public class CheckboxMenuItem
extends MenuItem
implements ItemSelectable, Accessible

This class represents a check box that can be included in a menu. Selecting the check box in the menu changes its state from "on" to "off" or from "off" to "on."

The following picture depicts a menu which contains an instance of CheckBoxMenuItem:

The item labeled Check shows a check box menu item in its "off" state.

When a check box menu item is selected, AWT sends an item event to the item. Since the event is an instance of ItemEvent, the processEvent method examines the event and passes it along to processItemEvent. The latter method redirects the event to any ItemListener objects that have registered an interest in item events generated by this menu item.

public CheckboxMenuItem()

Create a check box menu item with an empty label. The item's state is initially set to "off."

HeadlessException: if GraphicsEnvironment.isHeadless() returns true

public CheckboxMenuItem(String)

Create a check box menu item with the specified label. The item's state is initially set to "off."

String label: a string label for the check box menu item, or null for an unlabeled menu item.

HeadlessException: if GraphicsEnvironment.isHeadless() returns true

public CheckboxMenuItem(String, boolean)

Create a check box menu item with the specified label and state.

String label: a string label for the check box menu item, or null for an unlabeled menu item.

boolean state: the initial state of the menu item, where true indicates "on" and false indicates "off."

HeadlessException: if GraphicsEnvironment.isHeadless() returns true

public synchronized void addItemListener(ItemListener)

Adds the specified item listener to receive item events from this check box menu item. Item events are sent in response to user actions, but not in response to calls to setState(). If l is null, no exception is thrown and no action is performed.

Refer to AWT Threading Issues for details on AWT's threading model.

ItemListener l: the item listener

public void addNotify()

Creates the peer of the checkbox item. This peer allows us to change the look of the checkbox item without changing its functionality. Most applications do not call this method directly.

public AccessibleContext getAccessibleContext()

Gets the AccessibleContext associated with this CheckboxMenuItem. For checkbox menu items, the AccessibleContext takes the form of an AccessibleAWTCheckboxMenuItem. A new AccessibleAWTCheckboxMenuItem is created if necessary.

public synchronized ItemListener getItemListeners()

Returns an array of all the item listeners registered on this checkbox menuitem.

public EventListener getListeners(Class)

Returns an array of all the objects currently registered as FooListeners upon this CheckboxMenuItem. FooListeners are registered using the addFooListener method.

You can specify the listenerType argument with a class literal, such as FooListener.class. For example, you can query a CheckboxMenuItem c for its item listeners with the following code:

ItemListener[] ils = (ItemListener[])(c.getListeners(ItemListener.class));

java.lang.Class listenerType: the type of listeners requested; this parameter should specify an interface that descends from java.util.EventListener

ClassCastException: if listenerType doesn't specify a class or interface that implements java.util.EventListener

public synchronized Object getSelectedObjects()

Returns the an array (length 1) containing the checkbox menu item label or null if the checkbox is not selected.

public boolean getState()

Determines whether the state of this check box menu item is "on" or "off."

public String paramString()

Returns a string representing the state of this CheckBoxMenuItem. This method is intended to be used only for debugging purposes, and the content and format of the returned string may vary between implementations. The returned string may be empty but may not be null.

protected void processEvent(AWTEvent)

Processes events on this check box menu item. If the event is an instance of ItemEvent, this method invokes the processItemEvent method. If the event is not an item event, it invokes processEvent on the superclass.

Check box menu items currently support only item events.

Note that if the event parameter is null the behavior is unspecified and may result in an exception.

AWTEvent e: the event

protected void processItemEvent(ItemEvent)

Processes item events occurring on this check box menu item by dispatching them to any registered ItemListener objects.

This method is not called unless item events are enabled for this menu item. Item events are enabled when one of the following occurs:

• An ItemListener object is registered via addItemListener.
• Item events are enabled via enableEvents.

Note that if the event parameter is null the behavior is unspecified and may result in an exception.

ItemEvent e: the item event

public synchronized void removeItemListener(ItemListener)

Removes the specified item listener so that it no longer receives item events from this check box menu item. If l is null, no exception is thrown and no action is performed.

Refer to AWT Threading Issues for details on AWT's threading model.

ItemListener l: the item listener

public synchronized void setState(boolean)

Sets this check box menu item to the specifed state. The boolean value true indicates "on" while false indicates "off."

Note that this method should be primarily used to initialize the state of the check box menu item. Programmatically setting the state of the check box menu item will not trigger an ItemEvent. The only way to trigger an ItemEvent is by user interaction.

boolean b: true if the check box menu item is on, otherwise false