how do I create a custom Look and Feel?

[Code Collection]

I would like to create an application with a GUI like "Winamp"
"http://www.winamp.com"

How can I change the windows like that? I know how to change the
"coffee icon" in the window, but how do I change the the navy blue bar
that the icon is on? to another color?

Yours Truly,
Robert Hurd

Code Collection (Owner & Webmaster)
http://www.codecollection.com
FREE Java, CGI & JavaScript Source Code

[fork]

> I would like to create an application with a GUI like "Winamp"
> "http://www.winamp.com"
>
> How can I change the windows like that? I know how to change the
> "coffee icon" in the window, but how do I change the the navy blue bar
> that the icon is on? to another color?

Well, my active title bars are red :)

I notice that under all three L&F, the top frame is always made by the
window manager. I suspect that WinAmp uses features in Win32 API to do
this effect (I have a program under win32 that allows you to change the
looks of the windows with bitmaps of your own, it is called eFx,
http://litestep.m1crosoft.com/efx). Its clone X11Amp (under X windows)
probably does the same thing.

My guess will be to make a new Frame class that use native code to
create the top frame.

Good success in your work

-----------------
Daniel Léonard (aka fork)
Computer Science Student
Université de Montréal

"The nuclear warhead is one of the Humans' most efficient weapons. They
first tested it on themselves, obliterating several entire cities. The
intervening centuries since the weapon's first use had not dimmed its
effectiveness, as the Black Star proved when it blew apart. It was, from
all accounts, a most impressive display and took - by the standart of
such thing - quite some time as one section after another after another
of the ship erupted."

- Emperor Londo Mollari, Babylon 5 : In the Beginning

[John Bridges]

Basically you're stuffed.

All top-level (peered) components are opaque and have set behaviours.

The closest you can get is to use Window or Dialog (you'll be restricted
to rectangular windows) and then paint and handle your own move resize
handles and events.

I actually did this and it works to a point. Unfortunately there seems to
be different behaviour for Window objects on different platforms and
changes in the JDK from say 1.1.7 -> 1.1.8-> etc seemed to break some of
the code.

AWT sucks.

John

Code Collection wrote:

> I would like to create an application with a GUI like "Winamp"
> "http://www.winamp.com"
>
> How can I change the windows like that? I know how to change the
> "coffee icon" in the window, but how do I change the the navy blue bar
> that the icon is on? to another color?
>