Color sorting JXList - SwingX-style

Question

This is triggered by
overloaded radio buttons -- good GUI design?
but completely unrelated to what's currently discussed there: it's Friday afternoon and I simply couldn't resist to take the color list and show-off sorting SwingX-style :-)
- JXList supports sorting out-off-the-box, only needs to be enabled
- custom configuration of the text shown is done in a custom StringValue (aka: converter from some type to String)
- SwingX default renderers are pluggable with the converter
- custom visual decoration is done with a custom Highlighter
- JXList is configurable with one are more Highlighters
Enjoy
Jeanette
To run the code, you'll need SwingX 1.6.2 including the test support and the classes from ColorName/NTC (yeah, locally changed the spelling to comply to Java naming conventions) from the SIHWheel in the other thread
* Created on 05.11.2010
package original;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.math.BigInteger;
import java.util.Comparator;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.Action;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.DefaultListModel;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.ListModel;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.InteractiveTestCase;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.JXFrame;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.JXList;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.decorator.AbstractHighlighter;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.decorator.ComponentAdapter;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.decorator.Highlighter;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.graphics.PaintUtils;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.renderer.DefaultListRenderer;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.renderer.StringValue;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.renderer.StringValues;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.sort.DefaultSortController;
public class ColorExperiments extends InteractiveTestCase {
    public void interactiveColorXList() {
        final JXList list = new JXList(createColorNameModel());
        list.setAutoCreateRowSorter(true);
        list.setCellRenderer(new DefaultListRenderer(createColorNameSV()));
        final JComboBox box = new JComboBox(new Object[] {"by name", 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6});
        Action chooseComparison = new AbstractAction("choose comparison type") {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                if (box.getSelectedItem() instanceof String) {
                    list.setComparator(DefaultSortController.COMPARABLE_COMPARATOR);
                } else {
                    list.setComparator(new NumericComparator(((Integer)box.getSelectedItem()).intValue()));
                list.resetSortOrder();
                list.toggleSortOrder();
                int selected = list.getSelectedIndex();
                if (selected > 1) {
                    list.ensureIndexIsVisible(selected);
        box.setAction(chooseComparison);
        box.setSelectedIndex(0);
        list.addHighlighter(createColorNameHighlighter());
        JXFrame frame = wrapWithScrollingInFrame(list, "colors");
        addStatusComponent(frame, new JLabel("sort type: "));
        addStatusComponent(frame, box);
        show(frame);
    private Highlighter createColorNameHighlighter() {
        Highlighter hl = new AbstractHighlighter() {
            @Override
            protected Component doHighlight(Component component,
                    ComponentAdapter adapter) {
                ColorName colorName = (ColorName) adapter.getValue();
                int c = new BigInteger(colorName.getHex(), 16).intValue();
                if (c != -1) {
                    Color color = new Color(c);
                    component.setBackground(color);
                    component.setForeground(PaintUtils.computeForeground(color));
                    if (adapter.isSelected()) {
                        ((JComponent) component).setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(component.getForeground(), 3));
                return component;
            @Override
            protected boolean canHighlight(Component component,
                    ComponentAdapter adapter) {
                return adapter.getValue() instanceof ColorName;
        return hl;
    private StringValue createColorNameSV() {
        StringValue sv = new StringValue() {
            @Override
            public String getString(Object value) {
                if (value instanceof ColorName) {
                    ColorName name = (ColorName) value;
                    return name.getName();
                return StringValues.TO_STRING.getString(value);
        return sv;
    private ListModel createColorNameModel() {
        NTC.init();
        DefaultListModel model = new DefaultListModel();
        for (int i = 0; i < NTC.names.length; i++) {
            model.addElement(new ColorName(NTC.names[1], NTC.names[i][0]));
return model;
// copied from ColorName to decouple from internal state
static class NumericComparator implements Comparator {
private int numericSortType;
public NumericComparator(int numericSortType) {
this.numericSortType = numericSortType;
public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
int first, secnd;
ColorName c1 = (ColorName) o1;
ColorName c2 = (ColorName) o2;
switch (numericSortType) {
case ColorName.nt_H_HSB:
first = c1.getHilbHSB();
secnd = c2.getHilbHSB();
break;
case ColorName.nt_H_LAB:
first = c1.getHilbLAB();
secnd = c2.getHilbLAB();
break;
case ColorName.nt_H_RGB:
first = c1.getHilbRGB();
secnd = c2.getHilbRGB();
break;
case ColorName.nt_AVG:
first = c1.getAverage();
secnd = c2.getAverage();
break;
case ColorName.nt_LUMA:
first = c1.getLuma();
secnd = c2.getLuma();
break;
case ColorName.nt_LUMI:
first = c1.getLuminescence();
secnd = c2.getLuminescence();
break;
default: // nt_HSI, the original
first = c1.getHSI();
secnd = c2.getHSI();
if (first == secnd)
return 0;
else if (first > secnd)
return 1;
else
return -1;
public static void main(String[] args) {
ColorExperiments test = new ColorExperiments();
try {
test.runInteractiveTests();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();

Answer 1

RichF wrote:
the "magic" I rambled about last night is in the listModel fillingYes, I think it's pretty magical too. In just a few lines of code you get an extremely flexible, modifiable GUI list:the magic I meant is in the lines you didn't show here <g> (when inserting the labels for byHue sorts).
SwingX may be able to refill list in one gulpjust to clarify: there's no refill in swingx - it's always the same unchanged listModel which is sorted by the view (same mechanism as in table sorting as of 1.6)
>
Two words: no monotony. :) ... and you did ask; hopefully your answer is there somewhere.think so - thanks a lot for that detailed explanation :-)
Okay, have the markers in place (same as in your manual insertion except the very first), code is below
- the markers are specialized ColorNames (in fact not a good inheritance but too lazy to make the comparator aware of another type and mixed type comparisons)
- they are inserted into the model
- they are filtered out with a RowFilter for each sort mode except hue sort
Cheers
Jeanette
* Created on 05.11.2010
package original;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
import javax.swing.Action;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.DefaultListModel;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.ListModel;
import javax.swing.RowFilter;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.InteractiveTestCase;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.JXFrame;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.JXList;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.decorator.AbstractHighlighter;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.decorator.ComponentAdapter;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.decorator.Highlighter;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.graphics.PaintUtils;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.renderer.DefaultListRenderer;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.renderer.StringValue;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.renderer.StringValues;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.sort.DefaultSortController;
import org.jdesktop.swingx.sort.RowFilters.GeneralFilter;
import original.ColorName.NumericComparator;
public class ColorExperiments extends InteractiveTestCase {
    public void interactiveColorXList() {
        final JXList list = new JXList(createColorNameModel());
        list.setAutoCreateRowSorter(true);
        list.setCellRenderer(new DefaultListRenderer(createColorNameSV()));
        final JComboBox box = new JComboBox(new Object[] {"by name", 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6});
        Action chooseComparison = new AbstractAction("choose comparison type") {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                if (box.getSelectedItem() instanceof String) {
                    list.setComparator(DefaultSortController.COMPARABLE_COMPARATOR);
                } else {
                    list.setComparator(new NumericComparator(((Integer)box.getSelectedItem()).intValue()));
                list.setRowFilter(createRowFilter(box.getSelectedItem()));
                list.resetSortOrder();
                list.toggleSortOrder();
                int selected = list.getSelectedIndex();
                if (selected > 1) {
                    list.ensureIndexIsVisible(selected);
            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
            private RowFilter<? super ListModel, ? super Integer> createRowFilter(
                    Object selectedItem) {
                if (selectedItem instanceof Integer
                    && ((Integer) selectedItem).intValue() == 0) {
                    return null;
                RowFilter filter = new GeneralFilter() {
                    @Override
                    protected boolean include(
                            Entry<? extends Object, ? extends Object> value,
                            int index) {
                        if (value.getValue(index) instanceof MarkerColorName)
                            return false;
                        return true;
                return filter;
        box.setAction(chooseComparison);
        box.setSelectedIndex(1);
        list.addHighlighter(createColorNameHighlighter());
        JXFrame frame = wrapWithScrollingInFrame(list, "colors");
        addStatusComponent(frame, new JLabel("sort type: "));
        addStatusComponent(frame, box);
        show(frame, 200, 600);
    private Highlighter createColorNameHighlighter() {
        Highlighter hl = new AbstractHighlighter() {
            @Override
            protected Component doHighlight(Component component,
                    ComponentAdapter adapter) {
                ColorName colorName = (ColorName) adapter.getValue();
                if (colorName instanceof MarkerColorName) {
                    component.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
                    component.setForeground(Color.RED);
                } else {
                    component.setBackground(colorName.getColor());
                    component.setForeground(PaintUtils
                            .computeForeground(colorName.getColor()));
                if (adapter.isSelected()) {
                    ((JComponent) component).setBorder(BorderFactory
                            .createLineBorder(component.getForeground(), 3));
                return component;
            @Override
            protected boolean canHighlight(Component component,
                    ComponentAdapter adapter) {
                return adapter.getValue() instanceof ColorName;
        return hl;
    private StringValue createColorNameSV() {
        StringValue sv = new StringValue() {
            @Override
            public String getString(Object value) {
                if (value instanceof ColorName) {
                    ColorName name = (ColorName) value;
                    return name.getName();
                return StringValues.TO_STRING.getString(value);
        return sv;
    private ListModel createColorNameModel() {
        NTC.init();
        DefaultListModel model = new DefaultListModel();
        for (int i = 0; i < NTC.names.length; i++) {
            model.addElement(new ColorName(NTC.names[1], NTC.names[i][0]));
model.addElement(new MarkerColorName("-----Greys ", 0, 0));
model.addElement(new MarkerColorName("-----Red Sextant", 0, 1));
model.addElement(new MarkerColorName("-----Yellow Sextant", 10));
model.addElement(new MarkerColorName("-----Green Sextant", 20));
model.addElement(new MarkerColorName("-----Cyan Sextant", 30));
model.addElement(new MarkerColorName("-----Blue Sextant", 40));
model.addElement(new MarkerColorName("-----Magenta Sextant", 50));
return model;
public static class MarkerColorName extends ColorName {
private int hueBoundary;
private int markerHSI;
private int satBoundary;
public MarkerColorName(String name, int hueBoundary) {
this(name, hueBoundary, 0);
public MarkerColorName(String name, int hueBoundary, int satBoundary) {
super(name, "000000");
this.hueBoundary = hueBoundary;
this.satBoundary = satBoundary;
this.markerHSI = (hueBoundary << 16) + (satBoundary << 8);
* @inherited <p>
@Override
public int getHSI_Hue() {
return hueBoundary;
* @inherited <p>
@Override
public int getHSI_Int() {
return 0;
* @inherited <p>
@Override
public int getHSI_Sat() {
return satBoundary;
* @inherited <p>
@Override
public int getHSI() {
return markerHSI;
public static void main(String[] args) {
setLAF("Windows");
ColorExperiments test = new ColorExperiments();
try {
test.runInteractiveTests();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();