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I want to make a java widget like RSS Feed Reader or Whether Forecast in java. If I use swing, I don't get the look and feel of modern widgets. I would like to make it graphically attractive. What should I do to make such widget for windows with modern looks ? And Also How do i integrate it in windows so as to start that widget at Windows startup ? Any Help is highly appreciated.

Buhake Sindi
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Parth Trivedi
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4 Answers4

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If you are looking for desktop solution then I think JIDE is the best one but its paid, SeaGlass also provides nice look and feel.

mprabhat
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If you want it to look like those windows widgets, look for different look and feels and use undecorated windows.

If you want to write an actual widget that could be installed among other widgets, take a look at how others are implemented - it is a simple html page with javascript or vbscript - anything that could be rendered in IE.

Denis Tulskiy
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  • Thank you very much for the information. But If I want to make a widget that is supported on all platforms, Is this possible or I should make widgets for each platforms separately ? – Parth Trivedi Nov 21 '11 at 06:59
  • @ParthTrivedi: I don't think you can make a java app that can stick to desktop like a widget in a cross-platform way. On windows, starting from Vista, you can write a widget in javascript. On Mac, I believe you can only stick widgets on the dashboard, or whatever they call it, and those will have to be native apps. On Linux, there are third party packages that provide such functionality, like screenlets, and those are written on c or python. Java on desktop is a mess. – Denis Tulskiy Nov 21 '11 at 10:47
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I think that Swing is simple great, because allows to change

  • override/customize Basic/DefaultUI, where how and as you needed
  • better (as mentioned both posters) options - implements Custom Look and Feel
Community
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mKorbel
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In case of Swings you can choose to give it Windows Like Look and Feel, Like this

try{
      UIManager.setLookAndFeel("com.sun.java.swing.plaf.windows.WindowsLookAndFeel");
}
catch(Exception e){}

It is a good practice to make frames and other components look like Windows one.

gprathour
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