Question

I’m using a JList as part of a wizard to display all the steps to be performed (it also allows clicking on a step to go to it). Some steps will not always be needed, based on what’s done in previous steps. It’s these inapplicable steps I’d like to disable in the list.

How can I go about disabling (preventing the selection of) certain items in the list? Is there a better way than subclassing JList and overriding every selection-related method?

Answer 1

you have to implements DefaultListSelectionModel, then you can set the Flag if isEnabled or not

simple example

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;

public class JListDisabledItemDemo implements ItemListener, Runnable {

    private JFrame f = new JFrame("Colors");
    private static final String ITEMS[] = {" black ", " blue ", " green ",
        " orange ", " purple ", " red ", " white ", " yellow "};
    private JList jList;
    private JCheckBox[] checkBoxes;
    private boolean[] enabledFlags;

    @Override
    public void run() {
        JPanel pnlEnablers = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0, 1));
        pnlEnablers.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Enabled Items"));
        checkBoxes = new JCheckBox[ITEMS.length];
        enabledFlags = new boolean[ITEMS.length];
        for (int i = 0; i < ITEMS.length; i++) {
            checkBoxes[i] = new JCheckBox(ITEMS[i]);
            checkBoxes[i].setSelected(true);
            checkBoxes[i].addItemListener(this);
            enabledFlags[i] = true;
            pnlEnablers.add(checkBoxes[i]);
        }
        jList = new JList(ITEMS);
        jList.setSelectionMode(ListSelectionModel.SINGLE_SELECTION);
        jList.setSelectionModel(new DisabledItemSelectionModel());
        jList.setCellRenderer(new DisabledItemListCellRenderer());
        jList.addListSelectionListener(new ListSelectionListener() {

            @Override
            public void valueChanged(ListSelectionEvent e) {
                if (!e.getValueIsAdjusting()) {
                    System.out.println("selection");
                }
            }
        });
        JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(jList);
        scroll.setHorizontalScrollBarPolicy(ScrollPaneConstants.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER);
        scroll.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(ScrollPaneConstants.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);

        Container contentPane = f.getContentPane();
        contentPane.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
        contentPane.add(pnlEnablers);
        contentPane.add(scroll);
        f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        f.setLocation(240, 280);
        UIManager.put("List.background", Color.lightGray);
        UIManager.put("List.selectionBackground", Color.orange);
        UIManager.put("List.selectionForeground", Color.blue);
        UIManager.put("Label.disabledForeground", Color.magenta);
        SwingUtilities.updateComponentTreeUI(f);
        f.pack();
        javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                f.setVisible(true);
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent event) {
        JCheckBox checkBox = (JCheckBox) event.getSource();
        int index = -1;
        for (int i = 0; i < ITEMS.length; i++) {
            if (ITEMS[i].equals(checkBox.getText())) {
                index = i;
                break;
            }
        }
        if (index != -1) {
            enabledFlags[index] = checkBox.isSelected();
            jList.repaint();
        }
    }

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new JListDisabledItemDemo());
    }

    private class DisabledItemListCellRenderer extends DefaultListCellRenderer {

        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

        @Override
        public Component getListCellRendererComponent(JList list, Object value, int index, boolean isSelected, boolean cellHasFocus) {
            Component comp = super.getListCellRendererComponent(list, value, index, false, false);
            JComponent jc = (JComponent) comp;
            if (enabledFlags[index]) {
                if (isSelected & cellHasFocus) {
                    comp.setForeground(Color.black);
                    comp.setBackground(Color.red);
                } else {
                    comp.setForeground(Color.blue);
                }
                if (!isSelected) {
                    if ((value.toString()).trim().equals("yellow")) {
                        comp.setForeground(Color.orange);
                        comp.setBackground(Color.magenta);
                    }
                }
                return comp;
            }
            comp.setEnabled(false);
            return comp;
        }
    }

    private class DisabledItemSelectionModel extends DefaultListSelectionModel {

        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

        @Override
        public void setSelectionInterval(int index0, int index1) {
            if (enabledFlags[index0]) {
                super.setSelectionInterval(index0, index0);
            } else {
                /*
                 * The previously selected index is before this one,
                 * so walk forward to find the next selectable item.
                 */
                if (getAnchorSelectionIndex() < index0) {
                    for (int i = index0; i < enabledFlags.length; i++) {
                        if (enabledFlags[i]) {
                            super.setSelectionInterval(i, i);
                            return;
                        }
                    }
                } /*
                 * Otherwise, walk backward to find the next selectable item.
                 */ else {
                    for (int i = index0; i >= 0; i--) {
                        if (enabledFlags[i]) {
                            super.setSelectionInterval(i, i);
                            return;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}