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     <h1>Adding a File Chooser to a Java Application</h1>
     <p><em>Contributed by Petr Dvorak <a href="http://blogs.oracle.com/joshis/entry/a_quick_jfilechooser_demo">(Dec 2009)</a>, maintained by Alyona Stashkova</em></p>

     <p>
       This tutorial shows how to add a file chooser to a Java application
       using the <tt>javax.swing.JFileChooser</tt> component. You could code it all by hand,
       but using the NetBeans GUI Builder is a smart way that will save you a bit of work.
       As part of the exercise, you will create a small Java application
       that loads a <tt>.txt</tt> file into a Text Area.    </p>

     <p>You can download <a href="https://netbeans.org/projects/samples/downloads/download/Samples%252FJava%252FJFileChooserDemo.zip" title="ZIP with the demo project (JFileChooserDemo)">the resulting project with a file chooser</a>. <br />
     </p>

     <p><b>Contents</b></p>
      <img src="../../../images_www/articles/73/netbeans-stamp-80-74-73.png" class="stamp"
           alt="Content on this page applies to NetBeans IDE 7.0 and more recent"
           title="Content on this page applies to the NetBeans IDE 7.0 and more recent" />
     <ul>
       <li><a href="#app"    title="Creating the Application">Creating the Application</a></li>
       <li><a href="#menu"   title="Creating the Application Form">Creating the Application Form</a></li>
       <li><a href="#filechooser"  title="Adding the File Chooser">Adding the File Chooser</a></li>
       <li><a href="#config" title="Configuring the File Chooser">Configuring the File Chooser</a></li>
       <li><a href="#run"    title="Running the Application">Running the Application</a></li>
     </ul>
 <p><b>To complete this tutorial, you need the following software and resources.</b></p>

     <table>
         <tbody>
             <tr>
                 <th class="tblheader" scope="col">Software or Resource</th>
                 <th class="tblheader" scope="col">Version Required</th>
             </tr>
             <tr>
                 <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://netbeans.org/downloads/">NetBeans IDE</a></td>
                 <td class="tbltd1">Version 7.0 or more recent </td>
             </tr>
             <tr>
                 <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html">Java Development Kit</a> (JDK)</td>
                 <td class="tbltd1">Version 6,  7, or 8 </td>
             </tr>

         </tbody>
     </table>


     <h2><a name="app"></a>Creating the Application</h2>

     <p>First you create a new Java Application:</p>
     <ol>
       <li>From the main menu, choose File &gt; New Project. Choose the Java category
         and the Java Application project type. Click Next.</li>
       <li>For Project Name, type <code>JFileChooserDemo</code> and specify the project location.</li>
       <li>Deselect the Create Main Class checkbox.
 	  <p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newproj.png" rel="lytebox" title="New Project wizard">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newproj-small.png" alt="New Project wizard" border=1/></a></p></li>
 	  <li>Click Finish.</li>

     </ol>


     <h2><a name="menu"></a>Creating the Application Form</h2>
     <p>In this section, you create a <tt>JFrame</tt> container and add a few components to it.</p>

 	<p><b>To create the JFrame form:</b></p>
         <ol>
             <li>Right-click the Source Packages node and choose New &gt; Other. Choose the Swing GUI Forms category
         and the JFrameForm file type. Click Next.</li>
             <li>For Class Name, type <code>JFileChooserDemo</code>.</li>
             <li>For Package, type <code>jfilechooserdemo.resources</code>.
 			<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newjframeform.png" rel="lytebox" title="New JFrame container being created">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newjframeform-small.png" alt="New JFrame container being created" border=1/></a></p></li>

             <li>Click Finish.</li>
 			<li>In the Properties window, enter <code>Demo application</code> for the Title property and press Enter to confirm.</li>
         </ol>
 	<p><b>To add components to the JFrame form:</b></p>
         <ol>
             <li>In the Palette, open the Swing Menus category, select the Menu Bar component and drag it to the left top corner of the JFrame.

 			 <p class="notes"><b>Note: </b> If you do not see the Palette, select Window &gt; Palette from the main menu. </p>
 			 <p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menubaradded.png" rel="lytebox" title="Menu Bar added to the JFrame form">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menubaradded-small.png" alt="Menu Bar added to the JFrame form" border=1/></a></p></li>

 			<li>Right-click the Edit item of the Menu Bar component and select Delete in the context menu. </li>
 			<li>To add a menu item that allows to open  FileChooser from the running application,  in the Swing Menus category in the Palette, select a new Menu Item (JMenuItem1),  drag it to the Menu Bar, and drop it to the File item of the Menu Bar.
 			<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menuitemadded.png" rel="lytebox" title="Menu Item added to the Menu Bar">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menuitemadded-small.png" alt="Menu Item added to the Menu Bar" border=1/></a></p>
 			 <p class="notes"><b>Note: </b> Make sure the Menu Bar is selected before dragging another Menu Item there in order to have the latter added to the Menu Bar. </p></li>

 			<li>Right-click the jMenuItem1 in the Design view and choose Change Variable Name from the context menu. Rename the item to <code>Open</code> and click OK.</li>
 			<li>Make sure that the jMenuItem1 is still selected in the Design view. Press the Space bar to edit the text of the component. Change the text to <code>Open</code> and press Enter to confirm.</li>
 			<li>Specify the action handler for the Open menu item. Right-click the menu item and choose Events &gt; Action &gt; action Performed from the context menu. The GUI Builder automatically switches to the Source view and a new event handler method named <tt>OpenActionPerformed()</tt> is generated. The Navigator window should look as follows:
 			<p class="align-center"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/openactionperformednavigator.png"
                      alt="Menu Item added to the Menu Bar" border=1/></p></li>
 			<li>To add a menu item to exit FileChooser from the application being created, switch back into the Design mode, in the Swing Menus category in the Palette, select a Menu Item (JMenuItem1) and drag it to the Menu Bar below the Open menu item. Notice orange highlighting that indicates where the <tt>JMenuItem1</tt> is going to be placed.
 		 <p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/highlighting.png" rel="lytebox" title="Highlighting">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/highlighting-small.png" alt="Highlighting" border=1/></a></p></li>
 			<li>Right-click <tt>jMenuItem1</tt> in the Design view and choose Change Variable Name from the context menu. Rename the item to <code>Exit</code> and click OK.</li>
 			<li>Make sure that the <tt>jMenuItem1</tt> is still selected in the Design view. Press the Space bar to edit the text of the component. Change the text to <tt>Exit</tt> and press Enter to confirm.</li>
 			<li>Specify the action handler for the Exit menu item. Right-click the menu item and choose Events &gt; Action &gt; action Performed from the context menu. The GUI Builder automatically switches to the Source view and a new event handler method is generated which is named <code>ExitActionPerformed()</code>.The <code>ExitActionPerformed</code> node appears in the Navigator window below the <code>OpenActionPerformed()</code> node. </li>
 			<li>To make the Exit menu item work, you include the following source into the <code>ExitActionPerformed()</code> method body:
 			 <pre class="samplecode">
 			 System.exit(0); </pre></li>
 	  <li>Switch back into Design mode. From the Swing Controls category of the Palette, drag a Text Area (<tt>JTextArea</tt>) into the form like shown in the picture below.
 	  <p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/textareadded.png" rel="lytebox" title="Text Area added to the JForm">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/textareadded-small.png" alt="Text Area added to the JForm" border=1/></a></p></li>
 	  <li>Resize the added component to make room for the text displayed by the File Chooser later. Rename the variable to <code>textarea</code>. The form should look like the following screenshot:
 		 <p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/jfilechooserdemoview_final.png" rel="lytebox" title="Java Application - GUI Builder">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/jfilechooserdemoview_final-small.png" alt="Java Application - GUI Builder" border=1/></a></p></li>
         </ol>

         <p>You have set up a simple Java application as a base for this tutorial.
     Next you add the actual File Chooser.</p>

     <h2><a name="filechooser"></a>Adding the File Chooser</h2>

 <ol>
     <li>Choose Window &gt; Navigating &gt; Navigator to open the Navigator window, if it is not open yet.</li>
 	<li>In the Navigator, right-click the <tt>Other Components</tt> node. Choose Add From Palette &gt; Swing Windows &gt; File Chooser from the context menu

 	  <p class=tips>
         As an alternative to the <tt>Add From Palette</tt> context menu, you can also drag and drop a <tt>JFileChooser</tt> component from the Swing Window category of the Palette to the white area of the GUI builder. It will have the same result, but it is a bit harder, because the preview of the <tt>JFileChooser</tt> is rather big and you might accidentally insert the window into one of the panels, which is not what you want.</p>
 	</li>

     <li>A look in the Navigator confirms that a <tt>JFileChooser</tt> was added to the form.
     </li>
     <li>Right-click the <tt>JFileChooser</tt> node and rename the variable to <code>fileChooser</code>.

                 <p class="align-center"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/navigator_jframe.png"
                      alt="File Chooser added - Navigator View" border=1/></p></li>
 </ol>


  <p>You have added a File Chooser.
     Next you tune the File Chooser to display the title that you want, add a custom file filter, and integrate the File Chooser into your application.</p>


     <h2><a name="config"></a>Configuring the File Chooser</h2>

 	<h3>Implementing the Open Action</h3>

 <ol>
     <li>Click to select the <tt>JFileChooser</tt> in the Navigator window,
       and then edit its properties in the Properties dialog box.
       Change the <tt>dialogTitle</tt> property to <code>This is my open dialog</code>, press Enter and close the Properties dialog box.</li>
     <li>
       Click the Source button in the GUI Builder to switch to the Source mode.
        To integrate the File Chooser into your application,
        paste the following code snippet into the existing
        <code>OpenActionPerformed()</code> method.

       <pre class="samplecode">
 private void OpenActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
     int returnVal = fileChooser.showOpenDialog(this);
     if (returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
         File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
         try {
           // What to do with the file, e.g. display it in a TextArea
           textarea.read( new FileReader( file.getAbsolutePath() ), null );
         } catch (IOException ex) {
           System.out.println(&quot;problem accessing file&quot;+file.getAbsolutePath());
         }
     } else {
         System.out.println(&quot;File access cancelled by user.&quot;);
     }
 } </pre>
 <p class="notes"><b>Note: </b> Remove the first and last lines of the code snippet that duplicate the existing ones in the source file. </p></li>

    <li>If the editor reports errors in your code,
       right-click anywhere in the code and select Fix Imports or press Ctrl+Shift+I. In the Fix All Imports dialog box accept the defaults to update the import statements and click OK.</li>
 </ol>
    <p>
      As you can see, you call the FileChooser's <tt>getSelectedFile()</tt> method
      to determine which file the user clicked, so you can work with it.
      This example reads the file contents and displays them in the TextArea.
    </p>


    <h3>Implementing a File Filter</h3>

   <p>Now you add a custom file filter that makes the File Chooser display only <tt>*.txt</tt> files.</p>
   <ol>

     <li>Switch to the Design mode and select the <tt>fileChooser</tt> in the Navigator window. </li>
        <li>In the Properties window, click the elipsis (&quot;...&quot;) button
        next to the <tt>fileFilter</tt> property.</li>
        <li>In the File Filter dialog box, select Custom Code from the combobox.
 	  <p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/combobox.png" rel="lytebox" title="Combobox open">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/combobox-small.png" alt="Combobox open" border=1/></a></p></li>
 	<li>
       Type the following in the text field:
         <pre class="samplecode">new MyCustomFilter()</pre></li>
             <li>Click OK.	</li>
     <li>
       To make the custom code work, you write an inner (or outer) class
       <tt>MyCustomFilter</tt> that extends the <tt>FileFilter</tt> class.
       Copy and paste the following code snippet into the source
       of your class below the import statements to create an inner class implementing the filter.

       <pre class="samplecode">
     class MyCustomFilter extends javax.swing.filechooser.FileFilter {
         @Override
         public boolean accept(File file) {
             // Allow only directories, or files with &quot;.txt&quot; extension
             return file.isDirectory() || file.getAbsolutePath().endsWith(&quot;.txt&quot;);
         }
         @Override
         public String getDescription() {
             // This description will be displayed in the dialog,
             // hard-coded = ugly, should be done via I18N
             return &quot;Text documents (*.txt)&quot;;
         }
     } </pre></li>
   </ol>
   <p class=notes><b>Note:</b> To learn how to implement smarter, switchable file filters, have a look at the <a title="JDK API documentation" target="_blank" href="http://java.sun.com/javase/7/docs/api/javax/swing/JFileChooser.html#addChoosableFileFilter%28javax.swing.filechooser.FileFilter%29">addChoosableFileFilter</a> method.
   </p>

 <h2><a name="run"></a>Running the Application</h2>
 <ol>
     <li>Right-click the JFileChooserDemo project and select Run to start the sample project. </li>
 	<li>In the Run Project dialog box select the <code>jfilechooserdemo.resources.JFileChooserDemo</code> main class and click OK.
 	<p class="align-center"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/run.png" alt="Run" border=1/></p>
 	</li>
 	<li>In the running Demo application, choose  Open in the File menu to trigger the action. The result should look like this:
 	  <p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/result_jfilechooserdemo.png" rel="lytebox" title="JFileChooser demo - result">
 					   <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/result_jfilechooserdemo-small.png" alt="JFileChooser demo - result" border=1/></a></p>
 </li>

 	<li>To close the application, select Exit in the File menu. </li>
   </ol>
     <p>Have a look at other useful Swing windows and dialogs
     like the ColorChooser or the OptionPane in the GUI Palette.</p>

       <div class="feedback-box" ><a href="/about/contact_form.html?to=3&subject=Feedback:%20Adding%20a%20FileChooser">Send Feedback on This Tutorial</a></div>
       <br style="clear:both;" />

 <h2><a name="next"></a>Next Steps</h2>

   <ul>
   <li><a href="http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=nb8000&id=NBDAG920">Implementing Java GUIs</a> in <i>Developing Applications with NetBeans IDE</i>
     <li><a href="gui-binding.html">Binding Beans and Data in a Java Application with NetBeans IDE</a></li>
     <li><a href="gui-automatic-i18n.html">Internationalizing a GUI Form with NetBeans IDE</a></li>
     <li><a title="How to use File Choosers" target="_blank" href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/filechooser.html">Java Tutorial: How to use File Choosers</a> </li>
   </ul>

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	<h1>Adding a File Chooser to a Java Application</h1>
	<p><em>Contributed by Petr Dvorak <a href="http://blogs.oracle.com/joshis/entry/a_quick_jfilechooser_demo">(Dec 2009)</a>, maintained by Alyona Stashkova</em></p>

	<p>
	This tutorial shows how to add a file chooser to a Java application
	using the <tt>javax.swing.JFileChooser</tt> component. You could code it all by hand,
	but using the NetBeans GUI Builder is a smart way that will save you a bit of work.
	As part of the exercise, you will create a small Java application
	that loads a <tt>.txt</tt> file into a Text Area. </p>

	<p>You can download <a href="https://netbeans.org/projects/samples/downloads/download/Samples%252FJava%252FJFileChooserDemo.zip" title="ZIP with the demo project (JFileChooserDemo)">the resulting project with a file chooser</a>. <br />
	</p>

	<p><b>Contents</b></p>
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/73/netbeans-stamp-80-74-73.png" class="stamp"
	alt="Content on this page applies to NetBeans IDE 7.0 and more recent"
	title="Content on this page applies to the NetBeans IDE 7.0 and more recent" />
	<ul>
	<li><a href="#app" title="Creating the Application">Creating the Application</a></li>
	<li><a href="#menu" title="Creating the Application Form">Creating the Application Form</a></li>
	<li><a href="#filechooser" title="Adding the File Chooser">Adding the File Chooser</a></li>
	<li><a href="#config" title="Configuring the File Chooser">Configuring the File Chooser</a></li>
	<li><a href="#run" title="Running the Application">Running the Application</a></li>
	</ul>
	<p><b>To complete this tutorial, you need the following software and resources.</b></p>

	<table>
	<tbody>
	<tr>
	<th class="tblheader" scope="col">Software or Resource</th>
	<th class="tblheader" scope="col">Version Required</th>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://netbeans.org/downloads/">NetBeans IDE</a></td>
	<td class="tbltd1">Version 7.0 or more recent </td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html">Java Development Kit</a> (JDK)</td>
	<td class="tbltd1">Version 6, 7, or 8 </td>
	</tr>

	</tbody>
	</table>


	<h2><a name="app"></a>Creating the Application</h2>

	<p>First you create a new Java Application:</p>
	<ol>
	<li>From the main menu, choose File > New Project. Choose the Java category
	and the Java Application project type. Click Next.</li>
	<li>For Project Name, type <code>JFileChooserDemo</code> and specify the project location.</li>
	<li>Deselect the Create Main Class checkbox.
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newproj.png" rel="lytebox" title="New Project wizard">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newproj-small.png" alt="New Project wizard" border=1/></a></p></li>
	<li>Click Finish.</li>

	</ol>


	<h2><a name="menu"></a>Creating the Application Form</h2>
	<p>In this section, you create a <tt>JFrame</tt> container and add a few components to it.</p>

	<p><b>To create the JFrame form:</b></p>
	<ol>
	<li>Right-click the Source Packages node and choose New > Other. Choose the Swing GUI Forms category
	and the JFrameForm file type. Click Next.</li>
	<li>For Class Name, type <code>JFileChooserDemo</code>.</li>
	<li>For Package, type <code>jfilechooserdemo.resources</code>.
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newjframeform.png" rel="lytebox" title="New JFrame container being created">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/newjframeform-small.png" alt="New JFrame container being created" border=1/></a></p></li>

	<li>Click Finish.</li>
	<li>In the Properties window, enter <code>Demo application</code> for the Title property and press Enter to confirm.</li>
	</ol>
	<p><b>To add components to the JFrame form:</b></p>
	<ol>
	<li>In the Palette, open the Swing Menus category, select the Menu Bar component and drag it to the left top corner of the JFrame.

	<p class="notes"><b>Note: </b> If you do not see the Palette, select Window > Palette from the main menu. </p>
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menubaradded.png" rel="lytebox" title="Menu Bar added to the JFrame form">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menubaradded-small.png" alt="Menu Bar added to the JFrame form" border=1/></a></p></li>

	<li>Right-click the Edit item of the Menu Bar component and select Delete in the context menu. </li>
	<li>To add a menu item that allows to open FileChooser from the running application, in the Swing Menus category in the Palette, select a new Menu Item (JMenuItem1), drag it to the Menu Bar, and drop it to the File item of the Menu Bar.
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menuitemadded.png" rel="lytebox" title="Menu Item added to the Menu Bar">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/menuitemadded-small.png" alt="Menu Item added to the Menu Bar" border=1/></a></p>
	<p class="notes"><b>Note: </b> Make sure the Menu Bar is selected before dragging another Menu Item there in order to have the latter added to the Menu Bar. </p></li>

	<li>Right-click the jMenuItem1 in the Design view and choose Change Variable Name from the context menu. Rename the item to <code>Open</code> and click OK.</li>
	<li>Make sure that the jMenuItem1 is still selected in the Design view. Press the Space bar to edit the text of the component. Change the text to <code>Open</code> and press Enter to confirm.</li>
	<li>Specify the action handler for the Open menu item. Right-click the menu item and choose Events > Action > action Performed from the context menu. The GUI Builder automatically switches to the Source view and a new event handler method named <tt>OpenActionPerformed()</tt> is generated. The Navigator window should look as follows:
	<p class="align-center"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/openactionperformednavigator.png"
	alt="Menu Item added to the Menu Bar" border=1/></p></li>
	<li>To add a menu item to exit FileChooser from the application being created, switch back into the Design mode, in the Swing Menus category in the Palette, select a Menu Item (JMenuItem1) and drag it to the Menu Bar below the Open menu item. Notice orange highlighting that indicates where the <tt>JMenuItem1</tt> is going to be placed.
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/highlighting.png" rel="lytebox" title="Highlighting">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/highlighting-small.png" alt="Highlighting" border=1/></a></p></li>
	<li>Right-click <tt>jMenuItem1</tt> in the Design view and choose Change Variable Name from the context menu. Rename the item to <code>Exit</code> and click OK.</li>
	<li>Make sure that the <tt>jMenuItem1</tt> is still selected in the Design view. Press the Space bar to edit the text of the component. Change the text to <tt>Exit</tt> and press Enter to confirm.</li>
	<li>Specify the action handler for the Exit menu item. Right-click the menu item and choose Events > Action > action Performed from the context menu. The GUI Builder automatically switches to the Source view and a new event handler method is generated which is named <code>ExitActionPerformed()</code>.The <code>ExitActionPerformed</code> node appears in the Navigator window below the <code>OpenActionPerformed()</code> node. </li>
	<li>To make the Exit menu item work, you include the following source into the <code>ExitActionPerformed()</code> method body:
	<pre class="samplecode">
	System.exit(0); </pre></li>
	<li>Switch back into Design mode. From the Swing Controls category of the Palette, drag a Text Area (<tt>JTextArea</tt>) into the form like shown in the picture below.
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/textareadded.png" rel="lytebox" title="Text Area added to the JForm">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/textareadded-small.png" alt="Text Area added to the JForm" border=1/></a></p></li>
	<li>Resize the added component to make room for the text displayed by the File Chooser later. Rename the variable to <code>textarea</code>. The form should look like the following screenshot:
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/jfilechooserdemoview_final.png" rel="lytebox" title="Java Application - GUI Builder">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/jfilechooserdemoview_final-small.png" alt="Java Application - GUI Builder" border=1/></a></p></li>
	</ol>

	<p>You have set up a simple Java application as a base for this tutorial.
	Next you add the actual File Chooser.</p>

	<h2><a name="filechooser"></a>Adding the File Chooser</h2>

	<ol>
	<li>Choose Window > Navigating > Navigator to open the Navigator window, if it is not open yet.</li>
	<li>In the Navigator, right-click the <tt>Other Components</tt> node. Choose Add From Palette > Swing Windows > File Chooser from the context menu

	<p class=tips>
	As an alternative to the <tt>Add From Palette</tt> context menu, you can also drag and drop a <tt>JFileChooser</tt> component from the Swing Window category of the Palette to the white area of the GUI builder. It will have the same result, but it is a bit harder, because the preview of the <tt>JFileChooser</tt> is rather big and you might accidentally insert the window into one of the panels, which is not what you want.</p>
	</li>

	<li>A look in the Navigator confirms that a <tt>JFileChooser</tt> was added to the form.
	</li>
	<li>Right-click the <tt>JFileChooser</tt> node and rename the variable to <code>fileChooser</code>.

	<p class="align-center"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/navigator_jframe.png"
	alt="File Chooser added - Navigator View" border=1/></p></li>
	</ol>



	<p>You have added a File Chooser.
	Next you tune the File Chooser to display the title that you want, add a custom file filter, and integrate the File Chooser into your application.</p>





	<h2><a name="config"></a>Configuring the File Chooser</h2>

	<h3>Implementing the Open Action</h3>

	<ol>
	<li>Click to select the <tt>JFileChooser</tt> in the Navigator window,
	and then edit its properties in the Properties dialog box.
	Change the <tt>dialogTitle</tt> property to <code>This is my open dialog</code>, press Enter and close the Properties dialog box.</li>
	<li>
	Click the Source button in the GUI Builder to switch to the Source mode.
	To integrate the File Chooser into your application,
	paste the following code snippet into the existing
	<code>OpenActionPerformed()</code> method.

	<pre class="samplecode">
	private void OpenActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
	int returnVal = fileChooser.showOpenDialog(this);
	if (returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
	File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
	try {
	// What to do with the file, e.g. display it in a TextArea
	textarea.read( new FileReader( file.getAbsolutePath() ), null );
	} catch (IOException ex) {
	System.out.println("problem accessing file"+file.getAbsolutePath());
	}
	} else {
	System.out.println("File access cancelled by user.");
	}
	} </pre>
	<p class="notes"><b>Note: </b> Remove the first and last lines of the code snippet that duplicate the existing ones in the source file. </p></li>

	<li>If the editor reports errors in your code,
	right-click anywhere in the code and select Fix Imports or press Ctrl+Shift+I. In the Fix All Imports dialog box accept the defaults to update the import statements and click OK.</li>
	</ol>
	<p>
	As you can see, you call the FileChooser's <tt>getSelectedFile()</tt> method
	to determine which file the user clicked, so you can work with it.
	This example reads the file contents and displays them in the TextArea.
	</p>


	<h3>Implementing a File Filter</h3>

	<p>Now you add a custom file filter that makes the File Chooser display only <tt>*.txt</tt> files.</p>
	<ol>

	<li>Switch to the Design mode and select the <tt>fileChooser</tt> in the Navigator window. </li>
	<li>In the Properties window, click the elipsis ("...") button
	next to the <tt>fileFilter</tt> property.</li>
	<li>In the File Filter dialog box, select Custom Code from the combobox.
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/combobox.png" rel="lytebox" title="Combobox open">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/combobox-small.png" alt="Combobox open" border=1/></a></p></li>
	<li>
	Type the following in the text field:
	<pre class="samplecode">new MyCustomFilter()</pre></li>
	<li>Click OK. </li>
	<li>
	To make the custom code work, you write an inner (or outer) class
	<tt>MyCustomFilter</tt> that extends the <tt>FileFilter</tt> class.
	Copy and paste the following code snippet into the source
	of your class below the import statements to create an inner class implementing the filter.

	<pre class="samplecode">
	class MyCustomFilter extends javax.swing.filechooser.FileFilter {
	@Override
	public boolean accept(File file) {
	// Allow only directories, or files with ".txt" extension
	return file.isDirectory() \|\| file.getAbsolutePath().endsWith(".txt");
	}
	@Override
	public String getDescription() {
	// This description will be displayed in the dialog,
	// hard-coded = ugly, should be done via I18N
	return "Text documents (*.txt)";
	}
	} </pre></li>
	</ol>
	<p class=notes><b>Note:</b> To learn how to implement smarter, switchable file filters, have a look at the <a title="JDK API documentation" target="_blank" href="http://java.sun.com/javase/7/docs/api/javax/swing/JFileChooser.html#addChoosableFileFilter%28javax.swing.filechooser.FileFilter%29">addChoosableFileFilter</a> method.
	</p>

	<h2><a name="run"></a>Running the Application</h2>
	<ol>
	<li>Right-click the JFileChooserDemo project and select Run to start the sample project. </li>
	<li>In the Run Project dialog box select the <code>jfilechooserdemo.resources.JFileChooserDemo</code> main class and click OK.
	<p class="align-center"><img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/run.png" alt="Run" border=1/></p>
	</li>
	<li>In the running Demo application, choose Open in the File menu to trigger the action. The result should look like this:
	<p class="align-center"><a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/result_jfilechooserdemo.png" rel="lytebox" title="JFileChooser demo - result">
	<img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/java/gui-filechooser/result_jfilechooserdemo-small.png" alt="JFileChooser demo - result" border=1/></a></p>
	</li>

	<li>To close the application, select Exit in the File menu. </li>
	</ol>
	<p>Have a look at other useful Swing windows and dialogs
	like the ColorChooser or the OptionPane in the GUI Palette.</p>

	<div class="feedback-box" ><a href="/about/contact_form.html?to=3&subject=Feedback:%20Adding%20a%20FileChooser">Send Feedback on This Tutorial</a></div>
	<br style="clear:both;" />

	<h2><a name="next"></a>Next Steps</h2>

	<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=nb8000&id=NBDAG920">Implementing Java GUIs</a> in <i>Developing Applications with NetBeans IDE</i>
	<li><a href="gui-binding.html">Binding Beans and Data in a Java Application with NetBeans IDE</a></li>
	<li><a href="gui-automatic-i18n.html">Internationalizing a GUI Form with NetBeans IDE</a></li>
	<li><a title="How to use File Choosers" target="_blank" href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/filechooser.html">Java Tutorial: How to use File Choosers</a> </li>
	</ul>

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