Bizarre GUI/jar behavior outside of Netbeans
java, netbeans, swing, user-interface
Solution
After some more research, I discovered that this problem may be related to setting certain system properties on the JRE or explicitly in the program. Specifically, I was able to add:
System.setProperty("sun.java2d.noddraw", "true");
to the main method, and that cleared up my problem. I set the property explicitly in the program so that I could run the program by double clicking the jar file. This property can also be set as a flag when starting the JVM from a console:
-Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true
Turns out that Netbeans starts up the JVM with that exact property, which explains why it worked fine in Netbeans, but not outside of it.
A similar issue is referred to here, and here is what Oracle says about the property. Apparently the property can be explicitly set as a flag on the JVM, but I haven't had much luck in getting it to work on my machine, so I've set it in the program instead.
Problem
I've written a few small Java programs with Swing. They work fine when I run them through Netbeans, but when I run them as a jar outside of Netbeans, the Swing elements render partially or not at all. Here's a comparison: Through Netbeans: Outside of Netbeans: Some of the issues arise as soon as the frame appears, and others when I move the cursor over an element. The main problems are that the text isn't rendering and the button text, border and background appears and disappears randomly. The frame's border is not an issue. The difference between the two screenshots is simply a result of the clear frames in Windows 7 and which windows I had open under the program when I made the screenshots. Here's a streamlined version of the GUI code minus event handling and program logic: ``` package alarmclock; import java.awt.Dimension; import java.awt.GridBagConstraints; import java.awt.GridBagLayout; import java.awt.event.ActionEvent; import java.awt.event.ActionListener; import java.util.Date; import javax.swing.BorderFactory; import javax.swing.Box; import javax.swing.BoxLayout; import javax.swing.JButton; import javax.swing.JComboBox; import javax.swing.JFrame; import javax.swing.JLabel; import javax.swing.JPanel; import javax.swing.SwingConstants; import javax.swing.SwingUtilities; import javax.swing.Timer; public class AlarmClockGUI { private JFrame frame; private JButton onOffButton; private JComboBox<String> alarmList; private JLabel remainingTime, currentTime, alarmTime; private final EventHandler eventHandler; //Handles GUI events private final boolean time24Mode = false; //Indicates 24H (true) or 12H (false) time public static void main(String[] args) { SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() { @Override public void run() { AlarmClockGUI acg = new AlarmClockGUI(); } }); } public AlarmClockGUI() { eventHandler = new EventHandler(); //Handles GUI events createFrameOptions(); } class EventHandler implements ActionListener { @Override public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { //Code added here } } private void updateTimeDisplay() { String tempTime = String.format("%tT", new Date()); if (time24Mode) { currentTime.setText(tempTime); } else { currentTime.setText(String.format("%tr", new Date())); } } private void createFrameOptions() { frame = new JFrame("Alarm Clock"); frame.getContentPane().add(createMainPanel()); createTimer(); //must follow main panel creation frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); frame.setResizable(true); frame.pack(); frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null); //Centers frame. Must follow pack() frame.setVisible(true); } private JPanel createTimePanel() { JPanel timePanel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout()); remainingTime = new JLabel("00:00:00", SwingConstants.CENTER); remainingTime.setFont( remainingTime.getFont().deriveFont(36.0f)); remainingTime.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(164, 80)); remainingTime.setOpaque(true); remainingTime.setBorder( BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Remaining Time")); currentTime = new JLabel(String.format("%tT", new Date()), SwingConstants.CENTER); currentTime.setFont( currentTime.getFont().deriveFont(16.0f)); currentTime.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(164, 40)); currentTime.setOpaque(false); currentTime.setBorder( BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Current Time")); alarmTime = new JLabel("00:00:00", SwingConstants.CENTER); alarmTime.setFont( alarmTime.getFont().deriveFont(16.0f)); alarmTime.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(164, 40)); alarmTime.setOpaque(false); alarmTime.setBorder( BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Alarm Time")); GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints(); c.gridx = 0; c.gridy = 0; c.gridheight = 2; c.fill = GridBagConstraints.VERTICAL; timePanel.add(remainingTime, c); c.gridx = 1; c.gridheight = 1; c.fill = GridBagConstraints.NONE; timePanel.add(currentTime, c); c.gridy = 1; timePanel.add(alarmTime, c); return timePanel; } private JComboBox createAlarmList() { alarmList = new JComboBox<>(); alarmList.addActionListener(eventHandler); alarmList.setActionCommand("List"); alarmList.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5, 5, 5, 5)); return alarmList; } private JPanel createButtonPanel() { JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel(); onOffButton = createButton("Alarm Off", eventHandler); onOffButton.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(88, 26)); buttonPanel.add(createButton("New Alarm", eventHandler)); buttonPanel.add(createButton("Edit", eventHandler)); buttonPanel.add(onOffButton); //Not anonymous; button text changes buttonPanel.add(createButton("Delete", eventHandler)); return buttonPanel; } private JButton createButton(String buttonName, ActionListener al) { JButton b = new JButton(buttonName); b.setActionCommand(buttonName); b.addActionListener(al); return b; } private JPanel createMainPanel() { JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel(); mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS)); mainPanel.add(createTimePanel()); mainPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(10, 10))); mainPanel.add(createAlarmList()); mainPanel.add(Box.createRigidArea(new Dimension(0, 10))); mainPanel.add(createButtonPanel()); mainPanel.setBorder( BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(10, 10, 10, 10)); return mainPanel; } private void createTimer() { Timer timer = new Timer(1000, eventHandler); timer.setActionCommand("Timer"); timer.setInitialDelay(0); timer.start(); } } ``` I just updated my JRE to the latest build (the problem was occurring before that as well), and Netbeans is using the same JRE as the rest of my system. Does anyone have some insight as to why my programs are rendering incorrectly outside of Netbeans? ---Update--------------------- I tried setting the Look and Feel as was suggested, but that didn't help.