The Label Class - Java

Labels are created via the Label class. Labels are often used to identify the purpose of other components on a given interface; they cannot be edited directly by the user. Using a label is much easier than using a drawString( ) method because labels are drawn automatically and don’t have to handled explicitly in the paint( ) method. Labels can be laid out according to the layout manager, instead of using [x, y] coordinates, as in drawString( ).

To create a Label, use one of the following constructors:

• Label( ) - creates a label with its string aligned to the left..
• Label(String) - creates a label initialized with the given string, and aligned left.
• Label(String, int) - creates a label with specified text and alignment indicated by the int argument: Label.Right, Label.Left and Label.Center.

Example 3

The following is a simple applet that creates a few labels in Helvetica bold.

/*
<Applet code= “LabelTest.class”
Width = 500
Height = 100>
</applet>
*/

Import java.awt.*;

Public class LabelTest extends java.applet.Applet
{
Label left = new Label (“Left Wing”);
Label center = new Label (“Central Part”, Label.CENTER);
Label right = new Label (“Right Wing”, Label.RIGHT);
Font f1 = new Font(“Helvetica”, Font.Bold, 14);
GridLayout gd = new GridLayout(3,1);

Public void init(){
setFont(f1);
setLayout(gd);
add(left);
add(center);
add(right);
}
}


We can use label’s getText( ) method to indicate the current label’s text and setText( ) method to change the label’s text. We have also made use of setFont( ) method in the above example to change the label’s font and GridbagLayout to lay the components in the applet.

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