Name: lb39792 Date: 11/11/99


Although Swing's JFileChooser closely resembles the Windows common file
dialog under the Windows look and feel, there are several deficiencies that
customers complain about. In particular, the Microsoft Windows aesthetics
guide mentions the following:

   "If you cannot use the [common] Open and Save As dialog boxes, you should
   incorporate the following features into your open and save dialog boxes to
   ensure that they are consistent with the shell, the Windows accessories,
   and other applications:

   + Support the same namespace hierarchy as the shell; that is, Desktop
     should be at the root of the hierarchy, followed by all folders and
     objects on the desktop, including My Computer, My Network, and so on.
     [...]

   + Support shortcuts (also known as shell links). [...]

   + Display filenames with the corresponding icons and filename extensions
     removed, as the shell does.

   + Allow the user to browse the network hierarchy directly.

   + Make sure that all of your dialog boxes (not just your open and save
     dialog boxes) use only nonbold fonts. [...]"

The first four points are not possible in Swing without additional API support
from the AWT. The AWT common file dialog is also currently an unacceptable
solution for the following reasons:

+ It cannot be embedded into a frame or dialog like JFileChooser.

+ Filename filter is not implemented and is difficult to implement on Windows.
(see file dialog filtering proposal).

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