Java Swing, Trying to replace boolean check-box in a JTable with an image-icon checkbox

Question

So I have a JTable with check-boxes. I would like to have the check-boxes contain one image when they are "checked" and another image when they are "unchecked" (i.e., display images instead of a checked or unchecked box). Is there a way to do this? I've tried fooling with the TableCellRenderer that returns a JLabel with an ImageIcon but it was not really very effective.

More specifically, when the box is checked or unchecked the right images are there, but when the user is changing the check-box state (while the mouse is down) the original checked/unchecked images appear

This is the TableCellRenderer I tried (I have also tried it with JPanels but this was ineffective as well

public class CrassusEventTableCellEyeRenderer extends JCheckBox implements TableCellRenderer {

    static Icon greyEye;
    static Icon blackEye;

    {//STATIC CODE BLOCK
        try {
            greyEye = new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(new File("icons/shittyTest.png")));

            blackEye = new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(new File("icons/blackEye.png")));
        } catch (IOException e) {
            greyEye = null;
            blackEye = null;
        }
    }

    public CrassusEventTableCellEyeRenderer(){
        super();
        this.addItemListener(new IsCheckedItemListener());
        setIcon(greyEye);
    }

//commented out code that I have tried in place of the IsCheckedItemListener
    /*
    @Override
    public void setSelected(boolean sel){
        super.isSelected();
        if(sel)
            setIcon(blackEye);
        else
            setIcon(greyEye);
    }
    */

    public class IsCheckedItemListener implements ItemListener{

        @Override
        public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e) {
            if(isSelected())
                setIcon(blackEye);
            else
                setIcon(greyEye);
        }

    }

    @Override
    public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected, boolean hasFocus, int row, int column) {
        System.out.println("value: "+value+", row: "+row+", column: "+column);
        if(value instanceof Boolean){
            setSelected(((Boolean) value).booleanValue());
        }
        return this;
    }

}

Answer 1

You'll need to supply you own custom TableCellRenderer that is capable of providing the functionality you want...

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
import javax.swing.table.AbstractTableModel;
import javax.swing.table.TableCellRenderer;
import javax.swing.table.TableModel;

public class TestTableRenderer {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new TestTableRenderer();
    }

    public TestTableRenderer() {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                try {
                    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
                } catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
                }

                JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
                frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
                frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
                frame.add(new TestPane());
                frame.pack();
                frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
                frame.setVisible(true);
            }
        });
    }

    public class TestPane extends JPanel {

        public TestPane() {
            TableModel model = new AbstractTableModel() {

                @Override
                public int getRowCount() {
                    return 2;
                }

                @Override
                public int getColumnCount() {
                    return 1;
                }

                @Override
                public Object getValueAt(int rowIndex, int columnIndex) {
                    return rowIndex == 0 ? true : false;
                }

                @Override
                public Class<?> getColumnClass(int columnIndex) {
                    return Boolean.class;
                }

            };
            JTable table = new JTable(model);
            table.setDefaultRenderer(Boolean.class, new CustomBooleanCellRenderer());
            setLayout(new BorderLayout());
            add(new JScrollPane(table));
        }

        @Override
        public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
            return new Dimension(200, 200);
        }
    }

    public class CustomBooleanCellRenderer extends JCheckBox implements TableCellRenderer {

        private ImageIcon sad;
        private ImageIcon happy;

        public CustomBooleanCellRenderer() {
            try {
                happy = new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(getClass().getResource("/Happy.png")));
                sad = new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(getClass().getResource("/Sad.png")));
            } catch (IOException ex) {
                Logger.getLogger(TestTableRenderer.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
            }
        }

        @Override
        public void setSelected(boolean selected) {
            super.setSelected(selected); 
            if (selected) {
                setIcon(happy);
            } else {
                setIcon(sad);
            }
        }

        @Override
        public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected, boolean hasFocus, int row, int column) {
            if (value instanceof Boolean) {
                boolean selected = (boolean) value;
                setSelected(selected);
            }
            return this;
        }
    }
}

Now, you could just as easily use a JLabel or DefaultTableCellRenderer, check the Object value for true/false and set the icon accordingly...but where would the fun be in that ;)

Updated to include the editor...

I've rearranged the code slightly to include a cell editor...

public class CustomCheckBox extends JCheckBox {

    private ImageIcon sad;
    private ImageIcon happy;

    public CustomCheckBox() {
        try {
            happy = new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(getClass().getResource("/Happy.png")));
            sad = new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(getClass().getResource("/Sad.png")));
        } catch (IOException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void setSelected(boolean selected) {
        super.setSelected(selected);
        if (selected) {
            setIcon(happy);
        } else {
            setIcon(sad);
        }
    }

}

public class CustomBooleanCellRenderer extends CustomCheckBox implements TableCellRenderer {

    @Override
    public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected, boolean hasFocus, int row, int column) {
        if (value instanceof Boolean) {
            boolean selected = (boolean) value;
            setSelected(selected);
        }
        return this;
    }

}

public class CustomBooleanCellEditor extends AbstractCellEditor implements TableCellEditor {

    private CustomCheckBox editor;

    public CustomBooleanCellEditor() {
        editor = new CustomCheckBox();
    }

    @Override
    public Component getTableCellEditorComponent(JTable table, Object value, boolean isSelected, int row, int column) {
        if (value instanceof Boolean) {
            boolean selected = (boolean) value;
            editor.setSelected(selected);
        }
        return editor;
    }

    @Override
    public Object getCellEditorValue() {
        return editor.isSelected();
    }

}

You can apply the in a similar way you did the renderer...

table.setDefaultEditor(Boolean.class, new CustomBooleanCellEditor());