Download site for GUI Finder

Tool to find where a Java GUI component is created.

Feature list

Find where a Java GUI component is created
View the GUI component tree of a window (Window, JWindow, Dialog, JDialog, Frame, JFrame)
Configurable view (and change) of component data such as x, y, component name, layout type and constraints
Configurable view of listeners (Optional)
Find where an anonymous listener is created (See Anonymous Finder)

Installation

Download this file
Unzip the file (The unzipped directory must be writable when the tool is running)
Add the following to the run command / launch:
    -javaagent:"<Directory>/gui-finder-1.2.4.jar"
  e.g.
    -javaagent:"/home/allan/Mit/Java/GUI Finder/GUI Finder/jars/gui-finder-1.2.4.jar"
If you are using JDK version 17 or higher you MUST add the following to the run command / launch:
--add-opens java.desktop/java.awt=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.desktop/java.beans=ALL-UNNAMED
Delete the downloaded ZIP file (Optional)

Uninstallation

Delete the unzipped files
Remove the added configuration change

The newest version is: 1.2.4
Release notes

Use

Run the program in which you want to find GUI components
Click on the GUI component that you want to know where was created
The stack trace of where the component was created is now printed on the console / standard output.
The component is marked with a red square. Its parent is marked with a dotted blue square.
The class name is displayed above the component.

Advanced usage

By entering "start" or "stop" in the console, printing can be started or stopped
By entering "EDTv" in the console, it is possible to turn the "Event Dispatch Thread validation" function on and off. The function checks that no GUI changes are made from other than the Event Dispatch Thread. It is as default off.
By clicking on a listener in the inspector (See next line), information about where the listener was created is printed on the console / standard output.
By entering "inspector" (or just "i") in the console, the GUI Finder Inspector (A window with components from the current window) will be displayed
The window contains the following information per component (Can be hidden individually):

Package name
Text / title / tool tip from the component
Layout manager and layout constrain information
Component name

The following elements of the GUI can be changed (CANNOT BE SAVED!) in this window:

Text and component names on JLabel, JButton and others
Title of / set TitledBorder on JPanel
Settings and constrains for the following layout manager: BorderLayout, CardLayout, GridLayout and GridBagLayout
Preferred, maximum and minimum size

Recommended setup

-DGUIFinder.noPrint=true
-DGUIFinder.noProcessEventStack=true

Debug feature

By inserting the following code in main, it is possible to debug the component that is clicked on:

GUIFinderProperties.setDebugObject(new GUIFinderDebugObject() {
    public void debug(Component component) {
        // Insert your debug code here
        // The component parameter contains the click on component
    }
});

Known Errors / Limitations

Marking (Made via Glass pane) of the component that is clicked only works in Swing (+J) and thus not in AWT (-J).
If GUI Finder needs to run with Property Finder, it must be version 1.0.1 or newer.
If GUI Finder needs to run with Out Finder, it must be version 1.0.3 or newer.
If you are use JDK 11 (or higher), you will get a "OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM warning: Sharing is only supported for boot loader classes because bootstrap classpath has been appended" warning, when using this tool. I am not bright enough to make it go away.
It can be hidden by added the VM arguments "-Xshare:off" to your launch configuration. Note: You might lose some performance by doing this.

Known error: GUI Finder does not work

Check that the launch parameter is written correctly. (Use copy and paste)
Check that the jar file is in the correct directory.
Check that standard out contains: "GUI Finder Agent version 1.2.4 is running" (At startup) and "GUI Finder version 1.2.4 is running" (At load of java.awt.Component)

Setup

System property	Meaning
GUIFinder.noPrint	false: (Default) The component is highlighted and stack trace is printed when a component is clicked true: GUI Finder doesn't do anything when a component is clicked
GUIFinder.noThread	false: (Default) The GUI Finder responds to console entries (e.g.: "start" or "stop") true: GUI Finder does not respond to console entries.
GUIFinder.noGlassPane	false: (Default) If a component is clicked, GUI Finder will marked it (Made via glass pane and can therefore affect existing glass panes. However, the affect will only last as long as the component is marked) true: GUI Finder does not marked the click on component
GUIFinder.noClassName	false: (Default) If a component is clicked, the GUI Finder will display the name of the class of the component above it true or GUIFinder.noglasspane=true: GUI Finder does not display the class name
GUIFinder.noProcessEventStack	false: (Default) If a component is clicked, GUI Finder prints the entire stack trace in the console true: GUI Finder will print the stack trace without the process event stack in the console
GUIFinder.excludeClassList	Via GUIFinder.excludeClassList you can specify classes that you do not want to include at the top of the stack trace (e.g. component factories). The class prefixes are separated by ';'. If the property starts with "+;" then the default class prefixes "java.", "javax." and "sun." will be added.
GUIFinder.outputFileName	The output from the GUI Finder can be printed to a file via -DGUIFinder.outputFileName=<file name> Default: Output is sent to the current console
GUIFinder.propertyFileName	If specified, properties will be loaded from this file. By using a file a common set of GUI Finder properties, can be used in several launches.
GUIFinder.EDTv	false: (Default) Event Dispatch Thread validation is turned off at startup true: Event Dispatch Thread validation is on during startup (Can be changed manually via the console command "EDTv". See above)

Development

My source code

This project
- Java Source, ABT module property file and Other project files
Other projects
- Anonymous Finder version 1.0.4 Java Source and ABT module property file
- AR Common version 1.1.8 Java Source and ABT module property file
- ABT Update Checker version 1.0.5 Java Source and ABT module property file
- Finder Common version 1.0.4 Java Source and ABT module property file
- GUI Finder Boot Class Callback version 1.2.4 Java Source and ABT module property file
- Javassist 3.21.0 GA (Modified) Java Source and ABT module property file
For other information about the source code see the General source code notes page

Other dependencies

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version: 1.6