Java Swing | JCheckBox with examples

Last Updated : 23 May, 2018

JCheckBox is a part of Java Swing package . JCheckBox can be selected or deselected . It displays it state to the user . JCheckBox is an implementation to checkbox . JCheckBox inherits JToggleButton class. Constructor of the class are :

JCheckBox() : creates a new checkbox with no text or icon
JCheckBox(Icon i) : creates a new checkbox with the icon specified
JCheckBox(Icon icon, boolean s) : creates a new checkbox with the icon specified and the boolean value specifies whether it is selected or not.
JCheckBox(String t) :creates a new checkbox with the string specified
JCheckBox(String text, boolean selected) :creates a new checkbox with the string specified and the boolean value specifies whether it is selected or not.
JCheckBox(String text, Icon icon) :creates a new checkbox with the string and the icon specified.
JCheckBox(String text, Icon icon, boolean selected): creates a new checkbox with the string and the icon specified and the boolean value specifies whether it is selected or not.

Methods to add Item Listener to checkbox.

addActionListener(ItemListener l): adds item listener to the component
itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e) : abstract function invoked when the state of the item to which listener is applied changes
getItem() : Returns the component-specific object associated with the item whose state changed
getStateChange() : Returns the new state of the item. The ItemEvent class defines two states: SELECTED and DESELECTED.
getSource() : Returns the component that fired the item event.

Commonly used methods:

setIcon(Icon i) : sets the icon of the checkbox to the given icon
setText(String s) :sets the text of the checkbox to the given text
setSelected(boolean b) : sets the checkbox to selected if boolean value passed is true or vice versa
getIcon() : returns the image of the checkbox
getText() : returns the text of the checkbox
updateUI() : resets the UI property with a value from the current look and feel.
getUI() : returns the look and feel object that renders this component.
paramString() : returns a string representation of this JCheckBox.
getUIClassID() : returns the name of the Look and feel class that renders this component.
getAccessibleContext() : gets the AccessibleContext associated with this JCheckBox.
isBorderPaintedFlat() : gets the value of the borderPaintedFlat property.
setBorderPaintedFlat(boolean b) : sets the borderPaintedFlat property,

The following programs will illustrate the use of JCheckBox 1. Program to create a simple checkbox using JCheckBox

Java

// java Program to create a simple checkbox using JCheckBox
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class solve extends JFrame {

    // frame
    static JFrame f;

    // main class
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // create a new frame
        f = new JFrame("frame");

        // set layout of frame
        f.setLayout(new FlowLayout());

        // create checkbox
        JCheckBox c1 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 1");
        JCheckBox c2 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 2");

        // create a new panel
        JPanel p = new JPanel();

        // add checkbox to panel
        p.add(c1);
        p.add(c2);

        // add panel to frame
        f.add(p);

        // set the size of frame
        f.setSize(300, 300);

        f.show();
    }
}

Output :

2. Program to create a checkbox with a icon .

Java

// java Program to create a checkbox with a icon .
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class solve extends JFrame {

    // frame
    static JFrame f;

    // main class
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // create a new frame
        f = new JFrame("frame");

        // set layout of frame
        f.setLayout(new FlowLayout());

        // create checkbox
        JCheckBox c1 = new JCheckBox("checkbox with image", new ImageIcon("f:/gfg.jpg"), true);
        JCheckBox c2 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 2");

        // create a new panel
        JPanel p = new JPanel();

        // add checkbox to panel
        p.add(c1);
        p.add(c2);

        // add panel to frame
        f.add(p);

        // set the size of frame
        f.setSize(300, 300);

        f.show();
    }
}

Output :

3. Program to create a checkbox and ItemListener to it.

Java

// java Program to create a checkbox and ItemListener to it.
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class solve extends JFrame implements ItemListener {

    // frame
    static JFrame f;

    // label
    static JLabel l, l1;

    // checkbox
    static JCheckBox c1, c2;

    // main class
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // create a new frame
        f = new JFrame("frame");

        // create a object
        solve s = new solve();

        // set layout of frame
        f.setLayout(new FlowLayout());

        // create checkbox
        c1 = new JCheckBox("geeksforgeeks", new ImageIcon("f:/gfg.jpg"), false);
        c2 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 2", false);

        // add ItemListener
        c1.addItemListener(s);
        c2.addItemListener(s);

        // create labels
        l = new JLabel("geeksforgeeks not selected");
        l1 = new JLabel("checkbox2 not selected");

        // set color of text
        l.setForeground(Color.red);
        l1.setForeground(Color.blue);

        // create a new panel
        JPanel p = new JPanel();

        // add checkbox to panel
        p.add(c1);
        p.add(c2);
        p.add(l);
        p.add(l1);

        // add panel to frame
        f.add(p);

        // set the size of frame
        f.setSize(600, 300);

        f.show();
    }
    public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e)
    {
        // if the state of checkbox1 is changed
        if (e.getSource() == c1) {
            if (e.getStateChange() == 1)
                l.setText("geeksforgeeks  selected");
            else
                l.setText("geeksforgeeks  not selected");
        }

        // if the state of checkbox2 is changed
        else {
            if (e.getStateChange() == 1)
                l1.setText("checkbox 2  selected");
            else
                l1.setText("checkbox 2 not selected");
        }
    }
}