Highlight JTable Header

Question

Hello,
I want to be able to change the color of a JTable header of a column ie highlight it when a user clicks on the table header. Is there a way to do this? I'vd done a google search but nothing seems to address this. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
vyang

Answer 1

Try this piece of code on for size. The HeaderRenderer class is far from complete but it should give you something substancial to work with. This renderer also using GradientPainting to give you an extra boost in terms of appearance.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.datatransfer.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import javax.swing.filechooser.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import javax.swing.table.*;
public class HeaderRenderer extends DefaultTableCellRenderer implements
                MouseListener, MouseMotionListener {
    Color bg = new Color(242,242,255), fg = Color.black;
    Rectangle paintingRect = null,
        lpr = null; //last painted rect
    JTableHeader header = null;
    public boolean isOnCol = false, highlightClickedCol = false;
    private int paintingCol = -1, clickedCol = -1, currentCol = -1;
     * Buffer gradient paint.
    GradientPaint gp = null, hoverGradient, columnGradient;
     * The current sorting state of the columns
    SortOrder sortOrder = null;
    public HeaderRenderer() {
        super();
        setFont( getFont().deriveFont(Font.BOLD) );
        //setBackground( bg );
        setForeground( fg );
        setOpaque(false);
        setBorder( BorderFactory.createCompoundBorder (BorderFactory.createMatteBorder(0,0,1,1, new Color(200,200,230) ),
                        BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(4,7,4,4)) );
        setHighlightClickedColumn(true);
    public void setColumnGradient(GradientPaint gp) {
        this.columnGradient = gp;
    public void setHoverGradient(GradientPaint gp) {
        this.hoverGradient = gp;
    public GradientPaint getColumnGradient() {
        return columnGradient;
    public GradientPaint getHoverGradient() {
        return hoverGradient;
    public void setHighlightClickedColumn(boolean b) {
        highlightClickedCol = b;
    public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        Rectangle rect = paintingRect;
        Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g;
            g2.setPaint(gp);
            g2.fillRect( 0, 0, rect.width, rect.height );
        FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrics();
        int strWidth = fm.stringWidth( getText() );
        /*if(currentCol == clickedCol) {
            if( sortOrder == SortOrder.ASCENDING )
                new ArrowIcon( ArrowIcon.UP ).paintIcon(this, g, strWidth + 15, 8);
            else if(sortOrder == SortOrder.DESCENDING )
                new ArrowIcon( ArrowIcon.DOWN ).paintIcon(this, g, strWidth + 15, 8);
        sortOrder = null;
        super.paintComponent(g);
    public void attachListener() {
        header.addMouseListener(this);
        header.addMouseMotionListener(this);
    public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
        isOnCol = true;
    public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
        isOnCol = false;
        paintingCol = -1;
        header.repaint();
    public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) {}
    public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
        clickedCol = header.columnAtPoint( e.getPoint() );
    public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {}
    public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) {
       // isOnRow = true;
        paintingCol = header.columnAtPoint( e.getPoint() );
        paintingRect = header.getHeaderRect( paintingCol );
        header.repaint( paintingRect.x, paintingRect.y, paintingRect.width, paintingRect.height );
        if(lpr != null) {
            header.repaint(lpr.x, lpr.y, lpr.width, lpr.height);
        lpr = paintingRect;
    public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) {
        //isOnRow = true;
        paintingCol = header.columnAtPoint( e.getPoint() );
        paintingRect = header.getHeaderRect( paintingCol );
        header.repaint( paintingRect.x, paintingRect.y, paintingRect.width, paintingRect.height );
        if(lpr != null) {
            header.repaint(lpr.x, lpr.y, lpr.width, lpr.height);
        lpr = paintingRect;
    public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected,
         boolean hasFocus, int row, int col) {
        currentCol = col;
        if(header == null) {
            header = table.getTableHeader();
            attachListener();
        if(table.getRowSorter() != null && table.getRowSorter().getSortKeys().size() > 0 ) {
            java.util.List<? extends RowSorter.SortKey> keys = table.getRowSorter().getSortKeys();
            for(RowSorter.SortKey key: keys) {
                if(key.getColumn() == col) {
                    sortOrder = key.getSortOrder();
        Rectangle rect = table.getTableHeader().getHeaderRect(col);
        if( (isOnCol && paintingCol == col) || (clickedCol == col && highlightClickedCol)  ) {
            gp = new GradientPaint( rect.x, rect.y + rect.height, new Color(200,220,235),
                                rect.x, rect.y, new Color(230,235,250)  );
            setForeground( new Color(50,50,50) );
        } else {
            gp = new GradientPaint( rect.x, rect.y + rect.height, new Color(235,240,245) ,
                                    rect.x, rect.y, new Color(245,250,255) );
            setForeground( new Color(100,120,160) );
        paintingRect = rect;
        //JLabel renderer = new JLabel();
        setText( value == null ? "" : value.toString() );
        //setBorder( BorderFactory.createCompoundBorder( BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder(EtchedBorder.LOWERED),
        //   brdr) );
        return this;
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DefaultTableModel model = new DefaultTableModel(20,5);
        JTable table = new JTable( model );
            table.getTableHeader().setDefaultRenderer( new HeaderRenderer() );
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("Header Renderer Test");
            frame.add( new JScrollPane(table) );
            frame.pack();
            frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
            frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
            frame.setVisible(true);
}ICE