Creating Translucent and Shaped Windows in NetBeans 7

Create a New Project. Select File > New Project.

Select Java from the Categories column and Java Application from the Projects column and then click Next.

Perform the following steps.

a. Name the project TranslucentWindow.

b. Uncheck the Create Main Class check box.

c. Click Finish.

Right-click TranslucentWindow Project and select New > JFrame Form .

Name the JFrame  TranslucentWindowDemo , package name demo, and then click Finish.

Perform the following steps :

a. Right-click  TranslucentWindowDemo.java and select Open .

b. Click Source tab.

Add the following import statements to the java class, TranslucentWindow.java

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import static java.awt.GraphicsDevice.WindowTranslucency.*;

Write the following lines of code in the main() method to determine whether translucency is supported by your system’s graphic device.

GraphicsEnvironment ge = GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
GraphicsDevice gd = ge.getDefaultScreenDevice();

Not all platforms support these capabilities. An UnsupportedOperationException exception is thrown when a platform that does not support these features. Hence it is best practice to first check that the platform supports the capability. The GraphicsDevice class provides isWindowTranslucencySupported(GraphicsDevice.WindowTranslucency) method
that you can use for this purpose. You can pass one of three enum values, defined in
GraphicsDevice.WindowTranslucency, namely: PERPIXEL_TRANSLUCENT, TRANSLUCENT, PERPIXEL_TRANSPARENT.

Add the below code to the main method to exit the program if translucency is not supported by the graphic device.

if (!gd.isWindowTranslucencySupported(TRANSLUCENT)) {
System.err.println("Translucency is not supported");
System.exit(0);
}

Perform the following steps to the constructor of the class, TranslucentWindowDemo() .

1. Delete the below NetBeans generated line of code.

initComponents();

2. Add the following lines to set the properties of the frame.

super("TranslucentWindowDemo");
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
setSize(300,200);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setUndecorated(true);
getContentPane().setBackground(Color.blue);

Add the below code to the constructor to create a Button, Close and add the button to the frame.

JButton btnClose = new JButton("Close");
add(btnClose);

To the constructor, add event handling code to the Close button.

ActionListener al;
al = new ActionListener() {

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
System.exit(0);
}
};
btnClose.addActionListener (al);

The Close button responds to click event and closes the Frame .

Perform the following changes to the run() method .

1. Delete the below NetBeans generated line of code.

new TranslucentWindowDemo().setVisible(true);

2. Next add the below lines of code.

TranslucentWindowDemo tw = new TranslucentWindowDemo();
tw.setOpacity(0.55f);
tw.setVisible(true);

The above code performs the following :

1. Starts a thread to create the GUI.
2. Sets the transluency of the window to 55% .
3. Displays the window .

In the Projects pane, right-click TranslucentWindowDemo.java and choose Run File.

The output with 55% translucent window will be as below.  You can click the Close button to close the Window.

Note that the button is also affected by the uniform translucency. Setting the opacity affects the whole window, including any components that the window contains.

You can test the application with different opacity values .

Right-click TranslucentWindow Project and select New > JFrame Form .

Name the class ShapedWindowDemo, package name demo and then click Finish.

Perform the following steps:

1. Right click ShapedWindowsDemo.java and select Open.

2. Click Source tab.

Add the following import statements to the java class, ShapedWindowDemo.java

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.geom.Ellipse2D;
import static java.awt.GraphicsDevice.WindowTranslucency.*;

Add the following lines of code in the main method to determine whether translucency is supported by your system’s graphic device.

GraphicsEnvironment ge = GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
GraphicsDevice gd = ge.getDefaultScreenDevice();
final boolean isTranslucencySupported= gd.isWindowTranslucencySupported(PERPIXEL_TRANSPARENT);

Add the below code to the main method to exit the program if translucency is not supported by the graphic device.

if (!gd.isWindowTranslucencySupported(PERPIXEL_TRANSPARENT)) {
System.err.println("Shaped windows are not supported");
System.exit(0);
}

Perform the following steps to the constructor of the class, ShapedWindowDemo() .

1. Delete the below NetBeans generated line of code.

initComponents();

2. Add the following lines of code .

super("ShapedWindow");
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
addComponentListener(new ComponentAdapter() {

@Override
public void componentResized(ComponentEvent e) {
setShape(new Ellipse2D.Double(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight()));
}
});
setUndecorated(true);
setSize(300, 200);
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
add(new JButton("I am a Button"));

In the Projects pane, right-click ShapedWindowDemo.java and choose Run File.

The output will be as below

Make the following changes to the run() method.

1. Delete the below line of code.

new ShapedWindowDemo().setVisible(true);

2. Add the following lines of code .

ShapedWindowDemo sw = new ShapedWindowDemo();
sw.setOpacity(0.7f);
sw.setVisible(true);

The above code is used to set the Transparency of the window to 70%.

In the Projects pane, right-click ShapedWindowDemo.java and choose Run File.

The output with 70% translucent shaped window will be as below.