Package java.awt

package java.awt

Contains all of the classes for creating user interfaces and for painting graphics and images. A user interface object such as a button or a scrollbar is called, in AWT terminology, a component. The Component class is the root of all AWT components. See Component for a detailed description of properties that all AWT components share.

Some components fire events when a user interacts with the components. The AWTEvent class and its subclasses are used to represent the events that AWT components can fire. See AWTEvent for a description of the AWT event model.

A container is a component that can contain components and other containers. A container can also have a layout manager that controls the visual placement of components in the container. The AWT package contains several layout manager classes and an interface for building your own layout manager. See Container and LayoutManager for more information.

Each Component object is limited in its maximum size and its location because the values are stored as an integer. Also, a platform may further restrict maximum size and location coordinates. The exact maximum values are dependent on the platform. There is no way to change these maximum values, either in Java code or in native code. These limitations also impose restrictions on component layout. If the bounds of a Component object exceed a platform limit, there is no way to properly arrange them within a Container object. The object's bounds are defined by any object's coordinate in combination with its size on a respective axis.

Additional Specification

• The AWT Focus Subsystem
• The AWT Modality

Since:

1.0

External Specifications

• The Java AWT Native Interface Specification and Guide

Related Packages

Module	Package	Description
java.desktop	java.awt.color	Provides classes for color spaces.
java.datatransfer	java.awt.datatransfer	Provides interfaces and classes for transferring data between and within applications.
java.desktop	java.awt.desktop	Provides interfaces and classes for interaction with various desktop capabilities.
java.desktop	java.awt.dnd	Drag and Drop is a direct manipulation gesture found in many Graphical User Interface systems that provides a mechanism to transfer information between two entities logically associated with presentation elements in the GUI.
java.desktop	java.awt.event	Provides interfaces and classes for dealing with different types of events fired by AWT components.
java.desktop	java.awt.font	Provides classes and interface relating to fonts.
java.desktop	java.awt.geom	Provides the Java 2D classes for defining and performing operations on objects related to two-dimensional geometry.
java.desktop	java.awt.im	Provides classes and interfaces for the input method framework.
java.desktop	java.awt.image	Provides classes for creating and modifying images.
java.desktop	java.awt.print	Provides classes and interfaces for a general printing API.

Class	Description
ActiveEvent	An interface for events that know how to dispatch themselves.
Adjustable	The interface for objects which have an adjustable numeric value contained within a bounded range of values.
AlphaComposite	The AlphaComposite class implements basic alpha compositing rules for combining source and destination colors to achieve blending and transparency effects with graphics and images.
AWTError	Thrown when a serious Abstract Window Toolkit error has occurred.
AWTEvent	The root event class for all AWT events.
AWTEventMulticaster	AWTEventMulticaster implements efficient and thread-safe multi-cast event dispatching for the AWT events defined in the java.awt.event package.
AWTException	Signals that an Abstract Window Toolkit exception has occurred.
AWTKeyStroke	An AWTKeyStroke represents a key action on the keyboard, or equivalent input device.
AWTPermission	This class is for AWT permissions.
BasicStroke	The BasicStroke class defines a basic set of rendering attributes for the outlines of graphics primitives, which are rendered with a Graphics2D object that has its Stroke attribute set to this BasicStroke.
BorderLayout	A border layout lays out a container, arranging and resizing its components to fit in five regions: north, south, east, west, and center.
BufferCapabilities	Capabilities and properties of buffers.
BufferCapabilities.FlipContents	A type-safe enumeration of the possible back buffer contents after page-flipping
Button	This class creates a labeled button.
Canvas	A Canvas component represents a blank rectangular area of the screen onto which the application can draw or from which the application can trap input events from the user.
CardLayout	A CardLayout object is a layout manager for a container.
Checkbox	A check box is a graphical component that can be in either an "on" (true) or "off" (false) state.
CheckboxGroup	The CheckboxGroup class is used to group together a set of Checkbox buttons.
CheckboxMenuItem	This class represents a check box that can be included in a menu.
Choice	The Choice class presents a pop-up menu of choices.
Color	The Color class is used to encapsulate colors in the default sRGB color space or colors in arbitrary color spaces identified by a ColorSpace.
Component	A component is an object having a graphical representation that can be displayed on the screen and that can interact with the user.
Component.BaselineResizeBehavior	Enumeration of the common ways the baseline of a component can change as the size changes.
ComponentOrientation	The ComponentOrientation class encapsulates the language-sensitive orientation that is to be used to order the elements of a component or of text.
Composite	The Composite interface, along with CompositeContext, defines the methods to compose a draw primitive with the underlying graphics area.
CompositeContext	The CompositeContext interface defines the encapsulated and optimized environment for a compositing operation.
Container	A generic Abstract Window Toolkit(AWT) container object is a component that can contain other AWT components.
ContainerOrderFocusTraversalPolicy	A FocusTraversalPolicy that determines traversal order based on the order of child Components in a Container.
Cursor	A class to encapsulate the bitmap representation of the mouse cursor.
DefaultFocusTraversalPolicy	A FocusTraversalPolicy that determines traversal order based on the order of child Components in a Container.
DefaultKeyboardFocusManager	The default KeyboardFocusManager for AWT applications.
Desktop	The Desktop class allows interact with various desktop capabilities.
Desktop.Action	Represents an action type.
Dialog	A Dialog is a top-level window with a title and a border that is typically used to take some form of input from the user.
Dialog.ModalExclusionType	Any top-level window can be marked not to be blocked by modal dialogs.
Dialog.ModalityType	Modal dialogs block all input to some top-level windows.
Dimension	The Dimension class encapsulates the width and height of a component (in integer precision) in a single object.
DisplayMode	The DisplayMode class encapsulates the bit depth, height, width, and refresh rate of a GraphicsDevice.
Event	Deprecated. It is recommended that AWTEvent and its subclasses be used instead
EventQueue	EventQueue is a platform-independent class that queues events, both from the underlying peer classes and from trusted application classes.
FileDialog	The FileDialog class displays a dialog window from which the user can select a file.
FlowLayout	A flow layout arranges components in a directional flow, much like lines of text in a paragraph.
FocusTraversalPolicy	A FocusTraversalPolicy defines the order in which Components with a particular focus cycle root are traversed.
Font	The Font class represents fonts, which are used to render text in a visible way.
FontFormatException	Thrown by method createFont in the Font class to indicate that the specified font is bad.
FontMetrics	The FontMetrics class defines a font metrics object, which encapsulates information about the rendering of a particular font on a particular screen.
Frame	A Frame is a top-level window with a title and a border.
GradientPaint	The GradientPaint class provides a way to fill a Shape with a linear color gradient pattern.
Graphics	The Graphics class is the abstract base class for all graphics contexts that allow an application to draw onto components that are realized on various devices, as well as onto off-screen images.
Graphics2D	This Graphics2D class extends the Graphics class to provide more sophisticated control over geometry, coordinate transformations, color management, and text layout.
GraphicsConfigTemplate	The GraphicsConfigTemplate class is used to obtain a valid GraphicsConfiguration.
GraphicsConfiguration	The GraphicsConfiguration class describes the characteristics of a graphics destination such as a printer or monitor.
GraphicsDevice	The GraphicsDevice class describes the graphics devices that might be available in a particular graphics environment.
GraphicsDevice.WindowTranslucency	Kinds of translucency supported by the underlying system.
GraphicsEnvironment	The GraphicsEnvironment class describes the collection of GraphicsDevice objects and Font objects available to a Java(tm) application on a particular platform.
GridBagConstraints	The GridBagConstraints class specifies constraints for components that are laid out using the GridBagLayout class.
GridBagLayout	The GridBagLayout class is a flexible layout manager that aligns components vertically, horizontally or along their baseline without requiring that the components be of the same size.
GridBagLayoutInfo	The GridBagLayoutInfo is an utility class for GridBagLayout layout manager.
GridLayout	The GridLayout class is a layout manager that lays out a container's components in a rectangular grid.
HeadlessException	Thrown when code that is dependent on a keyboard, display, or mouse is called in an environment that does not support a keyboard, display, or mouse.
IllegalComponentStateException	Signals that an AWT component is not in an appropriate state for the requested operation.
Image	The abstract class Image is the superclass of all classes that represent graphical images.
ImageCapabilities	Capabilities and properties of images.
Insets	An Insets object is a representation of the borders of a container.
ItemSelectable	The interface for objects which contain a set of items for which zero or more can be selected.
JobAttributes	A set of attributes which control a print job.
JobAttributes.DefaultSelectionType	A type-safe enumeration of possible default selection states.
JobAttributes.DestinationType	A type-safe enumeration of possible job destinations.
JobAttributes.DialogType	A type-safe enumeration of possible dialogs to display to the user.
JobAttributes.MultipleDocumentHandlingType	A type-safe enumeration of possible multiple copy handling states.
JobAttributes.SidesType	A type-safe enumeration of possible multi-page impositions.
KeyboardFocusManager	The KeyboardFocusManager is responsible for managing the active and focused Windows, and the current focus owner.
KeyEventDispatcher	A KeyEventDispatcher cooperates with the current KeyboardFocusManager in the targeting and dispatching of all KeyEvents.
KeyEventPostProcessor	A KeyEventPostProcessor cooperates with the current KeyboardFocusManager in the final resolution of all unconsumed KeyEvents.
Label	A Label object is a component for placing text in a container.
LayoutManager	Defines the interface for classes that know how to lay out Containers.
LayoutManager2	Defines an interface for classes that know how to layout Containers based on a layout constraints object.
LinearGradientPaint	The LinearGradientPaint class provides a way to fill a Shape with a linear color gradient pattern.
List	The List component presents the user with a scrolling list of text items.
MediaTracker	The MediaTracker class is a utility class to track the status of a number of media objects.
Menu	A Menu object is a pull-down menu component that is deployed from a menu bar.
MenuBar	The MenuBar class encapsulates the platform's concept of a menu bar bound to a frame.
MenuComponent	The abstract class MenuComponent is the superclass of all menu-related components.
MenuContainer	The super class of all menu related containers.
MenuItem	All items in a menu must belong to the class MenuItem, or one of its subclasses.
MenuShortcut	The MenuShortcut class represents a keyboard accelerator for a MenuItem.
MouseInfo	MouseInfo provides methods for getting information about the mouse, such as mouse pointer location and the number of mouse buttons.
MultipleGradientPaint	This is the superclass for Paints which use a multiple color gradient to fill in their raster.
MultipleGradientPaint.ColorSpaceType	The color space in which to perform the gradient interpolation.
MultipleGradientPaint.CycleMethod	The method to use when painting outside the gradient bounds.
PageAttributes	A set of attributes which control the output of a printed page.
PageAttributes.ColorType	A type-safe enumeration of possible color states.
PageAttributes.MediaType	A type-safe enumeration of possible paper sizes.
PageAttributes.OrientationRequestedType	A type-safe enumeration of possible orientations.
PageAttributes.OriginType	A type-safe enumeration of possible origins.
PageAttributes.PrintQualityType	A type-safe enumeration of possible print qualities.
Paint	This Paint interface defines how color patterns can be generated for Graphics2D operations.
PaintContext	The PaintContext interface defines the encapsulated and optimized environment to generate color patterns in device space for fill or stroke operations on a Graphics2D.
Panel	Panel is the simplest container class.
Point	A point representing a location in (x,y) coordinate space, specified in integer precision.
PointerInfo	A class that describes the pointer position.
Polygon	The Polygon class encapsulates a description of a closed, two-dimensional region within a coordinate space.
PopupMenu	A class that implements a menu which can be dynamically popped up at a specified position within a component.
PrintGraphics	An abstract class which provides a print graphics context for a page.
PrintJob	An abstract class which initiates and executes a print job.
RadialGradientPaint	The RadialGradientPaint class provides a way to fill a shape with a circular radial color gradient pattern.
Rectangle	A Rectangle specifies an area in a coordinate space that is enclosed by the Rectangle object's upper-left point (x,y) in the coordinate space, its width, and its height.
RenderingHints	The RenderingHints class defines and manages collections of keys and associated values which allow an application to provide input into the choice of algorithms used by other classes which perform rendering and image manipulation services.
RenderingHints.Key	Defines the base type of all keys used along with the RenderingHints class to control various algorithm choices in the rendering and imaging pipelines.
Robot	This class is used to generate native system input events for the purposes of test automation, self-running demos, and other applications where control of the mouse and keyboard is needed.
Scrollbar	The Scrollbar class embodies a scroll bar, a familiar user-interface object.
ScrollPane	A container class which implements automatic horizontal and/or vertical scrolling for a single child component.
ScrollPaneAdjustable	This class represents the state of a horizontal or vertical scrollbar of a ScrollPane.
SecondaryLoop	A helper interface to run the nested event loop.
Shape	The Shape interface provides definitions for objects that represent some form of geometric shape.
SplashScreen	The splash screen can be displayed at application startup, before the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) starts.
Stroke	The Stroke interface allows a Graphics2D object to obtain a Shape that is the decorated outline, or stylistic representation of the outline, of the specified Shape.
SystemColor	A class to encapsulate symbolic colors representing the color of native GUI objects on a system.
SystemTray	The SystemTray class represents the system tray for a desktop.
Taskbar	The Taskbar class allows a Java application to interact with the system task area (taskbar, Dock, etc.).
Taskbar.Feature	List of provided features.
Taskbar.State	Kinds of available window progress states.
TextArea	A TextArea object is a multi-line region that displays text.
TextComponent	The TextComponent class is the superclass of any component that allows the editing of some text.
TextField	A TextField object is a text component that allows for the editing of a single line of text.
TexturePaint	The TexturePaint class provides a way to fill a Shape with a texture that is specified as a BufferedImage.
Toolkit	This class is the abstract superclass of all actual implementations of the Abstract Window Toolkit.
Transparency	The Transparency interface defines the common transparency modes for implementing classes.
TrayIcon	A TrayIcon object represents a tray icon that can be added to the system tray.
TrayIcon.MessageType	The message type determines which icon will be displayed in the caption of the message, and a possible system sound a message may generate upon showing.
Window	A Window object is a top-level window with no borders and no menubar.
Window.Type	Enumeration of available window types.