Develop Reference

Highlight changes in a JTable after fireTableDataChanged()

I am using a JTable whose TableModel is periodically updated through fireTableDataChanged(). These changes are usually pretty small, such as a single row added or modified, however I can't predict where it will happen.
Is there a way to know which rows have been added or modified on a fireTableDataChanged() ? I would like to highlight these rows so the user will know as well.

First off, you must setup your context as appropriate for Swing: the TableModel must have enough knowledge/control about itself to fully comply to its notification contract. That is it must fire row-/cellUpdated or rowsInserted whenever such a change happens.
Then the basic approach to highlight changes (for a certain time) in the JTable is to
implement a custom renderer that decorates cells which are in some storage
configure the table with the custom renderer
listen to changes of the model
add the changeEvents (or a custom object with its relevant properties) to the storage that the renderer knows about
use timers to remove the change markers after some time
SwingX simplifies (biased me :-) the rendering part by providing Highlighters and HighlightPredicates: the former do custom visual decorations when the latter decides they should be turned on. The above approach would be adjusted to
configure the table with highlighters for visual decoration
listen to changes in the model
add the changed cell to a custom HighlightPredicate and configure the Highlighter with it
use timers to remove the change markers after some time
Below is some code, the management of the timers/predicates factored into a class called ChangeDecorator: it keeps one Highlighter for decorating updated cells and one for decorating inserted rows (Note: this is an example, obviously the logic must be extended to cover updated rows :) It's fed by a modelListener with changes and updates the predicates as needed.
JXTable table = new JXTable(model);
final ChangeDecorator controller = new ChangeDecorator();
table.addHighlighter(controller.getChangeHighlighter());
TableModelListener l = new TableModelListener() {
#Override
public void tableChanged(TableModelEvent e) {
if (TableUtilities.isUpdate(e)) {
Change change = new Change(e.getFirstRow(), e.getColumn());
controller.addChange(change);
} else if (TableUtilities.isInsert(e)) {
Change change = new Change(e.getFirstRow());
controller.addChange(change);
}
}
};
model.addTableModelListener(l);
/**
* Manages the Highlighters for inserted rows/updated cells.
*/
public static class ChangeDecorator {
private List<Change> changes;
private AbstractHighlighter update;
private AbstractHighlighter insert;
private Highlighter compound;
public ChangeDecorator() {
changes = new ArrayList<>();
}
public Highlighter getChangeHighlighter() {
if (compound == null) {
update = new ColorHighlighter(new ChangePredicate(changes, true),
Color.YELLOW, null);
insert = new ColorHighlighter(new ChangePredicate(changes, false),
Color.GREEN, null);
compound = new CompoundHighlighter(update, insert);
}
return compound;
}
public void addChange(Change change) {
startTimer(change, change.isCell ? update : insert);
}
private void startTimer(final Change change, final AbstractHighlighter hl) {
changes.add(change);
hl.setHighlightPredicate(new ChangePredicate(changes, change.isCell));
ActionListener l = new ActionListener() {
boolean done;
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (!done) {
done = true;
return;
}
((Timer) e.getSource()).stop();
changes.remove(change);
hl.setHighlightPredicate(new ChangePredicate(changes, change.isCell));
}
};
Timer timer = new Timer(2000, l);
timer.setInitialDelay(100);
timer.start();
}
}
/**
* A predicate enables highlighting a cell if it
* contains a change for that cell.
*/
public static class ChangePredicate implements HighlightPredicate {
private List<Change> changes;
private boolean matchCell;
public ChangePredicate(List<Change> changes, boolean matchCell) {
this.changes = new ArrayList(changes);
this.matchCell = matchCell;
}
#Override
public boolean isHighlighted(Component renderer,
ComponentAdapter adapter) {
return changes.contains(createChange(adapter));
}
private Change createChange(ComponentAdapter adapter) {
int modelRow = adapter.convertRowIndexToModel(adapter.row);
if (matchCell) {
int modelColumn =
adapter.convertColumnIndexToModel(adapter.column);;
return new Change(modelRow, modelColumn);
}
return new Change(modelRow);
}
}
/**
* A crude class encapsulating a cell change.
*
*/
public static class Change {
int row;
int column;
boolean isCell;
public Change(int row) {
this(row, -1, false);
}
public Change(int row, int col) {
this(row, col, true);
}
private Change(int row, int col, boolean update) {
this.row = row;
this.column = col;
this.isCell = update;
}
#Override
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
if (!(obj instanceof Change)) return false;
Change other = (Change) obj;
return row == other.row && column == other.column && isCell == other.isCell;
}
}

Table Cell Editor issue

I'm building a custom table cell editor so it adjusts row height during editing. I have this code, but instead of resizing the cell it seams to resize the whole panel, or the frame. When I try to enter a character in a cell the main frame width narrows down to a couple of pixels.
Can anyone see the problem?
class MyTableCellEditor extends AbstractCellEditor implements TableCellEditor {
MyTextpane component = new MyTextpane();
MyTable table;
private int row;
private int col;
public Component getTableCellEditorComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected,
int rowIndex, int vColIndex) {
((MyTextpane) component).setText((String) value);
component.addKeyListener(new KeyListener1());
this.table =(MyTable) table;
this.row = rowIndex;
this.col = vColIndex;
return component;
}
public Object getCellEditorValue() {
return ((MyTextpane) component).getText();
}
public class KeyListener1 implements KeyListener {
#Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent ke) {
}
#Override
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent ke) {
}
#Override
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent ke) {
adjustRowHeight(table, row, col);
}
private java.util.List<java.util.List<Integer>> rowColHeight = new ArrayList<java.util.List<Integer>>();
private void adjustRowHeight(JTable table, int row, int column) {
//The trick to get this to work properly is to set the width of the column to the
//textarea. The reason for this is that getPreferredSize(), without a width tries
//to place all the text in one line. By setting the size with the with of the column,
//getPreferredSize() returnes the proper height which the row should have in
//order to make room for the text.
int cWidth = table.getTableHeader().getColumnModel().getColumn(column).getWidth();
setSize(new Dimension(cWidth, 1000));
int prefH = getPreferredSize().height;
while (rowColHeight.size() <= row) {
rowColHeight.add(new ArrayList<Integer>(column));
}
java.util.List<Integer> colHeights = rowColHeight.get(row);
while (colHeights.size() <= column) {
colHeights.add(0);
}
colHeights.set(column, prefH);
int maxH = prefH;
for (Integer colHeight : colHeights) {
if (colHeight > maxH) {
maxH = colHeight;
}
}
if (table.getRowHeight(row) != maxH) {
table.setRowHeight(row, maxH);
}
}
}
}

have look at
my answer about doLayout(could be fired from CellEditor)
or (more than confortable way to use TextUtils) comment by #kleopatra about getPreferredSize
this could (very) confusing the users,
because I miss JScrollPane, there have to override MaxSize, max size is height & weight for JScrollPane, otherwise part of CellEditor can going outside of screeens bounds .........,
don't do that, put there JScrollPane with JTextComponents, override PreferredSize for CellEditor,
everything are wrong, my view,
create applications modal popup window (based only on JDialog, becasue JWindow doesn't alloved input to the JTextComponent) with JTextComponent, implements there KeyBindings for ESC key, the same for lost Fucus for JDialog, then could be undecorated without any issue
put there Save JButton
output from Save Button reditect to the selected cell, you can't lost focus from application modal inside JTable
contents should be formatted, filtered, modified one JDialog for all cells from JTable

As an alternative to resizing the row while editing, consider TablePopupEditor, which uses JTextArea.

JTable Calls Custom Cell Renderer Method... Continuously

Compilable source can be found at: http://www.splashcd.com/jtable.tar
I'm new to the language, so I'm not sure if this is acceptable behavior or not.
I created a JTable to display a row for each message received (it receives about
one every 20 seconds). One of the table columns can contain a large amount of
text, so I created a custom cell renderer which word wraps and sets the row
height accordingly.
All that works as expected, except that once the table displays its first row,
it calls the cell renderer about ten times a second... until the user closes the
table.
Once I get approx 20 rows in there, the table gets fairly sluggish, taking 2-8
seconds to resize a column, scoll up or down, or render a selected row with the
selected background color.
I inserted a print statement inside the renderer, so I can see how many times
the getTableCellRendererComponent method is being called.
I disabled tool tips, and disabled all cell editing. I do have a listener that
scrolls the view to the last row when either a new row is added or the table is
resized.
Should the getTableCellRendererComponent method be called several times a second
when I'm just viewing the screen (not touching mouse or keyboard)?
TIA

aaaaach
you need doLayout(),
next level :-), then there you can to set Maximum visible rows for JTextComponents too, with little effort
doLayout()
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.table.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
//http://tips4java.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/text-utilities/
public class AutoWrapTest {
public JComponent makeUI() {
String[] columnNames = {" Text Area Cell Renderer "};
Object[][] data = {
{"123456789012345678901234567890"},
{"dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddx"},
{"----------------------------------------------0"},
{">>>>>>>>>>>>>dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd"
+ "dddddddxdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd"
+ "dddddddddddx>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>|"},
{">>>>>>>>>>>>ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd"
+ "ddddddx>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>|"},
{"a|"},
{">>>>>>>>bbbb>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>|"},
{">>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>|"},
{">>>>>>>>>>>>>dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd"
+ "dddddddxdddddddddddddd123456789012345678901234567890dddddd"
+ "dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddx>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>"
+ ">>>>>|"},
{">>>>>>>>>>>>>dddddddddddddd123456789012345678901234567890dddddd"
+ "dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddxdddddddddddddd123456"
+ "789012345678901234567890dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd"
+ "ddddd123456789012345678901234567890ddddx>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>"
+ ">>>>>>>|"},};
TableModel model = new DefaultTableModel(data, columnNames) {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
#Override
public boolean isCellEditable(int row, int column) {
return false;
}
};
JTable table = new JTable(model) {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
#Override
public void doLayout() {
TableColumn col = getColumnModel().getColumn(0);
for (int row = 0; row < getRowCount(); row++) {
Component c = prepareRenderer(col.getCellRenderer(), row, 0);
if (c instanceof JTextArea) {
JTextArea a = (JTextArea) c;
int h = getPreferredHeight(a) + getIntercellSpacing().height;
if (getRowHeight(row) != h) {
setRowHeight(row, h);
}
}
}
super.doLayout();
}
private int getPreferredHeight(JTextComponent c) {
Insets insets = c.getInsets();
View view = c.getUI().getRootView(c).getView(0);
int preferredHeight = (int) view.getPreferredSpan(View.Y_AXIS);
return preferredHeight + insets.top + insets.bottom;
}
};
table.setEnabled(false);
table.setShowGrid(false);
table.setTableHeader(null);
table.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setCellRenderer(new TextAreaCellRenderer());
//table.setPreferredScrollableViewportSize(table.getPreferredSize());
JScrollPane sp = new JScrollPane(table);
sp.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(ScrollPaneConstants.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
sp.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(250, 533));
JPanel p = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
p.add(sp);
return p;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
createAndShowGUI();
}
});
}
public static void createAndShowGUI() {
JFrame f = new JFrame();
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
f.getContentPane().add(new AutoWrapTest().makeUI());
f.setLocation(100, 100);
f.pack();
f.setVisible(true);
}
}
class TextAreaCellRenderer extends JTextArea implements TableCellRenderer {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private final Color evenColor = new Color(230, 240, 255);
public TextAreaCellRenderer() {
super();
setLineWrap(true);
setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(2, 2, 2, 2));
}
#Override
public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected, boolean hasFocus, int row, int column) {
if (isSelected) {
setForeground(table.getSelectionForeground());
setBackground(table.getSelectionBackground());
} else {
setForeground(table.getForeground());
setBackground(table.getBackground());
setBackground((row % 2 == 0) ? evenColor : getBackground());
}
setFont(table.getFont());
setText((value == null) ? "" : value.toString());
return this;
}
}

To get the most performance out of a TableCellRenderer, make sure you're not creating a new instance of a component every time getTableCellRenderer is called. Make the components once and save them as fields of the class.
Also, you'll want to make sure each of the Components you use have the following methods overridden to do nothing:
validate
invalidate
revalidate
repaint
firePropertyChange
(and you probably want to hard code isOpaque).
For more information see: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/javax/swing/tree/DefaultTreeCellRenderer.html

The problem seems to stem from having JTable's setRowHeight() inside the custom cell renderer, as it calls the custom cell renderer, throwing it into an infinite loop.
I had to add in a check to see if the current row height matched the calculated word wrapped row height. If it did, I didnt try to setRowHeight() again.
Corrected Code:
import java.awt.Component;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.table.TableCellRenderer;
//custom cell renderer for word wrapping, but if you use, you have to
//implement zebra striping functionality which the default renderer has
public class LineWrapCellRenderer extends JTextArea implements TableCellRenderer
{
private int numOfTimesCalled;
#Override
public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(
JTable table,
Object value,
boolean isSelected,
boolean hasFocus,
int row,
int column)
{
System.out.println("Line Wrap Cell Renderer Called: " + numOfTimesCalled++);
System.out.println("row:"+ row + ", col:" + column);
//set up the row size based on the number of newlines in the text in the cell
int fontHeight = this.getFontMetrics(this.getFont()).getHeight();
int numWraps = value.toString().split("\r\n|\r|\n").length;
int rowHeight = fontHeight * numWraps;
//if the calculated rowHeight is the same as the row height of row,
// then don't call setRowHeight again, as doing so will throw us into
// an infinite loop
if(rowHeight != table.getRowHeight(row))
{
table.setRowHeight(row, rowHeight);
//configure word wrapping
setWrapStyleWord(true);
setLineWrap(true);
//use the table's font
setFont(table.getFont());
}
//zebra striping, because whatever cell uses this renderer loses the
//default cell renderer zebra striping
if(isSelected)
{
setBackground(table.getSelectionBackground());
}
else
{
if(row%2 == 1)
{
setBackground(UIManager.getColor("Table.alternateRowColor"));
}
else
{
setBackground(table.getBackground());
}
}
this.setText(value.toString());
return this;
}
}

Can I clear text in JTable when type?

Can I make my textField in JTable acts like a cell in Excel?
Clear the text when typing in but can editing when get into the cell.
I think these 2 operations will goes to the same event. Am I wrong?
I try to use the keyPressed but nothing work. TT-TT
Here is my code
private JTable getTblMaster() {
if (tblMasterData == null) {
tblMasterData = new JTable() {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public TableCellEditor getCellEditor(int row, int column) {
TableColumn tableColumn = getColumnModel()
.getColumn(column);
TableCellEditor editor = tableColumn.getCellEditor();
try {
if (editor == null) {
final JTextField text = new JTextField();
/*
text.addKeyListener(new java.awt.event.KeyAdapter() {
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e){
}
});
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
public void run(){
}
});
*/
editor = new DefaultCellEditor(text);
;
return editor;
}
} catch (Exception e) {
LogWriter.error(e);
}
return editor;
}
};
}
return tblMasterData;
}
Any suggestion?

better could be select all text in the JTable cell
text.setText(text.getText())
text.selectAll
by wrapping into invokeLater()
great workaround Table Select All Editor by #camickr

Ohh! trashgod. Your example saved my life :D
All I needed was the code below and it worked. How easy! Thank you very very much.
private JTable getTblMaster() {
if (tblMasterData == null) {
tblMasterData = new JTable() {
public boolean editCellAt(int row, int column, EventObject e){
boolean result = super.editCellAt(row, column, e);
final Component editor = getEditorComponent();
if (editor == null || !(editor instanceof JTextComponent)) {
return result;
}
if (e instanceof KeyEvent) {
((JTextComponent) editor).selectAll();
}
return result;
} ....

I did it like this. First I am using the event keyReleased and then getting the row and column number on which I am working and then setting the value at that row. Code goes like this.
private void purchases_TBLKeyReleased(java.awt.event.KeyEvent evt) {
int rowWorking = purchases_TBL.getSelectedRow();
int columnWorking = purchases_TBL.getSelectedColumn();
if(columnWorking==3){
model.setValueAt(null, rowWorking, columnWorking);
}
}
This makes the third column of the table null as soon as I focus move on to that using keyboard.
Note: The same piece of code can be placed in MouseClicked event.

How do I make a list with checkboxes in Java Swing?

What would be the best way to have a list of items with a checkbox each in Java Swing?
I.e. a JList with items that have some text and a checkbox each?

A wonderful answer is this CheckBoxList. It implements Telcontar's answer (though 3 years before :)... I'm using it in Java 1.6 with no problems. I've also added an addCheckbox method like this (surely could be shorter, haven't used Java in a while):
public void addCheckbox(JCheckBox checkBox) {
ListModel currentList = this.getModel();
JCheckBox[] newList = new JCheckBox[currentList.getSize() + 1];
for (int i = 0; i < currentList.getSize(); i++) {
newList[i] = (JCheckBox) currentList.getElementAt(i);
}
newList[newList.length - 1] = checkBox;
setListData(newList);
}
I tried out the demo for the Jidesoft stuff, playing with the CheckBoxList I encountered some problems (behaviors that didn't work). I'll modify this answer if I find problems with the CheckBoxList I linked to.

Create a custom ListCellRenderer and asign it to the JList.
This custom ListCellRenderer must return a JCheckbox in the implementantion of getListCellRendererComponent(...) method.
But this JCheckbox will not be editable, is a simple paint in the screen is up to you to choose when this JCheckbox must be 'ticked' or not,
For example, show it ticked when the row is selected (parameter isSelected), but this way the check status will no be mantained if the selection changes. Its better to show it checked consulting the data below the ListModel, but then is up to you to implement the method who changes the check status of the data, and notify the change to the JList to be repainted.
I Will post sample code later if you need it
ListCellRenderer

Just implement a ListCellRenderer
public class CheckboxListCellRenderer extends JCheckBox implements ListCellRenderer {
public Component getListCellRendererComponent(JList list, Object value, int index,
boolean isSelected, boolean cellHasFocus) {
setComponentOrientation(list.getComponentOrientation());
setFont(list.getFont());
setBackground(list.getBackground());
setForeground(list.getForeground());
setSelected(isSelected);
setEnabled(list.isEnabled());
setText(value == null ? "" : value.toString());
return this;
}
}
and set the renderer
JList list = new JList();
list.setCellRenderer(new CheckboxListCellRenderer());
this will result in
Details at Custom swing component renderers.
PS: If you want radio elements just replace extends JCheckbox with extends JRadioButton.

I'd probably be looking to use a JTable rather than a JList and since the default rendering of a checkbox is rather ugly, I'd probably be looking to drop in a custom TableModel, CellRenderer and CellEditor to represent a boolean value. Of course, I would imagine this has been done a bajillion times already. Sun has good examples.

Better solution for Java 7 and newer
I stumbled upon this question and realized that some of the answers are pretty old and outdated. Nowadays, JList is generic and thus there are better solutions.
My solution of the generic JCheckBoxList:
import java.awt.Component;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
#SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class JCheckBoxList extends JList<JCheckBox> {
protected static Border noFocusBorder = new EmptyBorder(1, 1, 1, 1);
public JCheckBoxList() {
setCellRenderer(new CellRenderer());
addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
int index = locationToIndex(e.getPoint());
if (index != -1) {
JCheckBox checkbox = (JCheckBox) getModel().getElementAt(index);
checkbox.setSelected(!checkbox.isSelected());
repaint();
}
}
});
setSelectionMode(ListSelectionModel.SINGLE_SELECTION);
}
public JCheckBoxList(ListModel<JCheckBox> model){
this();
setModel(model);
}
protected class CellRenderer implements ListCellRenderer<JCheckBox> {
public Component getListCellRendererComponent(
JList<? extends JCheckBox> list, JCheckBox value, int index,
boolean isSelected, boolean cellHasFocus) {
JCheckBox checkbox = value;
//Drawing checkbox, change the appearance here
checkbox.setBackground(isSelected ? getSelectionBackground()
: getBackground());
checkbox.setForeground(isSelected ? getSelectionForeground()
: getForeground());
checkbox.setEnabled(isEnabled());
checkbox.setFont(getFont());
checkbox.setFocusPainted(false);
checkbox.setBorderPainted(true);
checkbox.setBorder(isSelected ? UIManager
.getBorder("List.focusCellHighlightBorder") : noFocusBorder);
return checkbox;
}
}
}
For dynamically adding JCheckBox lists you need to create your own ListModel or add the DefaultListModel.
DefaultListModel<JCheckBox> model = new DefaultListModel<JCheckBox>();
JCheckBoxList checkBoxList = new JCheckBoxList(model);
The DefaultListModel are generic and thus you can use methods specified by JAVA 7 API here like this:
model.addElement(new JCheckBox("Checkbox1"));
model.addElement(new JCheckBox("Checkbox2"));
model.addElement(new JCheckBox("Checkbox3"));

I recommend you use a JPanel with a GridLayout of 1 column. Add the checkBoxes to the JPanel, and set the JPanel as the data source of a JScrollPane. And to get the selected CheckBoxes, just call the getComponents() of the JPanel to get the CheckBoxes.

Odds are good w/ Java that someone has already implemented the widget or utility you need. Part of the benefits of a large OSS community. No need to reinvent the wheel unless you really want to do it yourself. In this case it would be a good learning exercise in CellRenderers and Editors.
My project has had great success with JIDE. The component you want, a Check Box List, is in the JIDE Common Layer (which is OSS and hosted on java.net). The commercial stuff is good too, but you don't need it.
http://www.jidesoft.com/products/oss.htm
https://jide-oss.dev.java.net/

I don't like the solutions that put a Checkbox into the model. The model should only contain data not display elements.
I found this http://www.java2s.com/Tutorials/Java/Swing_How_to/JList/Create_JList_of_CheckBox.htm
which I optimized a bit. The ACTIVE flag represents the Checkbox, the SELECTED flag shows what entry the cursor sits on.
my version requires a renderer
import java.awt.Component;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JList;
import javax.swing.ListCellRenderer;
class CheckListRenderer extends JCheckBox implements ListCellRenderer<Entity> {
#Override
public Component getListCellRendererComponent(JList<? extends Entity> list,
Entity value, int index, boolean isSelected, boolean cellHasFocus) {
setEnabled(list.isEnabled());
setSelected(value.isActive()); // sets the checkbox
setFont(list.getFont());
if (isSelected) { // highlights the currently selected entry
setBackground(list.getSelectionBackground());
setForeground(list.getSelectionForeground());
} else {
setBackground(list.getBackground());
setForeground(list.getForeground());
}
setText(value.toString()+" - A" + value.isActive()+" - F"+cellHasFocus+" - S"+isSelected );
return this;
}
}
and an entity that got the active field:
public class Entity {
private boolean active = true;
public boolean isActive() {
return active;
}
public void setActive(boolean isActive) {
this.active = isActive;
}
}
Now you only have to add this to your JList:
list = new JList<Entity>();
list.setModel(new DefaultListModel<Entity>());
list.setCellRenderer(new CheckListRenderer());
list.setSelectionMode(ListSelectionModel.SINGLE_SELECTION);
list.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
#Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent event) {
if (event.getX() < 20) {
// Quick and dirty: only change the tick if clicked into the leftmost pixels
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
JList<Entity> list = ((JList<Entity>) event.getSource());
int index = list.locationToIndex(event.getPoint());// Get index of item clicked
if (index >= 0) {
Entity item = (Entity) list.getModel().getElementAt(index);
item.setActive(!item.isActive()); // Toggle selected state
list.repaint(list.getCellBounds(index, index));// Repaint cell
}
}
}
});

All of the aggregate components in Swing--that is, components made up other components, such as JTable, JTree, or JComboBox--can be highly customized. For example, a JTable component normally displays a grid of JLabel components, but it can also display JButtons, JTextFields, or even other JTables. Getting these aggregate components to display non-default objects is the easy part, however. Making them respond properly to keyboard and mouse events is a much harder task, due to Swing's separation of components into "renderers" and "editors." This separation was (in my opinion) a poor design choice and only serves to complicate matters when trying to extend Swing components.
To see what I mean, try enhancing Swing's JList component so that it displays checkboxes instead of labels. According to Swing philosophy, this task requires implementing two interfaces: ListCellRenderer (for drawing the checkboxes) and CellEditor (for handling keyboard and mouse events on the checkboxes). Implementing the ListCellRenderer interface is easy enough, but the CellEditor interface can be rather clumsy and hard to understand. In this particular case, I would suggest forgetting CellEditor entirely and to handle input events directly, as shown in the following code.
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class CheckBoxList extends JList
{
protected static Border noFocusBorder = new EmptyBorder(1, 1, 1, 1);
public CheckBoxList()
{
setCellRenderer(new CellRenderer());
addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter()
{
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e)
{
int index = locationToIndex(e.getPoint());
if (index != -1) {
JCheckBox checkbox = (JCheckBox)
getModel().getElementAt(index);
checkbox.setSelected(
!checkbox.isSelected());
repaint();
}
}
}
);
setSelectionMode(ListSelectionModel.SINGLE_SELECTION);
}
protected class CellRenderer implements ListCellRenderer
{
public Component getListCellRendererComponent(
JList list, Object value, int index,
boolean isSelected, boolean cellHasFocus)
{
JCheckBox checkbox = (JCheckBox) value;
checkbox.setBackground(isSelected ?
getSelectionBackground() : getBackground());
checkbox.setForeground(isSelected ?
getSelectionForeground() : getForeground());
checkbox.setEnabled(isEnabled());
checkbox.setFont(getFont());
checkbox.setFocusPainted(false);
checkbox.setBorderPainted(true);
checkbox.setBorder(isSelected ?
UIManager.getBorder(
"List.focusCellHighlightBorder") : noFocusBorder);
return checkbox;
}
}
}
Here, I intercept mouse clicks from the listbox and simulate a click on the appropriate checkbox. The result is a "CheckBoxList" component that is both simpler and smaller than an equivalent component using the CellEditor interface. To use the class, simply instantiate it, then pass it an array of JCheckBox objects (or subclasses of JCheckBox objects) by calling setListData. Note that the checkboxes in this component will not respond to keypresses (i.e. the spacebar), but you could always add your own key listener if needed.
Source: DevX.com

Here is just a little addition to the JCheckBoxList by Rawa. This will add the ability to select using space bar. If multiple items are selected, all will be set to inverted value of the first item.
addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() {
#Override
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
int index = getSelectedIndex();
if (index != -1 && e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_SPACE) {
boolean newVal = !((JCheckBox) (getModel()
.getElementAt(index))).isSelected();
for (int i : getSelectedIndices()) {
JCheckBox checkbox = (JCheckBox) getModel()
.getElementAt(i);
checkbox.setSelected(newVal);
repaint();
}
}
}
});

this is yet another example of making list with checkboxes
class JCheckList<T> extends JList<T> {
protected static Border noFocusBorder = new EmptyBorder(1, 1, 1, 1);
public void setSelected(int index) {
if (index != -1) {
JCheckBox checkbox = (JCheckBox) getModel().getElementAt(index);
checkbox.setSelected(
!checkbox.isSelected());
repaint();
}
}
protected static class CellListener
extends DefaultListModel
implements ListDataListener {
ListModel ls;
public CellListener(ListModel ls) {
ls.addListDataListener(this);
int i = ls.getSize();
for (int v = 0; v < i; v++) {
var r = new JCheckBox();
r.setText(ls.getElementAt(v).toString());
this.addElement(r);
}
this.ls = ls;
}
#Override
public void intervalAdded(ListDataEvent e) {
int begin = e.getIndex0();
int end = e.getIndex1();
for (; begin <= end; begin++) {
var r = new JCheckBox();
r.setText(ls.getElementAt(begin).toString());
this.add(begin, r);
}
}
#Override
public void intervalRemoved(ListDataEvent e) {
int begin = e.getIndex0();
int end = e.getIndex1();
for (; begin <= end; end--) {
this.remove(begin);
}
}
#Override
public void contentsChanged(ListDataEvent e) {
}
}
public JCheckList() {
setCellRenderer(new CellRenderer());
addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
int index = locationToIndex(e.getPoint());
setSelected(index);
}
}
);
addKeyListener(new KeyListener(){
#Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
}
#Override
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_SPACE){
int index = JCheckList.this.getSelectedIndex();
setSelected(index);
}
}
#Override
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
}
});
setSelectionMode(ListSelectionModel.SINGLE_SELECTION);
}
#Override
public void setModel(ListModel<T> d) {
var r = new CellListener(d);
d.addListDataListener(r);
super.setModel(r);
}
protected class CellRenderer implements ListCellRenderer {
public Component getListCellRendererComponent(
JList list, Object value, int index,
boolean isSelected, boolean cellHasFocus) {
JCheckBox checkbox = (JCheckBox) value;
checkbox.setBackground(isSelected
? getSelectionBackground() : getBackground());
checkbox.setForeground(isSelected
? getSelectionForeground() : getForeground());
checkbox.setEnabled(isEnabled());
checkbox.setFont(getFont());
checkbox.setFocusPainted(false);
checkbox.setBorderPainted(true);
checkbox.setBorder(isSelected
? UIManager.getBorder(
"List.focusCellHighlightBorder") : noFocusBorder);
return checkbox;
}
}
}