Actionlistener (or equiv) on the tab's icon in a JTabbedPane

Question

Imagine for a moment the tab of a JTabbedPane, on it is a nice icon of an "X" in the left(ish) side. When the user clicks this "X" icon, the tab its on closes. If anyone knows how to make this work, and is willing to share the source/example how to do it, it would be much appreciated! Ive been coming back to it over and over for a month.

Answer 1

Try this. Far from perfect, but a start. If you want to switch to SWT (eclipse) I've got a fully functional one you can have.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.util.*;
public class Rrahl1
     static class Tab
          Component component;
          String name;
          TabButton button;
          public Tab(Component component, String name)
               this.component= component;
               this.name= name;
     static class TabButton
          extends JPanel
          public static int SELECT= 0;
          public static int CLOSE= 1;
          private static CompoundBorder sEtchedBorder= new CompoundBorder(
               new EtchedBorder(EtchedBorder.LOWERED),
               new EmptyBorder(0, 2, 0, 2));
          private static EmptyBorder sEmptyBorder= new EmptyBorder(2,4,2,4);
          private ImageIcon sImageClose= new ImageIcon("images/close.gif");
          private JLabel mLabel;
          private JLabel mCheck;
          private ActionListener mListener;
          private boolean mSelected= false;
          private boolean mMouseIn= false;
          private Dimension mPreferredSize;
          public TabButton(String title, ActionListener listener)
               mListener= listener;
               mCheck= new JLabel(sImageClose);
               mCheck.setBorder(sEtchedBorder);
               mLabel= new JLabel(title);
               mLabel.setBorder(sEmptyBorder);
               setLayout(new BorderLayout(0,2));
               add(mLabel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
               add(mCheck, BorderLayout.EAST);
               setBorder(sEmptyBorder);
               addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
                    public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
                         System.err.println(
                              getComponentAt(e.getPoint().x, e.getPoint().y) == mCheck ? "Check" : "Label");
                         if (getComponentAt(e.getPoint().x, e.getPoint().y) == mCheck)
                              mListener.actionPerformed(new ActionEvent(mCheck, CLOSE, null));
                         else
                              mListener.actionPerformed(new ActionEvent(mCheck, SELECT, null));
                    public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
                         mMouseIn= false;
                         if (!mSelected) {
                              mLabel.setBorder(sEmptyBorder);
                              mCheck.setVisible(false);
                    public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
                         mMouseIn= true;
                         if (!mSelected) {
                              mLabel.setBorder(sEtchedBorder);
                              mCheck.setVisible(true);
               mPreferredSize= getPreferredSize();
               mCheck.setVisible(false);
          public void setSelected(boolean selected)
               mSelected= selected;
               if (!mMouseIn) {
                    if (mSelected) {
                         mLabel.setBorder(sEtchedBorder);
                         mCheck.setVisible(true);
                    else {
                         mLabel.setBorder(sEmptyBorder);
                         mCheck.setVisible(false);
          public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
               return mPreferredSize == null ? super.getPreferredSize() : mPreferredSize;
     static class TabPanel
          extends JPanel
          private ArrayList mTabs= new ArrayList();
          private Tab mCurrent= null;
          private JPanel mTabPanel= new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT, 0, 0));
          private JPanel mControlPanel= new JPanel();
          public TabPanel()
               setLayout(new BorderLayout());
               add(mTabPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
               add(mControlPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
               mControlPanel.setLayout(new OverlayLayout(mControlPanel));
          public void add(final Tab tab)
               mTabs.add(tab);
               TabButton button= new TabButton(tab.name, new ActionListener() {
                    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                         if (e.getID() == TabButton.SELECT)
                              show(tab);
                         else
                              close(tab);
               mTabPanel.add(button);
               mControlPanel.add(tab.component);
               tab.button= button;
               show(tab);
          private void show(Tab tab)
               if (mCurrent == tab)
                    return;
               if (mCurrent != null) {
                    mCurrent.component.setVisible(false);
                    mCurrent.button.setSelected(false);
               tab.component.setVisible(true);
               tab.button.setSelected(true);
               mCurrent= tab;
          private void close(Tab tab)
               mTabPanel.remove(tab.button);
               mTabPanel.setVisible(false);
               mTabPanel.setVisible(true);
               mControlPanel.remove(tab.component);
               int index= mTabs.indexOf(tab);
               Tab removed= (Tab) mTabs.remove(index);
               if (removed == mCurrent) {
                    if (index < mTabs.size())
                         show((Tab)mTabs.get(index));
                    else if (mTabs.size() > 0)
                         show((Tab)mTabs.get(index-1));
               validate();
     static int newTab= 0;
     public static void main(String[] argv)
          JPanel blue= new JPanel();
          blue.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
          JPanel red= new JPanel();
          red.setBackground(Color.RED);
          JPanel green= new JPanel();
          green.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
          green.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(320,240));
          final TabPanel tabPanel= new TabPanel();
          tabPanel.add(new Tab(red, "Red"));
          tabPanel.add(new Tab(green, "Green"));
          tabPanel.add(new Tab(blue, "Blue"));
          JButton btn= new JButton("Add tab...");
          btn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                    tabPanel.add(new Tab(
                         new JLabel(new java.util.Date().toString()),
                         "Tab " +(newTab++)));
          JFrame frame= new JFrame("Tab");
          frame.getContentPane().add(tabPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
          frame.getContentPane().add(btn, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
          frame.pack();
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
          frame.setVisible(true);
}