Printing with the Java 1.1 API

Example 13-1 is a Swing component that displays a fractal image known as a “Julia set,” pictured in Figure 13-1. The image is fascinating, and the mathematics interesting, but the real point of the example is the print( ) method, which demonstrates how to print the Julia set using the Java 1.1 API and the Java 1.3 extensions to that API. The print( ) code is straightforward: it sets some default attribute values, then displays a dialog box to the user, to allow him to modify those attributes or cancel the print request. The dialog box returns a PrintJob object. The print( ) method then obtains a Graphics object from the PrintJob. Next, it draws the Julia set to this Graphics object and, finally, calls the Graphics.dispose( ) method to tell the printer that printing is done. These basic steps are repeated in the next two examples as well: when studying the examples of the Java 1.2 and Java 1.4 APIs, look for the code that sets attributes, displays a dialog, and obtains the Graphics object.

A Julia set printed with the Java 1.1 API

Figure 13-1. A Julia set printed with the Java 1.1 API

Example 13-1 does not include a main( ) method. To display the component, use the ShowBean program from Chapter 11, and then use the Commands menu to test the print( ) method:

java je3.gui.ShowBean je3.print.JuliaSet1

Example 13-1. JuliaSet1.java

package je3.print; import javax.swing.*; import java.awt.*; import java.awt.image.*; ...

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