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How do I TAB between containers when using a custom FocusTraversalPolicy in Java 1.4?

My company is upgrading a application from Java 1.3.? to 1.4.2_11. This issue deals not with the upgrade, but a problem using the TAB key. End-users have a requirement on certain "screens" to use the Tab key and go through the data-entry components in a special order. This worked in 1.3 using NextFocusableComponent() in the bottom-most container, usually a JPanel. My example below will cover ONE InternalFrame, but the application has over 120 containers that will need to be fixed.

I can use the FocusTraversalPolicy to Tab through the components in ONE container, but I cannot get to/from other containers. I will try to give a brief overview of part of the application.

The example part of the Windows application starts with a new JInternalFrame from the main menu.
The JInternalFrame contains focusable components: text-fields, check-boxes, buttons, a TabbedPage, and a JPanel for the button bar at the bottom (everything is on GridBagLayouts).
The tabbedPage has 4 tabs, each with a JPanel full of focusable components. We can call them tabPanel1, tabPanel2, tabPanel3, tabPanel4.
tabPanel1 has 28 focusable components that need to be in a special order. I can do that in an endless loop with the myFocusTraversalPolicy() on the panel.
I can TAB from each component (0,1,2,...26,27,0,1,2,3,...) just fine, but I need 3 things to happen differently:

1. If I SHIFT+TAB from the first component on the tabPanel1 (a text field), I want the focus to be on the tab of the tabbed page.
2. If I TAB from the last component, I want the focus to be on button1 of the buttonPanel (below the tabbed page), then TAB through the buttons.
3. If I TAB on the last button, I want the focus to be on the first component (another text field) of the JInternalFrame (top of the screen).

I would provide a code example, but it is a multi-tiered application with a ridiculous amount of code and classes. All documentation I have found works great for controlling focusable components within a container, but not moving from container to container. Just hard-coding the focus to the desired container didn't work. Please help!

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StillUnAware

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FreemanIS

ASKER

Thank you! The TAB key will work throughout the screen on the first tabbed pane, now I have to get the other 4 tabbed panes with panels to work. I will know more by Friday afternoon. The SHIFT+TAB works except for one point where I am in the top text field on the panel. At that point, I want to set the focus on the physical "tab" for the current pane. It can receive a focus when you press TAB from the button above it, then TAB to the text field.

Forward works:
1. button has focus, then press TAB key
2. tabbed pane header has focus, then press TAB key
3. text field has focus, and so on...

Backwards doesn't work:
1. textField2 has focus, then press SHIFT+TAB
2. textField1 has focus (it worked correctly), then press SHIFT+TAB
3. nothing has focus, it's just gone
4. press SHIFT+TAB again, and the button (above the tabbed pane) has focus. (same button as Forward step 1, above)

FreemanIS

ASKER

Final follow-up:
The TAB key now works. It is impossible to get the SHIFT+TAB (reverse) to work because of a sub-set of base classes do not have a necessary method. It is missing JTabbedPane.setSelectedComponent() method. That is preventing me from setting the focus on the tab header. Thus, part 3 of my original question is not possible without a change to my company's base class structure.