JavaTM 2 Platform
Standard Ed. 5.0

java.awt
Class MenuBar

java.lang.Object
  extended by java.awt.MenuComponent
      extended by java.awt.MenuBar
All Implemented Interfaces:
MenuContainer, Serializable, Accessible

public class MenuBar
extends MenuComponent
implements MenuContainer, Accessible

The MenuBar class encapsulates the platform's concept of a menu bar bound to a frame. In order to associate the menu bar with a Frame object, call the frame's setMenuBar method.

This is what a menu bar might look like:

ALIGN=center HSPACE=10 VSPACE=7>

A menu bar handles keyboard shortcuts for menu items, passing them along to its child menus. (Keyboard shortcuts, which are optional, provide the user with an alternative to the mouse for invoking a menu item and the action that is associated with it.) Each menu item can maintain an instance of MenuShortcut. The MenuBar class defines several methods, shortcuts() and getShortcutMenuItem(java.awt.MenuShortcut) that retrieve information about the shortcuts a given menu bar is managing.

Since:
JDK1.0
See Also:
Frame, Frame.setMenuBar(java.awt.MenuBar), Menu, MenuItem, MenuShortcut, Serialized Form

Nested Class Summary
protected  class MenuBar.AccessibleAWTMenuBar
          Inner class of MenuBar used to provide default support for accessibility.
 
Nested classes/interfaces inherited from class java.awt.MenuComponent
MenuComponent.AccessibleAWTMenuComponent
 
Constructor Summary
MenuBar()
          Creates a new menu bar.
 
Method Summary
 Menu add(Menu m)
          Adds the specified menu to the menu bar.
 void addNotify()
          Creates the menu bar's peer.
 int countMenus()
          Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by getMenuCount().
 void deleteShortcut(MenuShortcut s)
          Deletes the specified menu shortcut.
 AccessibleContext getAccessibleContext()
          Gets the AccessibleContext associated with this MenuBar.
 Menu getHelpMenu()
          Gets the help menu on the menu bar.
 Menu getMenu(int i)
          Gets the specified menu.
 int getMenuCount()
          Gets the number of menus on the menu bar.
 MenuItem getShortcutMenuItem(MenuShortcut s)
          Gets the instance of MenuItem associated with the specified MenuShortcut object, or null if none of the menu items being managed by this menu bar is associated with the specified menu shortcut.
 void remove(int index)
          Removes the menu located at the specified index from this menu bar.
 void remove(MenuComponent m)
          Removes the specified menu component from this menu bar.
 void removeNotify()
          Removes the menu bar's peer.
 void setHelpMenu(Menu m)
          Sets the specified menu to be this menu bar's help menu.
 Enumeration<MenuShortcut> shortcuts()
          Gets an enumeration of all menu shortcuts this menu bar is managing.
 
Methods inherited from class java.awt.MenuComponent
dispatchEvent, getFont, getName, getParent, getPeer, getTreeLock, paramString, postEvent, processEvent, setFont, setName, toString
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 
Methods inherited from interface java.awt.MenuContainer
getFont, postEvent
 

Constructor Detail

MenuBar

public MenuBar()
        throws HeadlessException
Creates a new menu bar.

Throws:
HeadlessException - if GraphicsEnvironment.isHeadless() returns true.
See Also:
GraphicsEnvironment.isHeadless()
Method Detail

addNotify

public void addNotify()
Creates the menu bar's peer. The peer allows us to change the appearance of the menu bar without changing any of the menu bar's functionality.


removeNotify

public void removeNotify()
Removes the menu bar's peer. The peer allows us to change the appearance of the menu bar without changing any of the menu bar's functionality.

Overrides:
removeNotify in class MenuComponent

getHelpMenu

public Menu getHelpMenu()
Gets the help menu on the menu bar.

Returns:
the help menu on this menu bar.

setHelpMenu

public void setHelpMenu(Menu m)
Sets the specified menu to be this menu bar's help menu. If this menu bar has an existing help menu, the old help menu is removed from the menu bar, and replaced with the specified menu.

Parameters:
m - the menu to be set as the help menu

add

public Menu add(Menu m)
Adds the specified menu to the menu bar. If the menu has been part of another menu bar, removes it from that menu bar.

Parameters:
m - the menu to be added
Returns:
the menu added
See Also:
remove(int), remove(java.awt.MenuComponent)

remove

public void remove(int index)
Removes the menu located at the specified index from this menu bar.

Parameters:
index - the position of the menu to be removed.
See Also:
add(java.awt.Menu)

remove

public void remove(MenuComponent m)
Removes the specified menu component from this menu bar.

Specified by:
remove in interface MenuContainer
Parameters:
m - the menu component to be removed.
See Also:
add(java.awt.Menu)

getMenuCount

public int getMenuCount()
Gets the number of menus on the menu bar.

Returns:
the number of menus on the menu bar.
Since:
JDK1.1

countMenus

@Deprecated
public int countMenus()
Deprecated. As of JDK version 1.1, replaced by getMenuCount().


getMenu

public Menu getMenu(int i)
Gets the specified menu.

Parameters:
i - the index position of the menu to be returned.
Returns:
the menu at the specified index of this menu bar.

shortcuts

public Enumeration<MenuShortcut> shortcuts()
Gets an enumeration of all menu shortcuts this menu bar is managing.

Returns:
an enumeration of menu shortcuts that this menu bar is managing.
Since:
JDK1.1
See Also:
MenuShortcut

getShortcutMenuItem

public MenuItem getShortcutMenuItem(MenuShortcut s)
Gets the instance of MenuItem associated with the specified MenuShortcut object, or null if none of the menu items being managed by this menu bar is associated with the specified menu shortcut.

Parameters:
s - the specified menu shortcut.
Since:
JDK1.1
See Also:
MenuItem, MenuShortcut

deleteShortcut

public void deleteShortcut(MenuShortcut s)
Deletes the specified menu shortcut.

Parameters:
s - the menu shortcut to delete.
Since:
JDK1.1

getAccessibleContext

public AccessibleContext getAccessibleContext()
Gets the AccessibleContext associated with this MenuBar. For menu bars, the AccessibleContext takes the form of an AccessibleAWTMenuBar. A new AccessibleAWTMenuBar instance is created if necessary.

Specified by:
getAccessibleContext in interface Accessible
Overrides:
getAccessibleContext in class MenuComponent
Returns:
an AccessibleAWTMenuBar that serves as the AccessibleContext of this MenuBar

JavaTM 2 Platform
Standard Ed. 5.0

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For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms. Also see the documentation redistribution policy.