Module java.desktop
Package javax.swing.filechooser

Class FileView

java.lang.Object
javax.swing.filechooser.FileView
Direct Known Subclasses:
BasicFileChooserUI.BasicFileView
public abstract class FileView extends Object
FileView defines an abstract class that can be implemented to provide the filechooser with UI information for a File. Each L&F JFileChooserUI object implements this class to pass back the correct icons and type descriptions specific to that L&F. For example, the Microsoft Windows L&F returns the generic Windows icons for directories and generic files. Additionally, you may want to provide your own FileView to JFileChooser to return different icons or additional information using JFileChooser.setFileView(javax.swing.filechooser.FileView).

JFileChooser first looks to see if there is a user defined FileView, if there is, it gets type information from there first. If FileView returns null for any method, JFileChooser then uses the L&F specific view to get the information. So, for example, if you provide a FileView class that returns an Icon for JPG files, and returns null icons for all other files, the UI's FileView will provide default icons for all other files.

For an example implementation of a simple file view, see yourJDK/demo/jfc/FileChooserDemo/ExampleFileView.java. For more information and examples see How to Use File Choosers, a section in The Java Tutorial.

See Also:

  • Constructor Details

    • FileView

      protected FileView()
      Constructor for subclasses to call.

  • Method Details

    • getName

      public String getName(File f)
      The name of the file. Normally this would be simply f.getName().
      Parameters:
      f - a File object
      Returns:
      a String representing the name of the file

    • getDescription

      public String getDescription(File f)
      A human readable description of the file. For example, a file named jag.jpg might have a description that read: "A JPEG image file of James Gosling's face".
      Parameters:
      f - a File object
      Returns:
      a String containing a description of the file or null if it is not available.

    • getTypeDescription

      public String getTypeDescription(File f)
      A human readable description of the type of the file. For example, a jpg file might have a type description of: "A JPEG Compressed Image File"
      Parameters:
      f - a File object
      Returns:
      a String containing a description of the type of the file or null if it is not available .

    • getIcon

      public Icon getIcon(File f)
      The icon that represents this file in the JFileChooser.
      Parameters:
      f - a File object
      Returns:
      an Icon which represents the specified File or null if it is not available.

    • isTraversable

      public Boolean isTraversable(File f)
      Whether the directory is traversable or not. This might be useful, for example, if you want a directory to represent a compound document and don't want the user to descend into it.
      Parameters:
      f - a File object representing a directory
      Returns:
      true if the directory is traversable, false if it is not, and null if the file system should be checked.
      See Also: