Customizing JComboBox with nimbus

Question

I'm trying to customize the look of my JComboBox using nimbus L&F.

Here is some code:

NamedPainter.java

package gui.combo;

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;

import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.Painter;

public class NamedPainter implements Painter<JComponent>
{
    String name;

    public NamedPainter(String name)
    {
        this.name = name;
    }

    @Override
    public void paint(Graphics2D g, JComponent object, int width, int height)
    {
        g.setColor(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
        g.fillRect(0, 0, width, height);
        g.setFont(new Font("Arial", Font.PLAIN, 12));
        g.setColor(Color.YELLOW);
        g.drawString(name, 0, 10);
    }
}

ColorRectanglePainter.java

package gui.combo;

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;

import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.Painter;

public class ColorRectanglePainter implements Painter<JComponent>
{

    private final Color color;

    public ColorRectanglePainter(final Color color)
    {
        this.color = color;
    }

    @Override
    public void paint(Graphics2D g, JComponent object, int width, int height)
    {
        g.setColor(color);
        g.fillRect(0, 0, width, height);
    }

}

CustomizeComboNimbus.java

package gui.combo;

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.util.Map.Entry;

import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.UIDefaults;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UIManager.LookAndFeelInfo;

public class CustomizeComboNimbus
{

    /**
     * @param args
     */
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Set nimbus L&F
        try
        {
            for(LookAndFeelInfo info : UIManager.getInstalledLookAndFeels())
            {
                if("Nimbus".equals(info.getName()))
                {
                    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(info.getClassName());
                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        catch(Exception e)
        {
            // No nimbus...
            e.printStackTrace();
            return;
        }

        ColorRectanglePainter redPainter = new ColorRectanglePainter(Color.RED);

        // Get default UI and modify it 
        final UIDefaults boxDefaults = new UIDefaults();
        for(Entry<Object, Object> entry : UIManager.getLookAndFeelDefaults().entrySet())
        {
            try
            {
                String key = (String)entry.getKey();
                if(key.startsWith("ComboBox"))
                {
                    if(key.contains("Painter"))
                    {
                        if(key.contains("arrowButton"))
                        {
                            // Set a painter which paint a red rectangle for arrowButton
                            boxDefaults.put(key, redPainter);
                            System.err.println("Replacing the painter for " + key + " with redPainter");
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            // Set a painter that display the name of the nimbusKey when it is triggered
                            NamedPainter painter = new NamedPainter(key);
                            boxDefaults.put(key, painter);
                            System.err.println("Replacing the painter for " + key + " with NamedPainter");
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            catch(Exception e)
            {
            }
        }

        final String[] toDisplay = { "Hello", "World", "Pimp", "My", "Combo" };

        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
        {

            @Override
            public void run()
            {
                JFrame frame = new JFrame("Pimp my combo");
                frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
                JComboBox<String> classicCombo = new JComboBox<>(toDisplay);
                JComboBox<String> pimpedCombo = new JComboBox<>(toDisplay);
                // set the modif to pimpedCombo
                pimpedCombo.putClientProperty("Nimbus.Overrides", boxDefaults);
                pimpedCombo.putClientProperty("Nimbus.Overrides.InheritDefaults", false);

                Container pane = frame.getContentPane();
                pane.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, 1));
                pane.add(classicCombo);
                pane.add(pimpedCombo);
                frame.pack();
                frame.setVisible(true);
            }
        });

    }
}

Here is the console output:

Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton" Editable+Selected].backgroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.textField"[Enabled].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Pressed].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Editable+Focused].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Disabled].foregroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Editable+MouseOver].backgroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Enabled+Selected].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[MouseOver].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Selected].foregroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Disabled+Editable].backgroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Editable+Pressed].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Focused+Pressed].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Disabled+Pressed].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Editable+Enabled].backgroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Enabled].foregroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Disabled+Editable].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[MouseOver].foregroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Disabled].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.textField"[Disabled].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Enabled].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Editable+MouseOver].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.textField"[Selected].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Focused].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Editable+Pressed].backgroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox:"ComboBox.arrowButton"[Pressed].foregroundPainter with redPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Editable+Enabled].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter
Replacing the painter for ComboBox[Focused+MouseOver].backgroundPainter with NamedPainter

And of course, what it looks like: enter image description here

However, this is not exactly what I expected! I thought that having replaced all the ComboBox:arrowButtonPainter with the custom redPainter, I would not see the little triangular black (or white) arrow but just a red rectangle. Also, I did not manager to change the color of the foreground text. How can I do that, both in the combo and in the selection popup menu?

[EDIT]

Further investigations: I tried to put the properties using UIManager.getLookAndFeelDefaults().put instead of boxDefaults.put, and I got the expected result for the arrowButton, which appears as a red square (for both classic and pimped combo, obviously). So, I guess what I'm doing wrong is to override the properties for the pimped combo, i.e. thos two lines that I got from Jasper Pott's blog

pimpedCombo.putClientProperty("Nimbus.Overrides", boxDefaults);
pimpedCombo.putClientProperty("Nimbus.Overrides.InheritDefaults", false);

Can anyone helps on that?

[EDIT 2]

I also note inconsistent behaviour if I use UIManager.put instead of UIManager.getLookAndFeelDefaults().put, where the arrowButton will appear red for example only on mouseOver, or cliked, etc. Javadoc says UIManger.put only affects the "developers defaults", not the L&F defaults. What's the difference? Any help, link to good documentation on how everything works would be helpful.

You might try the approach shown [here](http://stackoverflow.com/a/3008587/230513). — trashgod, Jun 21 '13 at 14:50
Tried it but it did not work. Both for basic and nimbus L&F unfortunately... — remi, Jun 24 '13 at 07:56

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 25 '14 at 13:18

Nimbus.Overrides for instance for internal components (such as JTextField inside of JComboBox) do not work. I have added necessary painters to UIManager.getLookAndFeelDefaults() and implemented custom logic for parent control separation by instance of.

Customizing JComboBox with nimbus

1 Answers1