JComboBox change text but keep the values

[Xzar]

Can i change the text in a JComboBox but keep what the values are?

I have a combo box that holds all the available DisplayModes of the monitor, and the user can switch in between them. However the combobox isn't very readable. An example of one of the selections is "java.awt.DisplayMode@84c" which doesn't mean anything to me, or the user. That particular DisplayMode means 640x480 60Hz 32 bit rate.

How can I change the text but keep it so I can change DisplayModes using this drop down menu?

The way the DisplayModes are added to the list is:

for (int i = 0; i < DisplayModes.length; i++) {
	if (DisplayModes[i].getWidth() <= defaultSize.width && DisplayModes[i].getHeight() <= defaultSize.height) {
		cBox.addItem(DisplayModes[i]);
	}
}

[Fubarable]

Your JComboBox is doing what it is built to do: display the default String returned by a call to toString() on the object it is displaying. The default method held by the Object class returns a String showing the item's class, the @ symbol and its hashCode value displayed in hex form.

To display more informative Strings, you have one of two options:

1. The quick and dirty way is to give the DisplayMode class a decent toString() method override that returns a String that would display well in the JComboBox.
2. The better way is to give the ListCellRenderer<DisplayMode> that helps show a String based on the object it represents that makes sense. This can most easily be done using a DefaultListCellRenderer.

[Xzar]

Can you give me an example on how to use that? I have seen that before :(

[DarrylBurke]

Read the API for JComboBox and follow the link to the tutorial. It's all explained there.

db

[Xzar]

alright thanks!