Java Swing | JCheckBox with examples

Last Updated : 23 May, 2018

JCheckBox is a part of Java Swing package . JCheckBox can be selected or deselected . It displays it state to the user . JCheckBox is an implementation to checkbox . JCheckBox inherits JToggleButton class.

Constructor of the class are :

JCheckBox() : creates a new checkbox with no text or icon
JCheckBox(Icon i) : creates a new checkbox with the icon specified
JCheckBox(Icon icon, boolean s) : creates a new checkbox with the icon specified and the boolean value specifies whether it is selected or not.
JCheckBox(String t) :creates a new checkbox with the string specified
JCheckBox(String text, boolean selected) :creates a new checkbox with the string specified and the boolean value specifies whether it is selected or not.
JCheckBox(String text, Icon icon) :creates a new checkbox with the string and the icon specified.
JCheckBox(String text, Icon icon, boolean selected): creates a new checkbox with the string and the icon specified and the boolean value specifies whether it is selected or not.

Methods to add Item Listener to checkbox.

addActionListener(ItemListener l): adds item listener to the component
itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e) : abstract function invoked when the state of the item to which listener is applied changes
getItem() : Returns the component-specific object associated with the item whose state changed
getStateChange() : Returns the new state of the item. The ItemEvent class defines two states: SELECTED and DESELECTED.
getSource() : Returns the component that fired the item event.

Commonly used methods:

setIcon(Icon i) : sets the icon of the checkbox to the given icon
setText(String s) :sets the text of the checkbox to the given text
setSelected(boolean b) : sets the checkbox to selected if boolean value passed is true or vice versa
getIcon() : returns the image of the checkbox
getText() : returns the text of the checkbox
updateUI() : resets the UI property with a value from the current look and feel.
getUI() : returns the look and feel object that renders this component.
paramString() : returns a string representation of this JCheckBox.
getUIClassID() : returns the name of the Look and feel class that renders this component.
getAccessibleContext() : gets the AccessibleContext associated with this JCheckBox.
isBorderPaintedFlat() : gets the value of the borderPaintedFlat property.
setBorderPaintedFlat(boolean b) : sets the borderPaintedFlat property,

The following programs will illustrate the use of JCheckBox

1. Program to create a simple checkbox using JCheckBox

// java Program to create a simple checkbox using JCheckBox 
import java.awt.event.*; 
import java.awt.*; 
import javax.swing.*; 
class solve extends JFrame { 
  
    // frame 
    static JFrame f; 
  
    // main class 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        // create a new frame 
        f = new JFrame("frame"); 
  
        // set layout of frame 
        f.setLayout(new FlowLayout()); 
  
        // create checkbox 
        JCheckBox c1 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 1"); 
        JCheckBox c2 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 2"); 
  
        // create a new panel 
        JPanel p = new JPanel(); 
  
        // add checkbox to panel 
        p.add(c1); 
        p.add(c2); 
  
        // add panel to frame 
        f.add(p); 
  
        // set the size of frame 
        f.setSize(300, 300); 
  
        f.show(); 
    } 
} 

Output :

2. Program to create a checkbox with a icon .

// java Program to create a checkbox with a icon . 
import java.awt.event.*; 
import java.awt.*; 
import javax.swing.*; 
class solve extends JFrame { 
  
    // frame 
    static JFrame f; 
  
    // main class 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        // create a new frame 
        f = new JFrame("frame"); 
  
        // set layout of frame 
        f.setLayout(new FlowLayout()); 
  
        // create checkbox 
        JCheckBox c1 = new JCheckBox("checkbox with image", new ImageIcon("f:/gfg.jpg"), true); 
        JCheckBox c2 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 2"); 
  
        // create a new panel 
        JPanel p = new JPanel(); 
  
        // add checkbox to panel 
        p.add(c1); 
        p.add(c2); 
  
        // add panel to frame 
        f.add(p); 
  
        // set the size of frame 
        f.setSize(300, 300); 
  
        f.show(); 
    } 
} 

Output :

3. Program to create a checkbox and ItemListener to it.

// java Program to create a checkbox and ItemListener to it. 
import java.awt.event.*; 
import java.awt.*; 
import javax.swing.*; 
class solve extends JFrame implements ItemListener { 
  
    // frame 
    static JFrame f; 
  
    // label 
    static JLabel l, l1; 
  
    // checkbox 
    static JCheckBox c1, c2; 
  
    // main class 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        // create a new frame 
        f = new JFrame("frame"); 
  
        // create a object 
        solve s = new solve(); 
  
        // set layout of frame 
        f.setLayout(new FlowLayout()); 
  
        // create checkbox 
        c1 = new JCheckBox("geeksforgeeks", new ImageIcon("f:/gfg.jpg"), false); 
        c2 = new JCheckBox("checkbox 2", false); 
  
        // add ItemListener 
        c1.addItemListener(s); 
        c2.addItemListener(s); 
  
        // create labels 
        l = new JLabel("geeksforgeeks not selected"); 
        l1 = new JLabel("checkbox2 not selected"); 
  
        // set color of text 
        l.setForeground(Color.red); 
        l1.setForeground(Color.blue); 
  
        // create a new panel 
        JPanel p = new JPanel(); 
  
        // add checkbox to panel 
        p.add(c1); 
        p.add(c2); 
        p.add(l); 
        p.add(l1); 
  
        // add panel to frame 
        f.add(p); 
  
        // set the size of frame 
        f.setSize(600, 300); 
  
        f.show(); 
    } 
    public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e) 
    { 
        // if the state of checkbox1 is changed 
        if (e.getSource() == c1) { 
            if (e.getStateChange() == 1) 
                l.setText("geeksforgeeks  selected"); 
            else
                l.setText("geeksforgeeks  not selected"); 
        } 
  
        // if the state of checkbox2 is changed 
        else { 
            if (e.getStateChange() == 1) 
                l1.setText("checkbox 2  selected"); 
            else
                l1.setText("checkbox 2 not selected"); 
        } 
    } 
} 