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Creating a simple gui in java for running a background process

Well, I had this question in mind for a long time.
Even though I have a complex requirement,i will keep it as simple as possible.
I have background process which takes two arguments which I use to execute from command line.
The first argumets can have three valid values and the secong argument can have two valid values.
I usually run that process on command line in solaris unix.and that process is completely coded in C++.
What I want now is I wish to create a simple gui in java for running the process in background.
I am complete new to the advanced concepts of java, and I am aware of some core java which I studied in my college days.
So,My question overe here how do I start creating a gui?
What all do I need to create a simple gui using java?
I am confident enough to learn gui programming in java as I am a c++ programmer.
Please give me some right directions to give some life to my thought and any some good materials available on the net would be helpful.

I would start by looking at;
Creating a GUI with Swing
Concurrency in Swing
Concurrency in Java
I'd also become familiar with ProcessBuilder (a simple example) and Basic IO
MarvinLabs also makes some great points as well

The Google search you'll want to use is "java swing tutorial". Swing is Java's GUI library.
You can also have a look at: Java GUI frameworks. What to choose? Swing, SWT, AWT, SwingX, JGoodies, JavaFX, Apache Pivot?

You really just need a JFrame and a JPanel. The JFrame is the physical window that the gui lives in, while the JPanel is the content manager. You place JComponents (e.g. JLabel, JComboBox) into the JPanel.
Java Api: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/
Examples of using each component: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/index.html

IMO, you may try using JavaFX 2.1 to develop your GUI in java. It has Scene builder tool to design your application, built-in support css-like skin.
Check the concurrency in Javafx 2.1 here.

Change Look and Feel of JFrame?

How would I go about changing the Look and Feel of a JFrame and Swing components to custom pictures and what not? Is there a set of methods and API's or do I need to just make a custom JFrame that allows me to customize my JFrame further?
I'm trying to get something that looks like the World of Warcraft launcher or League of Legends launcher( best examples i've seen with custom everything xD). I'm pretty new to GUIs.

Not exactly an answer to the question, but since you're just staring with Java GUI, I'd recommend diving right into JavaFX -- a modern Java UI toolkit.
Please be sure to start with JavaFX 2.x -- not JavaFX 1.x, which is basically deprecated.

A better gui design using java

I am planning to develop an java application,so i am in search of some library's that can give a pleasant look and feel and easy to customize.I tried swing but the look and feel is not much i expected and creating a look and feel is not so easy i think (i am not sure). i am from web development. In my previous question Java GUI development alternative to swt or swing most guys recommend javafx and i am working on an 64 bit linux machine and javafx is not available for that. I need some advice ,
Better to create own look and feel library else suggest some good library for look and feel
Note:i tried nimbus look and feel.

I can just give some suggestions that I am using in conjunction with Swing:
JRibbon/Flamingo (Office 2007 like ribbons)
Substance Look and Feel (works very well with JRibbon/Flamingo and is quite configurable, with a lot of predefined skins)
SwingX (additional/extended Swing components)
Note that for Substance there's a fork called Insubstantial which contains also a Flamingo fork named Peacock.

JRibbon is the best replacement for menu and toolbar in a Java application. JRibbon gives a better user experiance then ordinary menubar and toolbar. It is look like rich UI Component in Java. JRibbon has all facility like Microsoft Office Ribbon have like application menu, taskbar.
Source : JRibbon Tutorial

Is it possible to make a visually appealing GUI with JavaFX & Swing?

I would like to do a visually appealing / user-friendly GUI in java. Swing is a limited in terms of "skin" customization. I'm thinking about JavaFX, but I don't get it yet,
what can I achieve with this technology ?
how hard is it ?
do you have examples of real-life examples of Swing/JavaFX integration ?
I would like to do something in this spirit of this, which is built on the .NET framework:
original link: http://www.patrickpayet.com/net/?p=329
edit: is their any getting started overview sample code that I can read to get a general feeling of the work needed to be done to achieve something in the spirit of the screenshot? maybe something like the miglayout's swing demo http://www.migcalendar.com/miglayout/swingdemoapp.jnlp
edit2: I found http://download.java.net/general/openjfx/demos/tutorial.jnlp it's really basic though, linked from http://www.deitel.com/ResourceCenters/Programming/JavaFX/JavaFXTutorialsandDemos/tabid/2187/Default.aspx

Doing such a GUI with JavaFX seems to be rather easy.
For a rapid view on the JavaFX echosystem, I would suggest you to take a look at those sites, showing most of the bleeding edge JavaFX technologies :
Jonathan Giles blog on Swing/JavaFX/Griffon
Dean Iverson blog going more in details about JavaFX components
Amy Fowler blog
And finally, take a look at JavaFX home site samples.

Yes, Swing is very customizable. I recommend reading Filthy Rich Clients.
For an example, have a look at Cezanne L&F.

Swing alone can also create awesome looking UIs. You can explore online for number of plugins and samples to add various features. I'd recommend you go through Romain Guy's Blog & Read his book Filthy Rich Clients. I found this blog really cool.
Swing won't disappoint you.

Swing's L&F can help you in this case.
The traditional way to customize L&F is to write your own UI classes for all components, which is not easy.
The Synth L&F is included in JRE5 and become mature in JRE6. With Synth L&F you can customize your own look and feel with images and painter classes. You can also take a look at this IDE for Synth based L&F.

Also checkout my entry to the JFXStudio challenge last year:
http://jfxstudio.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/challenge-five-winners/
This is a very simple "Video Poker" game written in just less than 3,000 characters (ie 30 lines of code). Note that 90% of the graphical elements are images, which gives you an idea of the scope you have for producing "sexy" UIs.
I'll also add that the main elements of this application were written in one evening. JavaFX is a very powerful tool for UI creation once you get used to it.

Yes, you can do that with JavaFX by writing your own CSS files. Learn more at: JavaFX CSS Documentation
It is actually not that hard if you are familiar with CSS.

you can get colorful original GUI with LookAndFeelMetalizer.
For example phoyo was done with it.

java swing app with a custom titlebar?

Is there a way to write a Java Swing application with a custom chrome? Please take a look* at the frame for Microsoft's Zune 4.0 software.
I realize that colors, the shape of scroll bars, etc. are controlled by skins or looks and feels. Right now I'm trying to tackle the native window which houses the java components--the title bar mainly.
Thanks
(*) http://www.winsupersite.com/zune/zune4_shots.asp

By default the frame of a JFrame is native. This can be removed by calling Frame.setUndecorated. The Sun Window PL&F does not provide a title bar. You could hack aJInternalFrame so that it draws the frame, although that probably isn't going to be as easy as it may seem. Of course, if you are going the full custom route, you can draw whatever you want. From 6u10, Sun's JRE also provides APIs to make windows transparent and non-rectangular.

No part of a Swing component's look and feel is "native" in any way. Swing components are "lightweight", which means they are entirely drawn on the Java side, and not at all on the windowing system side.
To create custom "chrome" you create the UI delegates for one or more components. In yor case, you'd want to muck around with the delegates for JRootPane and JInternalFrame.

The Look and Feel of Swing apps are pluggable..that is it can change on the fly. You can create your own look and feel but its not a simple undertaking. To get started this tutorial explains. This article does a little more.
This project demonstrates what could be done. So its up to your imagination.