Add A File Chooser/Selector for Eclipse RCP Development

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File chooser or Directory choose is a common module when file processing is involved in a GUI application. This article use an example to illustrate how to use file chooser/directory chooser under Eclipse RCP, and gives the source code which can be used directly.

Under Eclipse RCP, the implementation is simple and the usage is straightforward. Basically, a file chooser should be a Composite which can be added to a parent Composite in a certain View.

Here shows where I need the file chooser. When the button is clicked, a file chooser pops up. After a file is chosen, the text field will be filled with the file name.

Here is the code for file chooser class.

import java.io.File;
import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionListener;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.FontMetrics;
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.GC;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Button;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.FileDialog;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;
 
public class FileChooser extends Composite {
 
	Text mText;
	Button mButton;
	String title = null;
 
	public FileChooser(Composite parent) {
		super(parent, SWT.NULL);
		createContent();
	}
 
	public void createContent() {
		GridLayout layout = new GridLayout(2, false);
		setLayout(layout);
 
		mText = new Text(this, SWT.SINGLE | SWT.BORDER);
		GridData gd = new GridData(GridData.FILL_BOTH);
		gd.grabExcessHorizontalSpace = true;
		gd.horizontalAlignment = GridData.FILL;
		mText.setLayoutData(gd);
 
 
		mButton = new Button(this, SWT.NONE);
		mButton.setText("...");
		mButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionListener() {
 
			public void widgetDefaultSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
			}
 
			public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
				FileDialog dlg = new FileDialog(mButton.getShell(),  SWT.OPEN  );
				dlg.setText("Open");
				String path = dlg.open();
				if (path == null) return;
				mText.setText(path);
			}
		});
	}
 
	public String getText() {
		return mText.getText();
 
	}
 
	public Text getTextControl() {
		return mText;		
	}
 
	public File getFile() {
		String text = mText.getText();
		if (text.length() == 0) return null;
		return new File(text);
	}
 
	public String getTitle() {
		return title;
	}
 
	public void setTitle(String title) {
		this.title = title;
	}
}

If FileDialog is replaced with DirectoryDialog, the directory chooser is done.

Here is the code of the creatPartControl method for a View class.

public void createPartControl(Composite parent) {
		// Here is the layered layout of the Composite
		// parent -> top -> banner
		// -> text
		Composite top = new Composite(parent, SWT.NONE);// embedded Composite
 
		// setup the layout of top to be GridLayout.
		GridLayout layout = new GridLayout();
		layout.marginHeight = 0;
		layout.marginWidth = 0;
		top.setLayout(layout);
 
		// top banner
		Composite banner = new Composite(top, SWT.NONE);// banner is added to
														// "top"
		banner.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.HORIZONTAL_ALIGN_FILL,
				GridData.VERTICAL_ALIGN_BEGINNING, true, false));
		layout = new GridLayout();
		layout.marginHeight = 5;
		layout.marginWidth = 10;
 
		layout.numColumns = 2;
		banner.setLayout(layout);
 
		// setup bold font
		Font boldFont = JFaceResources.getFontRegistry().getBold(
				JFaceResources.DEFAULT_FONT);
 
		// 1st row
		Label l = new Label(banner, SWT.WRAP);
		l.setText("Regular Expression:");
		l.setFont(boldFont);
 
		final Text reg = new Text(banner, SWT.BORDER | SWT.FILL);
		GridData gridData = new GridData();
		gridData.horizontalAlignment = SWT.FILL;
		gridData.minimumWidth = 400;
		gridData.minimumHeight = 50;
		gridData.grabExcessHorizontalSpace = true;
		reg.setLayoutData(gridData);
		reg.setText("(\\s*)//(\\s*).*");
 
		// l = new Label(banner, SWT.WRAP);
		// l.setText("This is a message about the cool Eclipse RCP!");
 
		// 2nd row
		l = new Label(banner, SWT.PUSH);
		l.setText("Author:");
		l.setFont(boldFont);
 
		final Link link = new Link(banner, SWT.NONE);
		link.setText("<a>programcreek.com</a>");
		link.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
			public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
				MessageDialog
						.openInformation(getSite().getShell(),
								"Not Implemented",
								"Imagine the address book or a new message being created now.");
			}
		});
 
		// 3rd row
		l = new Label(banner, SWT.WRAP);
		l.setText("Source File:");
		l.setFont(boldFont);
 
 
		final FileChooser fileChooser = new FileChooser(banner);
		gridData.heightHint = 25;
		fileChooser.setLayoutData(gridData);
		//fileChooser.setLayout(SWT.WRAP);
 
 
		// 4th row
		l = new Label(banner, SWT.WRAP);
		l.setText("Source File:");
		l.setFont(boldFont);
 
		Button runButton = new Button(banner, SWT.WRAP);
		runButton.setText("Select a File");
 
 
 
		// message contents
		final Text text = new Text(top, SWT.MULTI | SWT.WRAP);
		// here like the banner, text is added to "top".
		text.setText("");
		text.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.FILL_BOTH));
 
 
		runButton.addListener(SWT.Selection,  new Listener() {
		      public void handleEvent(Event event) {
 
		    	  ArrayList<String> list = null;
					try {
						list  = FilterText.Filter(fileChooser.getText(), reg.getText());
					} catch (IOException e) {
						// TODO Auto-generated catch block
						e.printStackTrace();
					}
 
					for(String temp : list){
 
						text.append(temp + "\n");
 
					}
 
		        }
		      });
 
	}

1 thought on “Add A File Chooser/Selector for Eclipse RCP Development”

  1. Hi,
    Thanks for your code. But i am not able to resolve ”
    FilterText.Filter(fileChooser.getText(), reg.getText());”. Would you please tell me which package you used in this case? I did not find any package regarding this method.

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