Java Doc for SearchableBar.java in  » Swing-Library » jide-common » com » jidesoft » swing » Java Source Code / Java DocumentationJava Source Code and Java Documentation

Different from Searchable feature which uses a small popup window to allow user typing in the searching text, SearchableBar provides a full-size panel. Although they both pretty provide the same set of features, they should be used in different cases to achieve the most desirable result.

First of all, SearchableBar is a lot bigger than Searchable's popup and need more space on the screen. The component that installs SearchableBar should be large enough. In comparison, Searchable can be installed on components of any size as it's a floating popup.

Secondly, SearchableBar can be set visible all the time or can be set visible by a keystroke and stay visible unless user explicitly hides it. If your user is not computer savvy, SearchableBar is more appropriate because user can see searching feature very easily. SearchableBar can also be a better replacement the traditional "Find" or "Search" dialog because SearchableBar doesn't block user input like modal dialog. In comparison, Searchable's popup is very transient. Mouse clicks outside the popup will hide the popup. For computer savvy it is very helpful but it could be hard for non-computer savvy to "understand" it. A good example is IntelliJ IDEA heavily uses Searchable popup because the users are all Java developers. Firefox, on the other hand, uses SearchableBar because the users are just regular computer users.

Although appearence wise, these two are very different, they both based on Searchable interface. So as developer, both are almost the same. SearchableBar based on Searchable. So if you have an interface of Searchable, all you need is to call

 SearchableBar.install(searchable, KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_F, KeyEvent.CTRL_DOWN_MASK), new SearchableBar.Installer() {
 public void openSearchBar(SearchableBar searchableBar) {
 // add code to show search bar
 }
 

 public void closeSearchBar(SearchableBar searchableBar) {
 // add code to close search bar
 }
 });
 

There are a few options you can set on SearchableBar. You can set compact or full mode. Compact mode will only use icon for buttons v.s. full mode will use both icon and text for buttons. All buttons on the SearchableBar can be shown/hidden by using SearchableBar.setVisibleButtons(int) method. You can also set the text field background for mismatch by using SearchableBar.setMismatchForeground(java.awt.Color) .

 final SearchableBar searchableBar = new SearchableBar(searchable);
 searchableBar.setInstaller(installer);
 ((JComponent) searchable.getComponent()).registerKeyboardAction(new AbstractAction() {
 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
 searchableBar.getInstaller().openSearchBar(searchableBar);
 searchableBar.focusSearchField();
 }
 }, keyStroke, JComponent.WHEN_FOCUSED);
 return searchableBar;
 

• SearchableBar.SHOW_CLOSE - the close button
• SearchableBar.SHOW_NAVIGATION - the find next and find previous buttons
• SearchableBar.SHOW_HIGHLIGHTS - highlights all button
• SearchableBar.SHOW_MATCHCASE - match case button
• SearchableBar.SHOW_REPEATS - repeats button
• SearchableBar.SHOW_STATUS - status area
• SearchableBar.SHOW_ALL - all buttons