SWT: A Developer's Notebook

Chapter 11. SWT Tabbed Folders

A very common user interface construct is one in which a window is divided using a notebook format, with tabs allowing easy access to widgets on each page of the notebook. This construct is usually referred to as a tabbed folder interface . The SWT provides classes that make developing such an interface a simple task. The two classes used for this purpose are TabFolder and TabItem, both from the org.eclipse.swt.widgets package.

An example of a tabbed interface is shown in Figure 11-1.

Figure 11-1. A simple tabbed interface

Clicking each tab reveals a separate page of the notebook, each with its own set of widgets.

Creating an Instance of TabFolder

First, create an instance of the TabFolder class that will act as a container for the tabs.

How do I do that?

Create an instance of TabFolder just as you do any other widget:

TabFolder tf = new TabFolder(s, SWT.NONE);

The TabFolder is added to another container class—either a Composite or a Shell. In the preceding code, it has been added to a Shell object (s). TabFolder has no styles intrinsic to itself, but you must still pass in a placeholder for a style. SWT.NONE is used for this purpose.