Using the Component Tree

The Component Tree is a structured view of all the components in your source file and their relationships. The Component Tree interacts directly with the Inspector and the designers.

You use the Component Tree to,

How the Tree is organized

The Component Tree is organized into up to four sections, or sub-trees.
  1. UI components and containers, such as panels, buttons, check boxes, and text fields, if any.
  2. Menus and menu items, if any.
  3. Data access components, if any.
  4. Other JavaBeans components such as dialogs.

Sections that do not have components are not displayed.

Icons in the Component Tree

The following is an explanation of the icons used to represent the various nodes in the Tree:

Icon Explanation
Represents the component under design.
Represents a visual container component, such as a Panel or GroupBox.
Represents the layout manager for the container immediately above it in the Tree.
Represents a visual component.
Represents other JavaBeans components.
Groups similar types of components.


Changing a component name in the Tree

You can change the name of a component in the Component Tree, as well as in the Inspector. To change the name in the Tree,
  1. Double-click the component name in the Tree. The highlighted name changes to an edit field.
  2. Type the text for the new name, then press Enter.