I want to have JMenu on a Side bar(JPanel) with sub menu.

Question

I want to have the JMenu on the sidebar(which is a
JPanel placed at WEST). This JMenu shall have the sub
menu with it. I got the JMenu on the Sidebar but when
i take mouse over(or click) the MenuItem it is
displaying the sub Menu. I am attaching the my code.
Can anyone please let me know why it is not displaying
the sub menu and what should be added to my code to
work?
Thanks in Advance(see below for code)
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class SideBarMenu extends JFrame {
     JMenuItem menuItem1,menuItem2;
     JMenu books, softwares, tools;
     JSeparator horizontal1, horizontal2,horizontal3;
     JPanel p1, p2;
      public static void main(String[] args) {
       SideBarMenu vAR =  new SideBarMenu();
     public SideBarMenu() {
          super("Side Bar");
          setSize(500,500);
          setLocation(150,100);
          setResizable(true);     
          Container content = getContentPane();
          p1 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
          p2 = new JPanel();
          p2.setLayout(new GridLayout(20,1));
          p2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black,1));
          books = new JMenu("Books");
          horizontal1 = new JSeparator( JSeparator.HORIZONTAL );
          softwares = new JMenu("Softwares");
          horizontal2 = new JSeparator( JSeparator.HORIZONTAL );
          tools = new JMenu("Tools");
                                horizontal3 = new JSeparator( JSeparator.HORIZONTAL );
          //sub Menu for menu "books"     
          menuItem1 = new JMenuItem("Java");
          books.add(menuItem1);
          menuItem2 = new JMenuItem(".Net");
          books.add(menuItem2);
          //sub Menu for menu "Softwares"          
          menuItem1 = new JMenuItem("Java");
          softwares.add(menuItem1);
          menuItem2 = new JMenuItem(".Net");
          softwares.add(menuItem2);
          //sub Menu for menu "tools"          
          menuItem1 = new JMenuItem("Java");
          tools.add(menuItem1);
          menuItem2 = new JMenuItem(".Net");
          tools.add(menuItem2);
          p2.add(books);
          p2.add(horizontal1);
          p2.add(softwares);
          p2.add(horizontal2);
          p2.add(tools);
          p2.add(horizontal3);
          p1.add(p2,BorderLayout.WEST );
          content.add(p1);
          setVisible(true);
}

Answer 1

Hi Ashwin,
I saw the above code which is approaching my requirement... Thats cool man. Taking that as reference i modified it to make it what i want. The code i have modified and which is very closer to my requirement is attached below. I have set the Windows Look and Feel, because its easy to track my problems with it. The problems am having are:
1) When the mouse is removed from the menu its submenu is not disappearing.
2) When i take the mouse over the menu its making the name(Books/softwares/tools) of the menu invisible.
3) When i take the mouse over the sub menu items they are not getting highlighted, which means they are not listening
I hope u will solve these issues for me...
Also make the menu items work ie., just make them print when i click submenus like "Clicked books->java" and "clicked softwares->.Net" so that i get an idea of events....
Many Thanks .
Here we go,
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Container;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseMotionAdapter;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JMenu;
import javax.swing.JMenuBar;
import javax.swing.JMenuItem;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JPopupMenu;
import javax.swing.JSeparator;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
public class SideBarMenu4 extends JFrame
    JMenuBar menuBar;
    JPopupMenu popup = new JPopupMenu();
    JMenuItem menuItem1, menuItem2;
    JMenu books, softwares, tools;
    JLabel mainMenu = new JLabel("Main Menu");
    JMenu subMenu;
    JSeparator horizontal1, horizontal2, horizontal3;
    JPanel p1, p2;
    public static void main(String[] args)
        SideBarMenu4 vAR = new SideBarMenu4();
    public SideBarMenu4()
        super("Side Bar");
        setSize(500, 500);
        setLocation(150, 100);
        setResizable(true);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
        Container content = getContentPane();
        p1 = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
                    try {
          //MetalLookAndFeel.setCurrentTheme(new MacMetricsTheme());
             UIManager.setLookAndFeel("com.sun.java.swing.plaf.windows.WindowsLookAndFeel");            
        } catch(Exception e) {}
        p2 = new JPanel();
        p2.setLayout(new GridLayout(30, 1));
        p2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black, 1));
        books = new JMenu("Books");
        horizontal1 = new JSeparator(JSeparator.HORIZONTAL);
        softwares = new JMenu("Softwares");
        horizontal2 = new JSeparator(JSeparator.HORIZONTAL);
        tools = new JMenu("Tools");
        horizontal3 = new JSeparator(JSeparator.HORIZONTAL);
        // sub Menu for menu "books"
        menuItem1 = new JMenuItem("Java");
          popup.add(menuItem1);
        //books.add(menuItem1);
        menuItem2 = new JMenuItem(".Net");
          popup.add(menuItem2);
          popup.setPopupSize(100,50);
        menuBar = new JMenuBar();
        menuBar.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1, 5, 5));
        books.add(popup);
          books.setComponentPopupMenu(popup);
        books.addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionAdapter(){
            public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e)
                 popup.show(books, 88, 0);
          softwares.add(popup);
          softwares.setComponentPopupMenu(popup);
        softwares.addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionAdapter(){
            public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e)
                 popup.show(softwares, 88, 0);
          tools.add(popup);
          tools.setComponentPopupMenu(popup);
        tools.addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionAdapter(){
            public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e)
                 popup.show(tools, 88, 0);
        // p2.add(menuBar);
        p2.add(books);
          p2.add(horizontal1);
          p2.add(softwares);
          p2.add(horizontal2);
          p2.add(tools);
          p2.add(horizontal3);
        p1.add(p2, BorderLayout.WEST);
        content.add(p1);
        setVisible(true);
}