JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.3

java.awt
Class GraphicsEnvironment

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--java.awt.GraphicsEnvironment

public abstract class GraphicsEnvironment
extends Object

The GraphicsEnvironment class describes the collection of GraphicsDevice objects and Font objects available to a Java(tm) application on a particular platform. The resources in this GraphicsEnvironment might be local or on a remote machine. GraphicsDevice objects can be screens, printers or image buffers and are the destination of Graphics2D drawing methods. Each GraphicsDevice has a number of GraphicsConfiguration objects associated with it. These objects specify the different configurations in which the GraphicsDevice can be used.

See Also:
GraphicsDevice, GraphicsConfiguration

Constructor Summary
protected GraphicsEnvironment()
          This is an abstract class and cannot be instantiated directly.
 
Method Summary
abstract  Graphics2D createGraphics(BufferedImage img)
          Returns a Graphics2D object for rendering into the specified BufferedImage.
abstract  Font[] getAllFonts()
          Returns an array containing a one-point size instance of all fonts available in this GraphicsEnvironment.
abstract  String[] getAvailableFontFamilyNames()
          Returns an array containing the names of all font families available in this GraphicsEnvironment.
abstract  String[] getAvailableFontFamilyNames(Locale l)
          Returns an array containing the localized names of all font families available in this GraphicsEnvironment.
abstract  GraphicsDevice getDefaultScreenDevice()
          Returns the default screen GraphicsDevice.
static GraphicsEnvironment getLocalGraphicsEnvironment()
          Returns the local GraphicsEnvironment.
abstract  GraphicsDevice[] getScreenDevices()
          Returns an array of all of the screen GraphicsDevice objects.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

GraphicsEnvironment

protected GraphicsEnvironment()
This is an abstract class and cannot be instantiated directly. Instances must be obtained from a suitable factory or query method.
Method Detail

getLocalGraphicsEnvironment

public static GraphicsEnvironment getLocalGraphicsEnvironment()
Returns the local GraphicsEnvironment.
Returns:
this GraphicsEnvironment.

getScreenDevices

public abstract GraphicsDevice[] getScreenDevices()
Returns an array of all of the screen GraphicsDevice objects.
Returns:
an array containing all the GraphicsDevice objects that represent screen devices.

getDefaultScreenDevice

public abstract GraphicsDevice getDefaultScreenDevice()
Returns the default screen GraphicsDevice.
Returns:
the GraphicsDevice that represents the default screen device.

createGraphics

public abstract Graphics2D createGraphics(BufferedImage img)
Returns a Graphics2D object for rendering into the specified BufferedImage.
Parameters:
img - the specified BufferedImage
Returns:
a Graphics2D to be used for rendering into the specified BufferedImage.

getAllFonts

public abstract Font[] getAllFonts()
Returns an array containing a one-point size instance of all fonts available in this GraphicsEnvironment. Typical usage would be to allow a user to select a particular font. Then, the application can size the font and set various font attributes by calling the deriveFont method on the choosen instance.

This method provides for the application the most precise control over which Font instance is used to render text. If a font in this GraphicsEnvironment has multiple programmable variations, only one instance of that Font is returned in the array, and other variations must be derived by the application.

If a font in this environment has multiple programmable variations, such as Multiple-Master fonts, only one instance of that font is returned in the Font array. The other variations must be derived by the application.

Returns:
an array of Font objects.
Since:
1.2
See Also:
getAvailableFontFamilyNames(), Font, Font.deriveFont(int, float), Font.getFontName()

getAvailableFontFamilyNames

public abstract String[] getAvailableFontFamilyNames()
Returns an array containing the names of all font families available in this GraphicsEnvironment. Typical usage would be to allow a user to select a particular family name and allow the application to choose related variants of the same family when the user specifies style attributes such as Bold or Italic.

This method provides for the application some control over which Font instance is used to render text, but allows the Font object more flexibility in choosing its own best match among multiple fonts in the same font family.

Returns:
an array of String containing names of font families.
Since:
1.2
See Also:
getAllFonts(), Font, Font.getFamily()

getAvailableFontFamilyNames

public abstract String[] getAvailableFontFamilyNames(Locale l)
Returns an array containing the localized names of all font families available in this GraphicsEnvironment. Typical usage would be to allow a user to select a particular family name and allow the application to choose related variants of the same family when the user specifies style attributes such as Bold or Italic.

This method provides for the application some control over which Font instance used to render text, but allows the Font object more flexibility in choosing its own best match among multiple fonts in the same font family. If l is null, this method returns an array containing all font family names available in this GraphicsEnvironment.

Parameters:
l - a Locale object that represents a particular geographical, political, or cultural region
Returns:
an array of String objects containing names of font families specific to the specified Locale.
Since:
1.2
See Also:
getAllFonts(), Font, Font.getFamily()

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.3

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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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