Java Tips - How to use a slider with tick marks and labels

This Java Swing tip illustrates a method of implementing a slider with tick marks and labels. The JSlider used in tip used in a similar manner to Scrollbar: the zero-argument constructor creates a horizontal slider with a range from 0 to 100 and an initial value of 50. You can also supply the orientation (via JSlider.HORIZONTAL or JSlider.VERTICAL) and the range and initial value to the constructor. Developer may handle events by attaching a ChangeListener. Its stateChanged method normally calls getValue to look up the current JSlider value.


import java.awt.*;

import javax.swing.*;



public class JSliders extends JFrame {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        new JSliders();

    }

    

    public JSliders() {

        super("Using JSlider");

        // Comment out next line for Java LAF

        WindowUtilities.setNativeLookAndFeel();

        addWindowListener(new ExitListener());

        Container content = getContentPane();

        content.setBackground(Color.white);

        

        JSlider slider1 = new JSlider();

        slider1.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(

                "JSlider without Tick Marks"));

        

        content.add(slider1, BorderLayout.NORTH);

        

        JSlider slider2 = new JSlider();

        slider2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(

                "JSlider with Tick Marks"));

        

        slider2.setMajorTickSpacing(20);

        slider2.setMinorTickSpacing(5);

        slider2.setPaintTicks(true);

        content.add(slider2, BorderLayout.CENTER);

        

        JSlider slider3 = new JSlider();

        slider3.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder(

                "JSlider with Tick Marks & Labels"));

        

        slider3.setMajorTickSpacing(20);

        slider3.setMinorTickSpacing(5);

        slider3.setPaintTicks(true);

        slider3.setPaintLabels(true);

        content.add(slider3, BorderLayout.SOUTH);

        

        pack();

        setVisible(true);

    }

}

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