File choosers

Several classes extend the Swing JFileChooser class:

• The UnsortableFileChooser class return the selected files in the order in which they were added by the user rather than the order chosen by the JFileChooser class
• The JFileSelector class is a file chooser backed by a component. See JFileSelector
• The JMultipleFileSelector class is a multiple file chooser backed by a component, where the order of the files is clearly specified by the user. See JMultipleFileSelector

JOptionalFileChooser

The JOptionalFileChooser class is a file chooser which allows to unselect a file.

• By default it works exactly as a regular file chooser
• If the JOptionalFileChooser.setHasOptionalFiles(boolean) method is set to true, then if will present an additional button in the interface to allow to unset the file

For example, for the following code:

      JOptionalFileChooser fileChooser = new JOptionalFileChooser();
      fileChooser.setHasOptionalFiles(true);
      File selFile = new File("D:\\Java\\mdiutilities\\README");
      fileChooser.setSelectedFile(selFile);
      fileChooser.setDialogTitle("select file");
      if (fileChooser.showOpenDialog(null) == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
         File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
         System.out.println("file: " + file);
      }

You will have the following GUI:

Text on the optional button

By default the JOptionalFileChooser GUI will use the default Locale language of the platform.

The following Locale languages are supported: The following Locale languages are supported:

• English: en
• French: fr
• Italian: it
• Spanish: sp
• Portuguese: pt
• German: de
• Norwegian: no
• Japanese: ja
• Chinese: zh

If a Locale is not supported, the English Locale will be used. The text on the optional button depends on the Locale of the JOptionalFileChooser component. By default this is the default platform Locale, but it is possible to force the Locale by using the Component.setLocale(Locale) method on the JOptionalFileChooser component.

It is also possible to force the text on the button by using the JOptionalFileChooser.setUnselectFileText(String) method. For example:

      JOptionalFileChooser fileChooser = new JOptionalFileChooser();
      fileChooser.setHasOptionalFiles(true);
      File selFile = new File("D:\\Java\\mdiutilities\\README");
      fileChooser.setSelectedFile(selFile);
      fileChooser.setUnselectFileText("No File");
      fileChooser.setDialogTitle("select file");
      if (fileChooser.showOpenDialog(null) == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
         File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
         System.out.println("file: " + file);
      }

You will have the following GUI:

Restricting the file select input to a single directory

The JOptionalFileChooser(File, boolean) and JOptionalFileChooser(String, boolean) methods allow to restrict the file select input to the specified current directory.

For example:

   JOptionalFileChooser chooser = new JOptionalFileChooser(<current directory>, true);

JFileSelector

The JFileSelector class is a file chooser backed by a component. The important methods of the backing JFileChooser have associated methods in this class which defer to the underlying JFileChooser. For example:

• The JFileSelector.addActionListener(ActionListener) method allows to listen to file selections

Example

The following code creates a JFileSelector:

   JFrame f = new JFrame("test");
   JFileSelector fs = new JFileSelector();
   fs.setCurrentDirectory(new File(System.getProperty("user.dir")));

   fs.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
     @Override
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
       System.out.println("Action : ");
       JFileChooser chooser = (JFileChooser)e.getSource();
       File file = chooser.getSelectedFile();
     }
   });
   f.getContentPane().add(fs);
   f.pack();
   f.setVisible(true);

You will obtain the following result:

JMultipleFileSelector

The JMultipleFileSelector class is a multiple file chooser backed by a component, where the order of the files is clearly specified by the user. Contrary to the standard Java JFileChooser, or the JFileSelector, each of the files can be selected in its specific directory.

Example

The following code creates a JMultipleFileSelector:

   JFrame f = new JFrame("test");
   JMultipleFileSelector fs = new JMultipleFileSelector();
   fs.setCurrentDirectory(new File(System.getProperty("user.dir")));

   fs.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
     @Override
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
       System.out.println("Action : ");
       JMultipleFileSelector selector = (JMultipleFileSelector)e.getSource();
       File[] files = selector.getSelectedFiles();
     }
   });

   f.getContentPane().add(fs);
   f.pack();
   f.setVisible(true);

You will obtain the following result: