How to Print Tables

1. Click the Launch button to run TablePrintDemo1 using Java™ Web Start (download JDK 6). Alternatively, to compile and run the example yourself, consult the example index.
   

2. Each checkbox in the bottom part of the application window has a tool tip. Hold the cursor over a checkbox to find out its purpose.
3. Edit the text in the Header or Footer checkboxes or both to provide a different header or footer.
4. Clear the Header or Footer checkboxes or both to turn the header or footer off.
5. Clear the Show print dialog checkbox to turn the print dialog off.
6. Clear the Fit width to printed page checkbox to select printing in the NORMAL mode.
7. Clear the Interactive (Show status dialog) checkbox to turn the print dialog off.
8. Click the Print button to print the table according to the selected options.

Note when you clear the Interactive checkbox, a message appears that warns the user about the disadvantage of printing non-interactively. You can find the printing code in the PrintGradesTable method. When called, this method first obtains the set of selected options from the GUI components and then calls the print method as follows.

boolean complete = gradesTable.print(mode, header, footer,
                                     showPrintDialog, null,
                                     interactive, null);

Another important feature is the table printing API's use of table renderers. By using the table's renderers, the API provides a printed output that looks like the table on the screen. Look at the last column of the table on the screen. It contains custom images denoting the passed or failed status of each student. Now look at the printed result. You can see that the check and X marks look the same.

Here is a picture of the TablePrintDemo1 printed result in the FIT_WIDTH mode.

This figure has been reduced to fit on the page.
Click the image to view it at its natural size.

TablePrintDemo2 Example

Click the Launch button to run TablePrintDemo2 using Java™ Web Start (download JDK 6). Alternatively, to compile and run the example yourself, consult the example index.

    /**
     * A custom cell renderer that extends TablePrinteDemo1's renderer, to instead
     * use clearer black and white versions of the icons when printing.
     */
    protected static class BWPassedColumnRenderer extends PassedColumnRenderer {
            public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table,
                                                           Object value,
                                                           boolean isSelected,
                                                           boolean hasFocus,
                                                           int row,
                                                           int column) {

            super.getTableCellRendererComponent(table, value, isSelected,
                                                hasFocus, row, column);

            /* if we're currently printing, use the black and white icons */
            if (table.isPaintingForPrint()) {
                boolean status = (Boolean)value;
                setIcon(status ? passedIconBW : failedIconBW);
            } /* otherwise, the superclass (colored) icons are used */

            return this;
        }
    }

Here is a picture of the TablePrintDemo2 printed result in the FIT_WIDTH mode.

This figure has been reduced to fit on the page.
Click the image to view it at its natural size.

TablePrintDemo3 Example

Click the Launch button to run TablePrintDemo3 using Java™ Web Start (download JDK 6). Alternatively, to compile and run the example yourself, consult the example index.

This figure has been reduced to fit on the page.
Click the image to view it at its natural size.

public Printable getPrintable(PrintMode printMode,
                              MessageFormat headerFormat,
                              MessageFormat footerFormat) {

     MessageFormat pageNumber = new MessageFormat("- {0} -");

     /* Fetch the default printable */
     Printable delegate = super.getPrintable(printMode, null, pageNumber);

     /* Return a fancy printable that wraps the default */
     return new FancyPrintable(delegate);
}

Pay attention to the flexibility of the code that assembles the clipboard image with respect to the page size. The code takes into account the actual page dimensions and puts together the auxiliary images, stretching some of them as necessary so that the final clipboard image fits the actual page size. The picture below shows the auxiliary images and indicates how those images form the final output.

This figure has been reduced to fit on the page.
Click the image to view it at its natural size.

The Table Printing API

Method	Purpose
boolean print() boolean print(printMode) boolean print(printMode, MessageFormat, MessageFormat) boolean print(printMode, MessageFormat, MessageFormat, boolean, PrintRequestAttributeSet, boolean) boolean print(printMode, MessageFormat, MessageFormat, boolean, PrintRequestAttributeSet, boolean, PrintService)	When called without arguments, displays a print dialog, and then prints this table interactively in the FIT_WIDTH mode without a header or a footer text. Returns true if the user continued printing and false if the user cancelled printing. When called with a full set of arguments, prints this table according to the specified arguments. The first argument specifies the printing mode. Two MessageFormat arguments specify header and footer text. The first boolean argument defines whether to show a print dialog or not. Another boolean argument specifies whether to print interactively or not. With two other arguments you can specify printing attributes and a print service. Whenever a PrintService argument is omitted, the default printer will be used.
Printable getPrintable(PrintMode, MessageFormat, MessageFormat)	Returns a Printable for printing a table. Override this method to get a customized Printable object. You can wrap one Printable object into another to get various layouts.

Examples That Use Table Printing

Example	Where Described	Notes
TablePrintDemo	How to Use Tables	Demonstrates basic features in table printing such as displaying a print dialogue, and then printing interactively in the FIT_WIDTH mode with a page number as a header.
TablePrintDemo1	This page	Demostrates the basics of table printing and provides a rich GUI. Allows the user to specify a header or a footer text, select the printing mode, turn the print dialog on or off, and select printing interactively or non-interactively.
TablePrintDemo2	This page	Based on the TablePrintDemo1, this example has an identical interface. This demo shows how to customize the table so that the printed result looks differently compared to the table being shown on the screen.
TablePrintDemo3	This page	This demo shows advanced table printing features such as wrapping the default table printable into another printable to get a different layout.