select many Checkbox in a checkboxgroup java swing

Question

I am working on a Jframe netbeans IDE basically i drag and drop thing in the form i want to make a group of checkboxes at least two groups in one frame and each group has many checkboxes i want to select multiple checkbox in each group and return the value of checked boxes i have read that button group is not applicable in this situation since button group will only have one selection. Any code snippet or idea on how to do this is much appreciated.

UPDATE

Found this sample this is how i want my checkbox to behave only i dont want to put them in table plus there is no table component in netbeans IDE i can drag for this purpose any idea on how to do this is much appreciated

Answer 1

I agree with Trashgod, a JTable is probably a good place to start, another option is to roll your own...

Each "column" is it's own component and allows you to select multiple options, but only within the context of that "group"

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.LayoutManager;
import java.awt.Rectangle;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.JViewport;
import javax.swing.Scrollable;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;

public class Test {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new Test();
    }

    public Test() {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                try {
                    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
                } catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
                    ex.printStackTrace();
                }

                JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
                frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
                frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 2));
                frame.add(new CheckBoxGroup(new String[]{"Bananas", "Oranages", "Apples", "Pears"}));
                frame.add(new CheckBoxGroup(new String[]{"Learn Archery", "Float in the dead sea", "Swing with a whale shark", "Sail the greek islands", "Go skydiving", "Dance in the rain", "Cycle through the Netherlands"}));
                frame.pack();
                frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
                frame.setVisible(true);
            }
        });
    }

    public class CheckBoxGroup extends JPanel {

        private JCheckBox all;
        private List<JCheckBox> checkBoxes;

        public CheckBoxGroup(String... options) {
            checkBoxes = new ArrayList<>(25);
            setLayout(new BorderLayout());
            JPanel header = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT, 1, 1));
            all = new JCheckBox("Select All...");
            all.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
                @Override
                public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                    for (JCheckBox cb : checkBoxes) {
                        cb.setSelected(all.isSelected());
                    }
                }
            });
            header.add(all);
            add(header, BorderLayout.NORTH);

            JPanel content = new ScrollablePane(new GridBagLayout());
            content.setBackground(UIManager.getColor("List.background"));
            if (options.length > 0) {

                GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
                gbc.gridwidth = GridBagConstraints.REMAINDER;
                gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.NORTHWEST;
                gbc.weightx = 1;
                for (int index = 0; index < options.length - 1; index++) {
                    JCheckBox cb = new JCheckBox(options[index]);
                    cb.setOpaque(false);
                    checkBoxes.add(cb);
                    content.add(cb, gbc);
                }

                JCheckBox cb = new JCheckBox(options[options.length - 1]);
                cb.setOpaque(false);
                checkBoxes.add(cb);
                gbc.weighty = 1;
                content.add(cb, gbc);

            }

            add(new JScrollPane(content));
        }

        public class ScrollablePane extends JPanel implements Scrollable {

            public ScrollablePane(LayoutManager layout) {
                super(layout);
            }

            public ScrollablePane() {
            }

            @Override
            public Dimension getPreferredScrollableViewportSize() {
                return new Dimension(100, 100);
            }

            @Override
            public int getScrollableUnitIncrement(Rectangle visibleRect, int orientation, int direction) {
                return 32;
            }

            @Override
            public int getScrollableBlockIncrement(Rectangle visibleRect, int orientation, int direction) {
                return 32;
            }

            @Override
            public boolean getScrollableTracksViewportWidth() {
                boolean track = false;
                Container parent = getParent();
                if (parent instanceof JViewport) {
                    JViewport vp = (JViewport) parent;
                    track = vp.getWidth() > getPreferredSize().width;
                }
                return track;
            }

            @Override
            public boolean getScrollableTracksViewportHeight() {
                boolean track = false;
                Container parent = getParent();
                if (parent instanceof JViewport) {
                    JViewport vp = (JViewport) parent;
                    track = vp.getHeight() > getPreferredSize().height;
                }
                return track;
            }

        }

    }

}

What it doesn't do is return a list of selected items, but how hard would it be to iterate over the checkBoxes List, check to see if the item is selected or not, extract it's text and add it to another List and return the result...?