By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: June 4, 2016
Java color FAQ: Do you have a list of color keys I can use with the Java UIManager class?
Solution
If you're asking this question about the list of color keys in the UIManager class, you probably already know that you can write code like this to use color values from the Java UIManager class:
headerLabel.setForeground(UIManager.getColor("Label.foreground"));
Therefore, I'll jump right in, and say that after digging around for a while, I've been able to figure out how to generate all these UIManager color key values, and I'm glad to share all of those here today.
A Java class to generate the UIManager color keys
Without any further ado, here's a Java class I created to generate a list of all the UIManager color keys:
import java.awt.Color;
import java.util.*;
import java.util.Map.Entry;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
/**
* Generate a list of UIManager color keys.
*/
public class UIManagerColorKeys
{
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
{
List<String> colorKeys = new ArrayList<String>();
Set<Entry<Object, Object>> entries = UIManager.getLookAndFeelDefaults().entrySet();
for (Entry entry : entries)
{
if (entry.getValue() instanceof Color)
{
colorKeys.add((String) entry.getKey());
}
}
// sort the color keys
Collections.sort(colorKeys);
// print the color keys
for (String colorKey : colorKeys)
{
System.out.println(colorKey);
}
}
}
As you can see, that code is fairly simple. I just look for anything the UIManager stores as a Color in its value, and then get the key that corresponds to that Color.
UIManager color key values
And more importantly, here's what you probably came here for -- the output from this class -- which shows all the UIManager color keys:
Button.background Button.darkShadow Button.disabledText Button.foreground Button.highlight Button.light Button.select Button.shadow CheckBox.background CheckBox.disabledText CheckBox.foreground CheckBox.select CheckBoxMenuItem.acceleratorForeground CheckBoxMenuItem.acceleratorSelectionForeground CheckBoxMenuItem.background CheckBoxMenuItem.disabledBackground CheckBoxMenuItem.disabledForeground CheckBoxMenuItem.foreground CheckBoxMenuItem.selectionBackground CheckBoxMenuItem.selectionForeground ColorChooser.background ColorChooser.foreground ColorChooser.swatchesDefaultRecentColor ComboBox.background ComboBox.buttonBackground ComboBox.buttonDarkShadow ComboBox.buttonHighlight ComboBox.buttonShadow ComboBox.disabledBackground ComboBox.disabledForeground ComboBox.foreground ComboBox.selectionBackground ComboBox.selectionForeground Desktop.background EditorPane.background EditorPane.caretForeground EditorPane.foreground EditorPane.inactiveBackground EditorPane.inactiveForeground EditorPane.selectionBackground EditorPane.selectionForeground Focus.color FormattedTextField.background FormattedTextField.caretForeground FormattedTextField.foreground FormattedTextField.inactiveBackground FormattedTextField.inactiveForeground FormattedTextField.selectionBackground FormattedTextField.selectionForeground InternalFrame.activeTitleBackground InternalFrame.activeTitleForeground InternalFrame.background InternalFrame.borderColor InternalFrame.borderDarkShadow InternalFrame.borderHighlight InternalFrame.borderLight InternalFrame.borderShadow InternalFrame.inactiveTitleBackground InternalFrame.inactiveTitleForeground InternalFrame.optionDialogBackground InternalFrame.paletteBackground Label.background Label.disabledForeground Label.disabledShadow Label.foreground List.background List.foreground List.selectionBackground List.selectionForeground Menu.acceleratorForeground Menu.acceleratorSelectionForeground Menu.background Menu.disabledBackground Menu.disabledForeground Menu.foreground Menu.selectionBackground Menu.selectionForeground MenuBar.background MenuBar.disabledBackground MenuBar.disabledForeground MenuBar.foreground MenuBar.highlight MenuBar.selectionBackground MenuBar.selectionForeground MenuBar.shadow MenuItem.acceleratorForeground MenuItem.acceleratorSelectionForeground MenuItem.background MenuItem.disabledBackground MenuItem.disabledForeground MenuItem.foreground MenuItem.selectionBackground MenuItem.selectionForeground OptionPane.background OptionPane.foreground OptionPane.messageForeground Panel.background Panel.foreground PasswordField.background PasswordField.caretForeground PasswordField.foreground PasswordField.inactiveBackground PasswordField.inactiveForeground PasswordField.selectionBackground PasswordField.selectionForeground PopupMenu.background PopupMenu.foreground PopupMenu.selectionBackground PopupMenu.selectionForeground ProgressBar.background ProgressBar.foreground ProgressBar.selectionBackground ProgressBar.selectionForeground RadioButton.background RadioButton.darkShadow RadioButton.disabledText RadioButton.foreground RadioButton.highlight RadioButton.light RadioButton.select RadioButton.shadow RadioButtonMenuItem.acceleratorForeground RadioButtonMenuItem.acceleratorSelectionForeground RadioButtonMenuItem.background RadioButtonMenuItem.disabledBackground RadioButtonMenuItem.disabledForeground RadioButtonMenuItem.foreground RadioButtonMenuItem.selectionBackground RadioButtonMenuItem.selectionForeground ScrollBar.background ScrollBar.foreground ScrollBar.thumb ScrollBar.thumbDarkShadow ScrollBar.thumbHighlight ScrollBar.thumbShadow ScrollBar.track ScrollBar.trackHighlight ScrollPane.background ScrollPane.foreground Separator.foreground Separator.highlight Separator.shadow Slider.background Slider.focus Slider.foreground Slider.highlight Slider.shadow Slider.tickColor Spinner.background Spinner.foreground SplitPane.background SplitPane.darkShadow SplitPane.highlight SplitPane.shadow SplitPaneDivider.draggingColor TabbedPane.background TabbedPane.darkShadow TabbedPane.focus TabbedPane.foreground TabbedPane.highlight TabbedPane.light TabbedPane.shadow Table.background Table.focusCellBackground Table.focusCellForeground Table.foreground Table.gridColor Table.selectionBackground Table.selectionForeground TableHeader.background TableHeader.foreground TextArea.background TextArea.caretForeground TextArea.foreground TextArea.inactiveBackground TextArea.inactiveForeground TextArea.selectionBackground TextArea.selectionForeground TextComponent.selectionBackgroundInactive TextField.background TextField.caretForeground TextField.darkShadow TextField.foreground TextField.highlight TextField.inactiveBackground TextField.inactiveForeground TextField.light TextField.selectionBackground TextField.selectionForeground TextField.shadow TextPane.background TextPane.caretForeground TextPane.foreground TextPane.inactiveBackground TextPane.inactiveForeground TextPane.selectionBackground TextPane.selectionForeground TitledBorder.titleColor ToggleButton.background ToggleButton.darkShadow ToggleButton.disabledText ToggleButton.foreground ToggleButton.highlight ToggleButton.light ToggleButton.shadow ToolBar.background ToolBar.darkShadow ToolBar.dockingBackground ToolBar.dockingForeground ToolBar.floatingBackground ToolBar.floatingForeground ToolBar.foreground ToolBar.highlight ToolBar.light ToolBar.shadow ToolTip.background ToolTip.foreground Tree.background Tree.foreground Tree.hash Tree.line Tree.selectionBackground Tree.selectionBorderColor Tree.selectionForeground Tree.textBackground Tree.textForeground Viewport.background Viewport.foreground activeCaption activeCaptionBorder activeCaptionText control controlDkShadow controlHighlight controlLtHighlight controlShadow controlText desktop inactiveCaption inactiveCaptionBorder inactiveCaptionText info infoText menu menuText scrollbar text textHighlight textHighlightText textInactiveText textText window windowBorder windowText
UIManager color keys - JFormDesigner color palettes
I'm short on time today, but while I'm in this neighborhood, let me say that I got started on this quest while (a) working on a new Java Swing application, and (b) running into the color palettes that were displayed by a JFormDesigner color chooser. When I saw this list of color keys, I decided to dig under the hood to see what was happening, which led to the class and list of color key output shown above.
As I go, here's a quick image from JFormDesigner that started me on this "UIManager color keys" quest:
As mentioned, I really like JFormDesigner, and highly recommend it when designing Java Swing GUI components like JFrame, JDialog, and JPanel components. It's very helpful in many ways, including this simple ability to help you choose the proper UIManager color key values.
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