java.awt
Class GraphicsDevice

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--java.awt.GraphicsDevice

public abstract class GraphicsDevice

extends Object

The GraphicsDevice class describes the graphics devices that might be available in a particular graphics environment. These include screen and printer devices. Note that there can be many screens and many printers in an instance of GraphicsEnvironment. Each graphics device has one or more GraphicsConfiguration objects associated with it. These objects specify the different configurations in which the GraphicsDevice can be used.

In a multi-screen environment, the GraphicsConfiguration objects can be used to render components on multiple screens. The following code sample demonstrates how to create a JFrame object for each GraphicsConfiguration on each screen device in the GraphicsEnvironment:

   GraphicsEnvironment ge = GraphicsEnvironment.
   getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
   GraphicsDevice[] gs = ge.getScreenDevices();
   for (int j = 0; j < gs.length; j++) { 
      GraphicsDevice gd = gs[j];
      GraphicsConfiguration[] gc =
 	gd.getConfigurations();
      for (int i=0; i < gc.length; i++) {
         JFrame f = new
         JFrame(gs[j].getDefaultConfiguration());
         Canvas c = new Canvas(gc[i]); 
         Rectangle gcBounds = gc[i].getBounds();
         int xoffs = gcBounds.x;
         int yoffs = gcBounds.y;
	   f.getContentPane().add(c);
	   f.setLocation((i*50)+xoffs, (i*60)+yoffs);
         f.show();
      }
   }
 

See Also:

GraphicsEnvironment, GraphicsConfiguration

Field Summary

static int	TYPE_IMAGE_BUFFER Device is an image buffer.
static int	TYPE_PRINTER Device is a printer.
static int	TYPE_RASTER_SCREEN Device is a raster screen.

Constructor Summary

protected

GraphicsDevice() This is an abstract class that cannot be instantiated directly.

Method Summary

GraphicsConfiguration	getBestConfiguration(GraphicsConfigTemplate gct) Returns the "best" configuration possible that passes the criteria defined in the GraphicsConfigTemplate.
abstract GraphicsConfiguration[]	getConfigurations() Returns all of the GraphicsConfiguration objects associated with this GraphicsDevice.
abstract GraphicsConfiguration	getDefaultConfiguration() Returns the default GraphicsConfiguration associated with this GraphicsDevice.
abstract String	getIDstring() Returns the identification string associated with this GraphicsDevice.
abstract int	getType() Returns the type of this GraphicsDevice.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

TYPE_RASTER_SCREEN

public static final int TYPE_RASTER_SCREEN

Device is a raster screen.

TYPE_PRINTER

public static final int TYPE_PRINTER

Device is a printer.

TYPE_IMAGE_BUFFER

public static final int TYPE_IMAGE_BUFFER

Device is an image buffer. This buffer can reside in device or system memory but it is not physically viewable by the user.

Constructor Detail

GraphicsDevice

protected GraphicsDevice()

This is an abstract class that cannot be instantiated directly. Instances must be obtained from a suitable factory or query method.

See Also:

GraphicsEnvironment.getScreenDevices(), GraphicsEnvironment.getDefaultScreenDevice(), GraphicsConfiguration.getDevice()

Method Detail

getType

public abstract int getType()

Returns the type of this GraphicsDevice.

Returns:

the type of this GraphicsDevice, which can either be TYPE_RASTER_SCREEN, TYPE_PRINTER or TYPE_IMAGE_BUFFER.

See Also:

TYPE_RASTER_SCREEN, TYPE_PRINTER, TYPE_IMAGE_BUFFER

getIDstring

public abstract String getIDstring()

Returns the identification string associated with this GraphicsDevice.

A particular program might use more than one GraphicsDevice in a GraphicsEnvironment. This method returns a String identifying a particular GraphicsDevice in the local GraphicsEnvironment. Although there is no public method to set this String, a programmer can use the String for debugging purposes. Vendors of the Java^TM Runtime Environment can format the return value of the String. To determine how to interpret the value of the String, contact the vendor of your Java Runtime. To find out who the vendor is, from your program, call the getProperty method of the System class with "java.vendor".

Returns:

a String that is the identification of this GraphicsDevice.

getConfigurations

public abstract GraphicsConfiguration[] getConfigurations()

Returns all of the GraphicsConfiguration objects associated with this GraphicsDevice.

Returns:

an array of GraphicsConfiguration objects that are associated with this GraphicsDevice.

getDefaultConfiguration

public abstract GraphicsConfiguration getDefaultConfiguration()

Returns the default GraphicsConfiguration associated with this GraphicsDevice.

Returns:

the default GraphicsConfiguration of this GraphicsDevice.

getBestConfiguration

public GraphicsConfiguration getBestConfiguration(GraphicsConfigTemplate gct)

Returns the "best" configuration possible that passes the criteria defined in the GraphicsConfigTemplate.

Parameters:

gct - the GraphicsConfigTemplate object used to obtain a valid GraphicsConfiguration

Returns:

a GraphicsConfiguration that passes the criteria defined in the specified GraphicsConfigTemplate.

See Also:

GraphicsConfigTemplate