JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.3.1

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 JavaTM 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

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.3.1

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For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

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