Thread: JLabel as part of JTabbedPane tab component overwrites background color

Hi there,

I am using my own custom component for a JTabbedPanes tab component. My custom component consists of a JLabel and a JButton (to close the tab).
Code of the custom component:

	protected static class Tab extends JPanel {
		private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
		private static Icon cachedIcon = null;
 
		private final JButton btnClose;
 
		public Tab(Ref ref) {
			super();
			if (cachedIcon == null) {
				String iconPath = "/javax/swing/plaf/metal/icons/ocean/close.gif";
				cachedIcon = new ImageIcon(Tab.class.getResource(iconPath));
			}
			setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 2, 0, 0));
 
			JLabel lblName = new JLabel(ref.getName());
			add(lblName);
 
			btnClose = new JButton(cachedIcon);
			add(btnClose);
		}
 
		public void addActionListener(ActionListener l) {
			btnClose.addActionListener(l);
		}
 
		public void removeActionListener(ActionListener l) {
			btnClose.removeActionListener(l);
		}
 
	}

This is how I setup my tabbed pane:

addTab(ref.getName(), panel);
Tab tab = new Tab(ref);
setTabComponentAt(indexOfComponent(panel), tab);

When the tabbed pane is drawn it looks like this:
image1.jpg

The tab in the center is selected. You can clearly see, that the area of the JLabel uses a grey background although the rest of the tab component is light blue.

What should I do to make the JLabels backdrop transparent?

Thank you all for the help.

Do you mean "setOpaque(boolean)"?
I tried that and it didnt make a difference. If you meant something else please elaborate.

Originally Posted by copeg

That's what I meant. Try doing so for the Tab object as well as the JLabel it contains. If what you try doesn't achieve the desired result, post the updated code.

Thanks copeq, I did not make the Tab opaque, only the label, and that was the trick.
You really helped me out a lot.

In retrospect, I am pretty stupid for making such a mistake.