https://substance.dev.java.net/ 

Substance look and feel - getting started

This document describes the steps to create a sample Swing application and run it under Substance look and feel.

Since Substance requires JDK 5.0 or higher, if you don't have such an installation on your machine, you need to download it from this site and install it. The command-prompt examples below assume that java executable is in the path. This executable is part of JRE (under bin folder) as well as part of JDK (under bin folder). Consult your OS manual on how to add the relevant folder to the path. Alternatively, you can put the entire path to the java executable in the scripts below.

After you have JDK 5.0+ installed on your machine, create the following Walkthrough.java class:

import javax.swing.*;

import java.awt.*;

public class Walkthrough extends JFrame {
  public Walkthrough() {
    super("Sample app");
    this.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
    this.add(new JButton("button"));
    this.add(new JCheckBox("check"));
    this.add(new JLabel("label"));
   
    this.pack();
    this.setSize(this.getPreferredSize());
    this.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
    this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
  }
 
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Walkthrough w = new Walkthrough();
    w.setVisible(true);
  }
}

This is a simple frame (that does nothing) with a button, a checkbox and a label. You can create this class in your favourite IDE or in any text editor. Once this class is created, compile it. If you're using an IDE, consult the IDE help on the compilation process. If you're using a simple text editor, you can compile this class by using:

javac Walktrough.java

If you have problems, consult the online help for javac compiler. The compiled Walktrough.class will be created in the same folder as your Walkthrough.java. In order to run it, use:

java -cp . Walkthrough

You will see the following frame under the default Ocean look and feel:



In order to run the same frame under Substance look and feel, you have the following options:

• Start your VM with -Dswing.defaultlaf=org.jvnet.substance.SubstanceLookAndFeel
• UIManager.setLookAndFeel(new SubstanceLookAndFeel());
• UIManager.setLookAndFeel("org.jvnet.substance.SubstanceLookAndFeel");

The first option doesn't require any code changes. Run the following script:

java -Dswing.defaultlaf=org.jvnet.substance.SubstanceLookAndFeel -cp . Walkthrough

You will see the following exception:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.Error: can't load org.jvnet.substance.SubstanceLookAndFeel
   at javax.swing.UIManager.initializeDefaultLAF(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.UIManager.initialize(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.UIManager.maybeInitialize(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.UIManager.getUI(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JPanel.updateUI(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JPanel.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JPanel.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JPanel.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JRootPane.createGlassPane(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JRootPane.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JFrame.createRootPane(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JFrame.frameInit(Unknown Source)
   at javax.swing.JFrame.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at Walkthrough.<init>(Walkthrough.java:8)
   at Walkthrough.main(Walkthrough.java:21)

This means that the org.jvnet.substance.SubstanceLookAndFeel class in not found in the classpath. This class is the main class of the Substance look and feel and is located in the substance.jar that you need to download from the Documents & Files section of the Substance project page. For this example, we assume that the substance.jar is located under C:/temp folder. In order to run the frame under Substance, use the following script:

java -Dswing.defaultlaf=org.jvnet.substance.SubstanceLookAndFeel -cp .;C:/temp/substance.jar Walkthrough

The result is the same frame under Substance look and feel:



The other two options for setting Substance require changing the code. Go back to your Java editor and replace the main method by:

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
      UIManager.setLookAndFeel(new SubstanceLookAndFeel());
    } catch (UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ulafe) {
      System.out.println("Substance failed to set");
    }
    Walkthrough w = new Walkthrough();
    w.setVisible(true);
  }

In order to compile the new Walktrough.java, you need to add the substance.jar to the build path. Consult your IDE help if you're using IDE. For command-prompt compilation, use the additional -cp flag:

javac -cp c:/temp/substance.jar Walktrough.java

Now you can run your application without the -Dswing.defaultlaf JVM flag, but you still need to specify the location of the substance.jar as before:

java -cp .;C:/temp/substance.jar Walkthrough

If you don't want to create an explicit dependency on the Substance classes in your code, change your main method to:

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
      UIManager
          .setLookAndFeel("org.jvnet.substance.SubstanceLookAndFeel");
    } catch (UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ulafe) {
      System.out.println("Substance failed to set");
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException cnfe) {
      System.out.println("Substance not found");
    } catch (InstantiationException ie) {
      System.out.println("Substance failed to instantiate");
    } catch (IllegalAccessException iae) {
      System.out.println("Access denied");
    }

    Walkthrough w = new Walkthrough();
    w.setVisible(true);
  }

You can run the application the same way as before.