Question

So I am trying to create a custom LookAndFeel using java synth and I am having problems binding a custom button. (the Exit Button has a different look).

Here are the buttons from my synth file:

<!-- Button -->

<style id="buttonStyle">
    <property key="Button.textShiftOffset" type="integer" value="1"/>
    <insets top="2" left="2" right="2" bottom="2"/>
    <state>
        <color value="#000000" type="BACKGROUND"/>
        <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/button.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/>   
    </state>
    <state value="PRESSED">
        <color value="#9BC3B1" type="BACKGROUND"/>
        <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/button_p.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/>         
    </state>
     <state value="MOUSE_OVER">
        <color value="#9BC3B1" type="BACKGROUND"/>
        <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/button_h.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/>         
    </state>
</style>
<bind style="buttonStyle" type="region" key="Button"/>


<!-- Exit Button -->

<style id="exitStyle">
    <property key="Button.textShiftOffset" type="integer" value="1"/>
    <insets top="1" left="1" right="1" bottom="1"/>
    <state>
        <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/exit.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/> 
    </state>
    <state value="PRESSED">
        <color value="#9BC3B1" type="BACKGROUND"/>
        <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/exit_p.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/>           
    </state>
    <state value="MOUSE_OVER">
        <color value="#9BC3B1" type="BACKGROUND"/>
        <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/exit_h.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/>           
    </state>
</style>
<bind style="exitStyle" type="region" key="Exit"/>

Here is the code that creates the button.

JButton exit = new JButton("Exit");
        exit.setName("exit");

I’ve tried taking out the normal button style, so that all I would have would be custom buttons, however that doesn’t work. I also tried making the buttonStyle have nothing in it, but that didn’t work, it just picked up the overall style:

    <style id="backingStyle"> 
    <opaque value="TRUE"/>
    <font name="Dialog" size="11"/>
    <state>
      <color value="#2B271C" type="BACKGROUND"/>
      <color value="YELLOW" type="FOREGROUND"/>
    </state>
  </style>
  <bind style="backingStyle" type="region" key=".*"/>

Answer 1

I believe your problem is due to the fact that there is no Region called Exit. All regions should come from the javax.swing.plaf.synth.Region class. The API will tell you what to use for binding to that region http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/javax/swing/plaf/synth/Region.html

But if you want to have a special button that looks different than your standard synth drawn button I find the easiest way is to bind to “name” not “region”. Create a simple class that extends JButton. You can name it ExitButton. You don’t even need to override any methods. The XML file will then bind a style to that class name. Then whenever you want to use that style button create an ExitButton object instead of a JButton (Though it will act the same and have the same methods it will look different per the XML binding).

For the XML file you will then bind it as follows:

<!-- Exit Button -->

<style id="exitStyle">
  <property key="Button.textShiftOffset" type="integer" value="1"/>
  <insets top="1" left="1" right="1" bottom="1"/>
  <state>
    <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/exit.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/> 
  </state>
  <state value="PRESSED">
    <color value="#9BC3B1" type="BACKGROUND"/>
    <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/exit_p.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/>           
  </state>
  <state value="MOUSE_OVER">
    <color value="#9BC3B1" type="BACKGROUND"/>
    <imagePainter method="buttonBackground" path="/rstk/resources/pictures/parts/exit_h.jpg" sourceInsets="2 2 2 2"/>           
  </state>
</style>
<bind style="exitStyle" type="name" key="ExitButton"/>

Note that the only difference is type=”name and key=”ExitButton” (or whatever you choose to name your class that extends JButton). Also the value of the key must match the name of the class you created and want to use for this style of button.

Hope this helps.