Java Swing Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples - v4.32, by Herong Yang
JMenuItemActionListenerTest.java - Menu Item Action Listener Test
This section provides a tutorial example on how to use java.awt.event.ActionListener, button action listener interface, to catch events fired by JMenuItem objects.
Like any other user interface components, JMenuItem objects also fire events when users interact with them. If you want to perform a task when an event occurs on a JMenuItem object, you need to add an event listener to that JMenuItem item object. Because a JMenuItem is a sub class of AbstractButton, it shares the listener interface and event class with AbstractButton:
java.awt.event.ActionListener - An AWT interface that allows you to implement your own event handler methods:
java.awt.event.ActionEvent - An AWT class that represents an event occurred on a component. The most important method in this class is:
Here is an example program I wrote to test the ActionListener interface:
/* JMenuItemActionListenerTest.java * Copyright (c) 1997-2024 HerongYang.com. All Rights Reserved. */ import java.awt.event.*; import javax.swing.*; public class JMenuItemActionListenerTest { JFrame myFrame = null; public static void main(String[] a) { (new JMenuItemActionListenerTest()).test(); } private void test() { myFrame = new JFrame("Menu Listener Test"); myFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); myFrame.setBounds(50,50,250,150); myFrame.setContentPane(new JDesktopPane()); JMenuBar myMenuBar = new JMenuBar(); JMenu myMenu = getFileMenu(); myMenuBar.add(myMenu); myMenu = getColorMenu(); myMenuBar.add(myMenu); myMenu = getOptionMenu(); myMenuBar.add(myMenu); MyMenuItem myItem = new MyMenuItem("Help"); myMenuBar.add(myItem); myFrame.setJMenuBar(myMenuBar); myFrame.setVisible(true); } private JMenu getFileMenu() { JMenu myMenu = new JMenu("File"); MyMenuItem myItem = new MyMenuItem("Open"); myMenu.add(myItem); myItem = new MyMenuItem("Close"); myMenu.add(myItem); myMenu.addSeparator(); myItem = new MyMenuItem("Exit"); myMenu.add(myItem); return myMenu; } private JMenu getColorMenu() { JMenu myMenu = new JMenu("Color"); JMenuItem myItem = new MyMenuItem("Red"); myMenu.add(myItem); myItem = new MyMenuItem("Green"); myMenu.add(myItem); myItem = new MyMenuItem("Blue"); myMenu.add(myItem); return myMenu; } private JMenu getOptionMenu() { JMenu myMenu = new JMenu("Option"); JMenuItem myItem = new MyMenuItem("Sound"); myMenu.add(myItem); myItem = new MyMenuItem("Auto save"); myMenu.add(myItem); return myMenu; } private class MyMenuItem extends JMenuItem implements ActionListener { public MyMenuItem(String text) { super(text); addActionListener(this); } public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { System.out.println("Item clicked: "+e.getActionCommand()); } } }
If you run this example, you will see the frame window shows up with the menu bar like this:
If you click the "Help" menu item, click "Open" and "Close" in the "File" menu, then click "Red", "Green" and "Blue" in the "Color" menu, you will see some messages printed on the Java console window:
Item clicked: Help Item clicked: Open Item clicked: Close Item clicked: Red Item clicked: Green Item clicked: Blue
Interesting notes about this tutorial example:
Table of Contents
Introduction of Java Swing Package
Graphics Environment of the Local System
JCheckBox - Swing Check Box Class
JRadioButton - Swing Radio Button Class
JTextField - Swing Text Field Class
JComboBox - Swing Combo Box Class
►Menu Bar, Menus, Menu Items and Listeners
JMenuBar, JMenu, and JMenuItem Classes
JMenuBarTest.java - Menu Bar Test Program
JMenuTest.java - Menu Test Program
JMenuItemTest.java - Menu Item Test Program
JRadioButtonMenuItemTest.java - Radio Button Menu Item Test Program
JCheckBoxMenuItemTest.java - Check Box Menu Item Test Program
javax.swing.event.MenuListener - Menu Listener Interface
►JMenuItemActionListenerTest.java - Menu Item Action Listener Test
Item Listener on Radio Button Menu Items
Item Listener on Check Box Menu Items
javax.swing.event.MenuKeyListener - Menu Key Listener Interface
setMnemonic() - Setting Keyboard Mnemonics on Menu Items
setAccelerator() - Setting Keyboard Accelerators on Menu Items
setMnemonic() - Setting Keyboard Mnemonics on Menus
Creating Internal Frames inside the Main Frame
Layout of Components in a Container
JEditorPane - The Editor Pane Class
SwingWorker - The Background Task Worker
AWT (Abstract Windows Toolkit)