Implement Right-Click Menu Using JPopupMenu in Java

In this article, we will learn to implement right right-click menu using JPopupMenu in Java. A JPopupMenu appears anywhere on the screen when the right mouse button is clicked.

JPopupMenu

A JPopupMenu menu is a free-floating menu that is associated with an underlying component called the invoker. Most of the time, a popup menu is linked to a specific component to display context-sensitive choices.

Syntax

The following is the syntax for JPopupMenu initialization:

JPopupMenu popup = new JPopupMenu(); 

In order to create a popup menu, we can use the JPopupMenu class., We can add the JMenuItem to the popup menu like a normal menu.

Implementing Right-Click Menu on JPopupMenu

To display the popup menu, we can call the show() method, normally popup menu is called in response to a mouse event. The following is the step-by-step for implementing the right-click menu on JPopupMenu in Java:

Class Declaration and Imports

The javax.swing.* provides Swing components (JPopupMenu, JFrame, etc.) while the java.awt.* provides AWT classes (Color, layout managers), and the class extends JFrame to create a window.

import java.awt.event.;
import java.awt.;
import javax.swing.*;
public class JPopupMenuTest extends JFrame {

Instance Variable & Constructor

Declares popup as a JPopupMenu component. The constructor sets the JFrame window titled "JPopupMenu Test". Gets the frame's content pane and initializes the JPopupMenu.

private JPopupMenu popup;
public JPopupMenuTest() {
      setTitle("JPopupMenu Test");
      Container contentPane = getContentPane() ;
      popup = new JPopupMenu();

Adding Menu Items

Adds menu items as Cut, Copy, and Paste to the popup, inserts a separator line using the addSeparator() method, and adds Select All as another menu item.

popup.add(new JMenuItem("Cut"));
popup.add(new JMenuItem("Copy"));
popup.add(new JMenuItem("Paste"));
popup.addSeparator();
popup.add(new JMenuItem("SelectAll"));

Mouse Listener Setup

Sets up a MouseAdapter and overrides the mouseReleased()method to display the popup when the mouse is released.

contentPane.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
   public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent me) {
      showPopup(me);
   }
});

showPopup() method

The show() method displays the popup menu at the mouse coordinates (getX(), getY()).

popup.show(me.getComponent(), me.getX(), me.getY());

Main Method

The main method launches the application by creating an object of JPopupMenuTest.

public static void main(String args[]) {
   new JPopupMenuTest();
}

Example

Below is an example of implementing the right-click menu on JPopupMenu in Java:

import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class JPopupMenuTest extends JFrame {
   private JPopupMenu popup;
   public JPopupMenuTest() {
      setTitle("JPopupMenu Test");
      Container contentPane = getContentPane() ;
      popup = new JPopupMenu();
      // add menu items to popup
      popup.add(new JMenuItem("Cut"));
      popup.add(new JMenuItem("Copy"));
      popup.add(new JMenuItem("Paste"));
      popup.addSeparator();
      popup.add(new JMenuItem("SelectAll"));
      contentPane.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
         public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent me) {
            showPopup(me); // showPopup() is our own user-defined method
         }
      }) ;
      setSize(375, 250);
      setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setVisible(true);
   }
   void showPopup(MouseEvent me) {
      if(me.isPopupTrigger())
         popup.show(me.getComponent(), me.getX(), me.getY());
   }
   public static void main(String args[]) {
      new JPopupMenuTest();
   }
}

Output