A TableColumn represents all the attributes of a column in a JTable, such as width, resizibility, minimum and maximum width. In addition, the TableColumn provides slots for a renderer and an editor that can be used to display and edit the values in this column.

It is also possible to specify renderers and editors on a per type basis rather than a per column basis - see the setDefaultRenderer method in the JTable class. This default mechanism is only used when the renderer (or editor) in the TableColumn is null.

The TableColumn stores the link between the columns in the JTable and the columns in the TableModel. The modelIndex is the column in the TableModel, which will be queried for the data values for the cells in this column. As the column moves around in the view this modelIndex does not change.

Note: Some implementations may assume that all TableColumnModels are unique, therefore we would recommend that the same TableColumn instance not be added more than once to a TableColumnModel. To show TableColumns with the same column of data from the model, create a new instance with the same modelIndex.

Warning: Serialized objects of this class will not be compatible with future Swing releases. The current serialization support is appropriate for short term storage or RMI between applications running the same version of Swing. As of 1.4, support for long term storage of all JavaBeansTM has been added to the java.beans package. Please see java.beans.XMLEncoder .

Cover method, using a default model index of 0, default width of 75, a null renderer and a null editor. This method is intended for serialization.
Cover method, using a default width of 75, a null renderer and a null editor.
Cover method, using a null renderer and a null editor.
Creates and initializes an instance of TableColumn with modelIndex. All TableColumn constructors delegate to this one. The modelIndex is the index of the column in the model which will supply the data for this column in the table. The modelIndex does not change as the columns are reordered in the view. The width parameter is used to set both the preferredWidth for this column and the initial width. The renderer and editor are the objects used respectively to render and edit values in this column. When these are null, default values, provided by the getDefaultRenderer and getDefaultEditor methods in the JTable class are used to provide defaults based on the type of the data in this column. This column-centric rendering strategy can be circumvented by overriding the getCellRenderer methods in the JTable.

Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.
Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.
Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.
Obsolete as of Java 2 platform v1.3. Please use string literals to identify properties.
Adds a PropertyChangeListener to the listener list. The listener is registered for all properties.

A PropertyChangeEvent will get fired in response to an explicit call to setFont, setBackground, or setForeground on the current component. Note that if the current component is inheriting its foreground, background, or font from its container, then no event will be fired in response to a change in the inherited property.

Parameters
listenerthe listener to be added
This field was not used in previous releases and there are currently no plans to support it in the future.
@deprecated
as of Java 2 platform v1.3
This field was not used in previous releases and there are currently no plans to support it in the future.
@deprecated
as of Java 2 platform v1.3
Indicates whether some other object is "equal to" this one.

The equals method implements an equivalence relation on non-null object references:

  • It is reflexive: for any non-null reference value x, x.equals(x) should return true.
  • It is symmetric: for any non-null reference values x and y, x.equals(y) should return true if and only if y.equals(x) returns true.
  • It is transitive: for any non-null reference values x, y, and z, if x.equals(y) returns true and y.equals(z) returns true, then x.equals(z) should return true.
  • It is consistent: for any non-null reference values x and y, multiple invocations of x.equals(y) consistently return true or consistently return false, provided no information used in equals comparisons on the objects is modified.
  • For any non-null reference value x, x.equals(null) should return false.

The equals method for class Object implements the most discriminating possible equivalence relation on objects; that is, for any non-null reference values x and y, this method returns true if and only if x and y refer to the same object (x == y has the value true).

Note that it is generally necessary to override the hashCode method whenever this method is overridden, so as to maintain the general contract for the hashCode method, which states that equal objects must have equal hash codes.

Parameters
objthe reference object with which to compare.
Return
true if this object is the same as the obj argument; false otherwise.
Returns the TableCellEditor used by the JTable to edit values for this column. When the cellEditor is null, the JTable uses a default editor based on the class of the cells in that column. The default value for a cellEditor is null.
Return
the cellEditor property
Returns the TableCellRenderer used by the JTable to draw values for this column. The cellRenderer of the column not only controls the visual look for the column, but is also used to interpret the value object supplied by the TableModel. When the cellRenderer is null, the JTable uses a default renderer based on the class of the cells in that column. The default value for a cellRenderer is null.
Return
the cellRenderer property
Returns the runtime class of an object. That Class object is the object that is locked by static synchronized methods of the represented class.
Return
The java.lang.Class object that represents the runtime class of the object. The result is of type {@code Class} where X is the erasure of the static type of the expression on which getClass is called.
Returns the TableCellRenderer used to draw the header of the TableColumn. When the headerRenderer is null, the JTableHeader uses its defaultRenderer. The default value for a headerRenderer is null.
Returns the Object used as the value for the header renderer.
Return
the headerValue property
Returns the identifier object for this column. Note identifiers are not used by JTable, they are purely a convenience for external use. If the identifier is null, getIdentifier() returns getHeaderValue as a default.
Return
the identifier property
Returns the maximum width for the TableColumn. The TableColumn's width can't be made larger than this either by the user or programmatically. The default maxWidth is Integer.MAX_VALUE.
Return
the maxWidth property
See Also
Returns the minimum width for the TableColumn. The TableColumn's width can't be made less than this either by the user or programmatically. The default minWidth is 15.
Return
the minWidth property
See Also
Returns the model index for this column.
Return
the modelIndex property
Returns the preferred width of the TableColumn. The default preferred width is 75.
Return
the preferredWidth property
Returns an array of all the PropertyChangeListeners added to this TableColumn with addPropertyChangeListener().
Return
all of the PropertyChangeListeners added or an empty array if no listeners have been added
@since
1.4
Returns true if the user is allowed to resize the TableColumn's width, false otherwise. You can change the width programmatically regardless of this setting. The default is true.
Return
the isResizable property
See Also
Returns the width of the TableColumn. The default width is 75.
Return
the width property
See Also
Returns a hash code value for the object. This method is supported for the benefit of hashtables such as those provided by java.util.Hashtable.

The general contract of hashCode is:

  • Whenever it is invoked on the same object more than once during an execution of a Java application, the hashCode method must consistently return the same integer, provided no information used in equals comparisons on the object is modified. This integer need not remain consistent from one execution of an application to another execution of the same application.
  • If two objects are equal according to the equals(Object) method, then calling the hashCode method on each of the two objects must produce the same integer result.
  • It is not required that if two objects are unequal according to the method, then calling the hashCode method on each of the two objects must produce distinct integer results. However, the programmer should be aware that producing distinct integer results for unequal objects may improve the performance of hashtables.

As much as is reasonably practical, the hashCode method defined by class Object does return distinct integers for distinct objects. (This is typically implemented by converting the internal address of the object into an integer, but this implementation technique is not required by the JavaTM programming language.)

Return
a hash code value for this object.
Wakes up a single thread that is waiting on this object's monitor. If any threads are waiting on this object, one of them is chosen to be awakened. The choice is arbitrary and occurs at the discretion of the implementation. A thread waits on an object's monitor by calling one of the wait methods.

The awakened thread will not be able to proceed until the current thread relinquishes the lock on this object. The awakened thread will compete in the usual manner with any other threads that might be actively competing to synchronize on this object; for example, the awakened thread enjoys no reliable privilege or disadvantage in being the next thread to lock this object.

This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. A thread becomes the owner of the object's monitor in one of three ways:

  • By executing a synchronized instance method of that object.
  • By executing the body of a synchronized statement that synchronizes on the object.
  • For objects of type Class, by executing a synchronized static method of that class.

Only one thread at a time can own an object's monitor.

Throws
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of this object's monitor.
Wakes up all threads that are waiting on this object's monitor. A thread waits on an object's monitor by calling one of the wait methods.

The awakened threads will not be able to proceed until the current thread relinquishes the lock on this object. The awakened threads will compete in the usual manner with any other threads that might be actively competing to synchronize on this object; for example, the awakened threads enjoy no reliable privilege or disadvantage in being the next thread to lock this object.

This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.

Throws
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of this object's monitor.
Removes a PropertyChangeListener from the listener list. The PropertyChangeListener to be removed was registered for all properties.
Parameters
listenerthe listener to be removed
Sets the editor to used by when a cell in this column is edited.
Parameters
cellEditorthe new cellEditor
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The editor to use for cell values.
Sets the TableCellRenderer used by JTable to draw individual values for this column.
Parameters
cellRendererthe new cellRenderer
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The renderer to use for cell values.
Sets the TableCellRenderer used to draw the TableColumn's header to headerRenderer.
Parameters
headerRendererthe new headerRenderer
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The header renderer.
Sets the Object whose string representation will be used as the value for the headerRenderer. When the TableColumn is created, the default headerValue is null.
Parameters
headerValuethe new headerValue
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The text to be used by the header renderer.
Sets the TableColumn's identifier to anIdentifier.

Note: identifiers are not used by the JTable, they are purely a convenience for the external tagging and location of columns.

Parameters
identifieran identifier for this column
@beaninfo
bound: true description: A unique identifier for this column.
Sets the TableColumn's maximum width to maxWidth; also adjusts the width and preferred width if they are greater than this value.
Parameters
maxWidththe new maximum width
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The maximum width of the column.
Sets the TableColumn's minimum width to minWidth; also adjusts the current width and preferred width if they are less than this value.
Parameters
minWidththe new minimum width
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The minimum width of the column.
Sets the model index for this column. The model index is the index of the column in the model that will be displayed by this TableColumn. As the TableColumn is moved around in the view the model index remains constant.
Parameters
modelIndexthe new modelIndex
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The model index.
Sets this column's preferred width to preferredWidth. If preferredWidth exceeds the minimum or maximum width, it is adjusted to the appropriate limiting value.

For details on how the widths of columns in the JTable (and JTableHeader) are calculated from the preferredWidth, see the doLayout method in JTable.

Parameters
preferredWidththe new preferred width
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The preferred width of the column.
Sets whether this column can be resized.
Parameters
isResizableif true, resizing is allowed; otherwise false
@beaninfo
bound: true description: Whether or not this column can be resized.
See Also
This method should not be used to set the widths of columns in the JTable, use setPreferredWidth instead. Like a layout manager in the AWT, the JTable adjusts a column's width automatically whenever the table itself changes size, or a column's preferred width is changed. Setting widths programmatically therefore has no long term effect.

This method sets this column's width to width. If width exceeds the minimum or maximum width, it is adjusted to the appropriate limiting value.

Parameters
widththe new width
@beaninfo
bound: true description: The width of the column.
Resizes the TableColumn to fit the width of its header cell. This method does nothing if the header renderer is null (the default case). Otherwise, it sets the minimum, maximum and preferred widths of this column to the widths of the minimum, maximum and preferred sizes of the Component delivered by the header renderer. The transient "width" property of this TableColumn is also set to the preferred width. Note this method is not used internally by the table package.
Returns a string representation of the object. In general, the toString method returns a string that "textually represents" this object. The result should be a concise but informative representation that is easy for a person to read. It is recommended that all subclasses override this method.

The toString method for class Object returns a string consisting of the name of the class of which the object is an instance, the at-sign character `@', and the unsigned hexadecimal representation of the hash code of the object. In other words, this method returns a string equal to the value of:

 getClass().getName() + '@' + Integer.toHexString(hashCode())
 
Return
a string representation of the object.
Causes current thread to wait until another thread invokes the method or the method for this object. In other words, this method behaves exactly as if it simply performs the call wait(0).

The current thread must own this object's monitor. The thread releases ownership of this monitor and waits until another thread notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up either through a call to the notify method or the notifyAll method. The thread then waits until it can re-obtain ownership of the monitor and resumes execution.

As in the one argument version, interrupts and spurious wakeups are possible, and this method should always be used in a loop:

     synchronized (obj) {
         while (<condition does not hold>)
             obj.wait();
         ... // Perform action appropriate to condition
     }
 
This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.
Throws
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of the object's monitor.
InterruptedExceptionif another thread interrupted the current thread before or while the current thread was waiting for a notification. The interrupted status of the current thread is cleared when this exception is thrown.
Causes current thread to wait until either another thread invokes the method or the method for this object, or a specified amount of time has elapsed.

The current thread must own this object's monitor.

This method causes the current thread (call it T) to place itself in the wait set for this object and then to relinquish any and all synchronization claims on this object. Thread T becomes disabled for thread scheduling purposes and lies dormant until one of four things happens:

  • Some other thread invokes the notify method for this object and thread T happens to be arbitrarily chosen as the thread to be awakened.
  • Some other thread invokes the notifyAll method for this object.
  • Some other thread interrupts thread T.
  • The specified amount of real time has elapsed, more or less. If timeout is zero, however, then real time is not taken into consideration and the thread simply waits until notified.
The thread T is then removed from the wait set for this object and re-enabled for thread scheduling. It then competes in the usual manner with other threads for the right to synchronize on the object; once it has gained control of the object, all its synchronization claims on the object are restored to the status quo ante - that is, to the situation as of the time that the wait method was invoked. Thread T then returns from the invocation of the wait method. Thus, on return from the wait method, the synchronization state of the object and of thread T is exactly as it was when the wait method was invoked.

A thread can also wake up without being notified, interrupted, or timing out, a so-called spurious wakeup. While this will rarely occur in practice, applications must guard against it by testing for the condition that should have caused the thread to be awakened, and continuing to wait if the condition is not satisfied. In other words, waits should always occur in loops, like this one:

     synchronized (obj) {
         while (<condition does not hold>)
             obj.wait(timeout);
         ... // Perform action appropriate to condition
     }
 
(For more information on this topic, see Section 3.2.3 in Doug Lea's "Concurrent Programming in Java (Second Edition)" (Addison-Wesley, 2000), or Item 50 in Joshua Bloch's "Effective Java Programming Language Guide" (Addison-Wesley, 2001).

If the current thread is interrupted by another thread while it is waiting, then an InterruptedException is thrown. This exception is not thrown until the lock status of this object has been restored as described above.

Note that the wait method, as it places the current thread into the wait set for this object, unlocks only this object; any other objects on which the current thread may be synchronized remain locked while the thread waits.

This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.

Parameters
timeoutthe maximum time to wait in milliseconds.
Throws
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the value of timeout is negative.
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of the object's monitor.
InterruptedExceptionif another thread interrupted the current thread before or while the current thread was waiting for a notification. The interrupted status of the current thread is cleared when this exception is thrown.
Causes current thread to wait until another thread invokes the method or the method for this object, or some other thread interrupts the current thread, or a certain amount of real time has elapsed.

This method is similar to the wait method of one argument, but it allows finer control over the amount of time to wait for a notification before giving up. The amount of real time, measured in nanoseconds, is given by:

 1000000*timeout+nanos

In all other respects, this method does the same thing as the method of one argument. In particular, wait(0, 0) means the same thing as wait(0).

The current thread must own this object's monitor. The thread releases ownership of this monitor and waits until either of the following two conditions has occurred:

  • Another thread notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up either through a call to the notify method or the notifyAll method.
  • The timeout period, specified by timeout milliseconds plus nanos nanoseconds arguments, has elapsed.

The thread then waits until it can re-obtain ownership of the monitor and resumes execution.

As in the one argument version, interrupts and spurious wakeups are possible, and this method should always be used in a loop:

     synchronized (obj) {
         while (<condition does not hold>)
             obj.wait(timeout, nanos);
         ... // Perform action appropriate to condition
     }
 
This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.
Parameters
timeoutthe maximum time to wait in milliseconds.
nanosadditional time, in nanoseconds range 0-999999.
Throws
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the value of timeout is negative or the value of nanos is not in the range 0-999999.
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of this object's monitor.
InterruptedExceptionif another thread interrupted the current thread before or while the current thread was waiting for a notification. The interrupted status of the current thread is cleared when this exception is thrown.