE_PROPERTY
Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

HEADER_RENDERER_PROPERTY

public static final String HEADER_RENDERER_PROPERTY
Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

CELL_RENDERER_PROPERTY

public static final String CELL_RENDERER_PROPERTY
Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

modelIndex

protected int modelIndex
The index of the column in the model which is to be displayed by this TableColumn. As columns are moved around in the view modelIndex remains constant.


identifier

protected Object identifier
This object is not used internally by the drawing machinery of the JTable; identifiers may be set in the TableColumn as as an optional way to tag and locate table columns. The table package does not modify or invoke any methods in these identifier objects other than the equals method which is used in the getColumnIndex() method in the DefaultTableColumnModel.


width

protected int width
The width of the column.


minWidth

protected int minWidth
The minimum width of the column.


maxWidth

protected int maxWidth
The maximum width of the column.


headerRenderer

protected TableCellRenderer headerRenderer
The renderer used to draw the header of the column.


headerValue

protected Object headerValue
The header value of the column.


cellRenderer

protected TableCellRenderer cellRenderer
The renderer used to draw the data cells of the column.


cellEditor

protected TableCellEditor cellEditor
The editor used to edit the data cells of the column.


isResizable

protected boolean isResizable
If true, the user is allowed to resize the column; the default is true.


resizedPostingDisableCount

protected transient int resizedPostingDisableCount
Deprecated. as of Java 2 platform v1.3

This field was not used in previous releases and there are currently no plans to support it in the future.

Constructor Detail

TableColumn

public TableColumn()
Cover method, using a default model index of 0, default width of 75, a null renderer and a null editor. This method is intended for serialization.

See Also:
TableColumn(int, int, TableCellRenderer, TableCellEditor)

TableColumn

public TableColumn(int modelIndex)
Cover method, using a default width of 75, a null renderer and a null editor.

See Also:
TableColumn(int, int, TableCellRenderer, TableCellEditor)

TableColumn

public TableColumn(int modelIndex,
                   int width)
Cover method, using a null renderer and a null editor.

See Also:
TableColumn(int, int, TableCellRenderer, TableCellEditor)

TableColumn

public TableColumn(int modelIndex,
                   int width,
                   TableCellRenderer cellRenderer,
                   TableCellEditor cellEditor)
Creates and initializes an instance of TableColumn with modelIndex. All TableColumn constructors delegate to this one. The modelIndex is the index of the column in the model which will supply the data for this column in the table. The modelIndex does not change as the columns are reordered in the view. The width parameter is used to set both the preferredWidth for this column and the initial width. The renderer and editor are the objects used respectively to render and edit values in this column. When these are null, default values, provided by the getDefaultRenderer and getDefaultEditor methods in the JTable class are used to provide defaults based on the type of the data in this column. This column-centric rendering strategy can be circumvented by overriding the getCellRenderer methods in the JTable.

See Also:
JTable.getDefaultRenderer(Class), JTable.getDefaultEditor(Class), JTable.getCellRenderer(int, int), JTable.getCellEditor(int, int)
Method Detail

setModelIndex

public void setModelIndex(int modelIndex)
Sets the model index for this column. The model index is the index of the column in the model that will be displayed by this TableColumn. As the TableColumn is moved around in the view the model index remains constant.

Parameters:
modelIndex - the new modelIndex

getModelIndex

public int getModelIndex()
Returns the model index for this column.

Returns:
the modelIndex property

setIdentifier

public void setIdentifier(Object identifier)
Sets the TableColumn's identifier to anIdentifier.

Note: identifiers are not used by the JTable, they are purely a convenience for the external tagging and location of columns.

Parameters:
identifier - an identifier for this column
See Also:
getIdentifier()

getIdentifier

public Object getIdentifier()
Returns the identifier object for this column. Note identifiers are not used by JTable, they are purely a convenience for external use. If the identifier is null, getIdentifier() returns getHeaderValue as a default.

Returns:
the identifier property
See Also:
setIdentifier(java.lang.Object)

setHeaderValue

public void setHeaderValue(Object headerValue)
Sets the Object whose string representation will be used as the value for the headerRenderer. When the TableColumn is created, the default headerValue is null.

Parameters:
headerValue - the new headerValue
See Also:
getHeaderValue()

getHeaderValue

public Object getHeaderValue()
Returns the Object used as the value for the header renderer.

Returns:
the headerValue property
See Also:
setHeaderValue(java.lang.Object)

setHeaderRenderer

public void setHeaderRenderer(TableCellRenderer headerRenderer)
Sets the TableCellRenderer used to draw the TableColumn's header to headerRenderer.

Parameters:
headerRenderer - the new headerRenderer
See Also:
getHeaderRenderer()

getHeaderRenderer

public TableCellRenderer getHeaderRenderer()
Returns the TableCellRenderer used to draw the header of the TableColumn. When the headerRenderer is null, the JTableHeader uses its defaultRenderer. The default value for a headerRenderer is null.

Returns:
the headerRenderer property
See Also:
setHeaderRenderer(javax.swing.table.TableCellRenderer), setHeaderValue(java.lang.Object), JTableHeader.getDefaultRenderer()

setCellRenderer

public void setCellRenderer(TableCellRenderer cellRenderer)
Sets the TableCellRenderer used by JTable to draw individual values for this column.

Parameters:
cellRenderer - the new cellRenderer
See Also:
getCellRenderer()

getCellRenderer

public TableCellRenderer getCellRenderer()
Returns the TableCellRenderer used by the JTable to draw values for this column. The cellRenderer of the column not only controls the visual look for the column, but is also used to interpret the value object supplied by the TableModel. When the cellRenderer is null, the JTable uses a default renderer based on the class of the cells in that column. The default value for a cellRenderer is null.

Returns:
the cellRenderer property
See Also:
setCellRenderer(javax.swing.table.TableCellRenderer), JTable.setDefaultRenderer(java.lang.Class, javax.swing.table.TableCellRenderer)

setCellEditor

public void setCellEditor(TableCellEditor cellEditor)
Sets the editor to used by when a cell in this column is edited.

Parameters:
cellEditor - the new cellEditor
See Also:
getCellEditor()

getCellEditor

public TableCellEditor getCellEditor()
Returns the TableCellEditor used by the JTable to edit values for this column. When the cellEditor is null, the JTable uses a default editor based on the class of the cells in that column. The default value for a cellEditor is null.

Returns:
the cellEditor property
See Also:
setCellEditor(javax.swing.table.TableCellEditor), JTable.setDefaultEditor(java.lang.Class, javax.swing.table.TableCellEditor)

setWidth

public void setWidth(int width)
This method should not be used to set the widths of columns in the JTable, use setPreferredWidth instead. Like a layout manager in the AWT, the JTable adjusts a column's width automatically whenever the table itself changes size, or a column's preferred width is changed. Setting widths programmatically therefore has no long term effect.

This method sets this column's width to width. If width exceeds the minimum or maximum width, it is adjusted to the appropriate limiting value.

Parameters:
width - the new width
See Also:
getWidth(), setMinWidth(int), setMaxWidth(int), setPreferredWidth(int), JTable.sizeColumnsToFit(int)

getWidth

public int getWidth()
Returns the width of the TableColumn. The default width is 75.

Returns:
the width property
See Also:
setWidth(int)

setPreferredWidth

public void setPreferredWidth(int preferredWidth)
Sets this column's preferred width to preferredWidth. If preferredWidth exceeds the minimum or maximum width, it is adjusted to the appropriate limiting value.

For details on how the widths of columns in the JTable (and JTableHeader) are calculated from the preferredWidth, see the sizeColumnsToFit method in JTable.

Parameters:
preferredWidth - the new preferred width
See Also:
getPreferredWidth(), JTable.sizeColumnsToFit(int)

getPreferredWidth

public int getPreferredWidth()
Returns the preferred width of the TableColumn. The default preferred width is 75.

Returns:
the preferredWidth property
See Also:
setPreferredWidth(int)

setMinWidth

public void setMinWidth(int minWidth)
Sets the TableColumn's minimum width to minWidth; also adjusts the current width and preferred width if they are less than this value.

Parameters:
minWidth - the new minimum width
See Also:
getMinWidth(), setPreferredWidth(int), setMaxWidth(int)

getMinWidth

public int getMinWidth()
Returns the minimum width for the TableColumn. The TableColumn's width can't be made less than this either by the user or programmatically. The default minWidth is 15.

Returns:
the minWidth property
See Also:
setMinWidth(int)

setMaxWidth

public void setMaxWidth(int maxWidth)
Sets the TableColumn's maximum width to maxWidth; also adjusts the width and preferred width if they are greater than this value.

Parameters:
maxWidth - the new maximum width
See Also:
getMaxWidth(), setPreferredWidth(int), setMinWidth(int)

getMaxWidth

public int getMaxWidth()
Returns the maximum width for the TableColumn. The TableColumn's width can't be made larger than this either by the user or programmatically. The default maxWidth is Integer.MAX_VALUE.

Returns:
the maxWidth property
See Also:
setMaxWidth(int)

setResizable

public void setResizable(boolean isResizable)
Sets whether this column can be resized.

Parameters:
isResizable - if true, resizing is allowed; otherwise false
See Also:
getResizable()

getResizable

public boolean getResizable()
Returns true if the user is allowed to resize the TableColumn's width, false otherwise. You can change the width programmatically regardless of this setting. The default is true.

Returns:
the isResizable property
See Also:
setResizable(boolean)

sizeWidthToFit

public void sizeWidthToFit()
Resizes the TableColumn to fit the width of its header cell. This method does nothing if the header renderer is null (the default case). Otherwise, it sets the minimum, maximum and preferred widths of this column to the widths of the minimum, maximum and preferred sizes of the Component delivered by the header renderer. The transient "width" property of this TableColumn is also set to the preferred width. Note this method is not used internally by the table package.

See Also:
setPreferredWidth(int)

disableResizedPosting

public void disableResizedPosting()
Deprecated. as of Java 2 platform v1.3

This field was not used in previous releases and there are currently no plans to support it in the future.


enableResizedPosting

public void enableResizedPosting()
Deprecated. as of Java 2 platform v1.3

This field was not used in previous releases and there are currently no plans to support it in the future.


addPropertyChangeListener

public void addPropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener)
Adds a PropertyChangeListener to the listener list. The listener is registered for all properties.

A PropertyChangeEvent will get fired in response to an explicit call to setFont, setBackground, or setForeground on the current component. Note that if the current component is inheriting its foreground, background, or font from its container, then no event will be fired in response to a change in the inherited property.

Parameters:
listener - the listener to be added

removePropertyChangeListener

public void removePropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener)
Removes a PropertyChangeListener from the listener list. The PropertyChangeListener to be removed was registered for all properties.

Parameters:
listener - the listener to be removed

getPropertyChangeListeners

public PropertyChangeListener[] getPropertyChangeListeners()
Returns an array of all the PropertyChangeListeners added to this TableColumn with addPropertyChangeListener().

Returns:
all of the PropertyChangeListeners added or an empty array if no listeners have been added
Since:
1.4

createDefaultHeaderRenderer

protected TableCellRenderer createDefaultHeaderRenderer()
As of Java 2 platform v1.3, this method is not called by the TableColumn constructor. Previously this method was used by the TableColumn to create a default header renderer. As of Java 2 platform v1.3, the default header renderer is null. JTableHeader now provides its own shared default renderer, just as the JTable does for its cell renderers.

Returns:
the default header renderer
See Also:
JTableHeader.createDefaultRenderer()

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

Submit a bug or feature
For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

Copyright 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms.