Use checkboxes for yes/no choices or for selecting several items in a group:
When not to useIf only one option in a group can be selected, use radio button:
If the behavior in the "off" state is unclear from the checkbox label, use two radio buttons instead and label them accordingly:
How to use Label on the rightA label accompanies each checkbox and is placed on the right side.
Long labelsIf a label is long, split it into two lines. Use HTML formatting for that. Avoid labels that take more than two lines. See recommendations on writing concise labels below.
ImplementationcheckBox( """<html>Insert selected suggestion by pressing space, dot,<br/> or other context-dependent keys</html>""")
new JCheckBox( "<html>Insert selected suggestion by pressing space, dot,<br/>" + "or other context-dependent keys</html>");
Checkboxes in a tableIf a checkbox appears in a table, place the label into the column header and do not repeat it on every row:
ImplementationCheckboxes are rendered in tables with BooleanTableCellRenderer and edited with DefaultCellEditor(JCheckBox) implementation. For any column that should be rendered as a checkbox, set both a renderer and editor for consistency. The type of data in the correspondent column of the Table model should either be Boolean or String containing true or false.
TableColumn column = table.getColumnModel().getColumn(COLUMN_INDEX); column.setCellEditor(JBTable.createBooleanEditor()); column.setCellRenderer(new BooleanTableCellRender());
Three-state checkbox Status of childrenIn a group of options, use the parent checkbox to show the status of its children. The state of the parent checkbox can be checked, indeterminate or unchecked. When a user clicks an indeterminate checkbox for the first time, the whole group becomes checked. The second click unchecks the whole group.
ImplementationThe three-state checkbox is represented by the ThreeStateCheckBox class which represents its state with the ThreeStateCheckBox.State enum containing SELECTED, NOT_SELECTED, DONT_CARE states.
An indeterminate checkbox can also show the download status. In the example below, a remote repository with Repositories "tools-base" and "contrib" are being loaded. When loading is finished, the indeterminate checkbox will be replaced with the checked checkbox if there are commits, or an unchecked checkbox if there are no commits.
ImplementationIn a table, the three-state checkbox is represented by ThreeStateCheckBoxRenderer that provides both TableCellRenderer and TableEditor. It accepts Boolean type in the column being supplied by the TableModel and becomes DONT_CARE when the value in the cell is null. Otherwise, it becomes SELECTED for Boolean.TRUE, and NOT_SELECTED for Boolean.FALSE.
Use sentence-style capitalization:
Do not use ending punctuation:
Use the imperative form of verbs:
Do not use negation in labels as it complicates understanding:
Exception: Do not show again checkbox.
Make labels short and intelligible. See Writing short and clear.
How to layoutFollow the guidelines for checkboxes and radio buttons layout.
23 January 2025
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