Synth Look and Feel


synth is a skinnable Java look and feel, which is configured with an XML property file.
According to Sun, goals for synth were:
synth is available beginning with version J2SE 5.0 of Java.
Java SE 6 Update 10 release and newer contain Nimbus, a cross-platform Look and Feel implemented with Synth. However, for backwards compatibility, Metal is still the default Swing look and feel.

Architecture

Synth is a skinnable look and feel in which all painting is delegated to the components, without having to write any code.
However synth does not provide a default look, and components that are not defined in the synth XML file will not be painted. It is however possible to assign a default style to all other widgets, and customize styles for some specific widgets only.

Example

The following XML declaration defines a style named textfield and binds it to all text fields. The defaultStyle allows to set a default font, foreground and background colors to all other widgets.








Supposing that the XML declaration is defined in a file named synthExample.xml, the following code loads the XML definition file and sets the current look and feel to synth :

SynthLookAndFeel laf = new SynthLookAndFeel;
laf.load.toURI.toURL);
UIManager.setLookAndFeel;