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<div align="right"><font size="-2">Copyright &copy; 2003 International Business Machines 
  Corp.</font> 
  <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 width="100%">
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      <td align=LEFT valign=TOP colspan="2" bgcolor="#0080C0"><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica" color="#FFFFFF">&nbsp;Eclipse 
        Corner Article</font></b></td>
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<h1> <img src="images/Idea.jpg" height=86 width=120 align=CENTER></h1>
<center>
  <h1> Graphics Context - Quick on the draw</h1>
</center>
<blockquote><b>Summary</b> <br>
  The package <code>org.eclipse.swt.graphics</code> contains classes that allows 
  management of graphics resources. Graphics can be drawn on anything that implements 
  <code>org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Drawable, </code>which includes <code>org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control</code> 
  and <code>org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Image</code>. The class <code>org.eclipse.swt.graphics.GC 
  </code>encapsulates all of the drawing API, including how to draw lines and 
  shapes, draw text and images and fill shapes. This article shows how to 
  use a GC to draw onto an Image, or onto a control through its paintEvent callback.
  The Canvas control, specifically designed for drawing operations, has a number 
  of constructor style bits that allow you to determine when and how painting 
  occurs, and the article shows how to use these. 
  <p><b>By Joe Winchester, IBM</b> <br>
    July 3, 2003</blockquote>
<hr width="100%">
<br>
Table of contents: 
<ul>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Graphics Context">Graphics 
    Context</a></li>
  <ul>
    <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Graphics Context">Drawing 
      on an Image</a></li>
    <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Graphics Context">Drawing 
      on a Control</a></li>
  </ul>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Clipping">Clipping</a></li>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Canvas">Canvas</a></li>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Drawing lines and">Drawing 
    lines and shapes</a></li>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Drawing Text">Drawing 
    text</a></li>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Filling shapes">Filling 
    shapes</a></li>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#XOR">XOR</a></li>
  <li> <a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Drawing Images">Drawing 
    images</a></li>
</ul>
The SWT graphics system uses the same coordinate convention used for controls, 
where the origin is at 0,0 is the top left corner, and the x axis increases to 
the right while the y axis increases downwards.&nbsp; The Point class is used 
to represent both a location (a position in the coordinate system) and also an 
offset (there is no Dimension class in SWT - the size of a rectangle is represented 
by a Point capturing the x and y offset from its origin). 
<h1> <a NAME="Graphics Context"></a>Graphics Context</h1>
Graphics can be drawn on anything that implements <code>org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Drawable</code>.&nbsp; 
This includes a Control, an Image, a Display device or a Printer device.&nbsp; 
The class <code>org.eclipse.swt.graphics.GC</code> is a graphics context that encapsulates 
the drawing operations that can be performed.&nbsp; There are two common ways 
to use a GC; either by creating one using the Drawable instance as a constructor 
argument, or else using a GC that's given to you as part of a paintEvent callback. 
<h2> Drawing on an Image</h2>
The code below creates a GC with an image as its argument and draws two lines 
on it,&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24> one from the top left (0,0) 
to the bottom right, and&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24> one from 
the top right to the bottom left. 
<p><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Image image = new Image(display,"C:/devEclipse_02/eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.platform_2.0.2/eclipse_lg.gif");</code> 
  <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; GC gc = new GC(image);</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rectangle bounds = image.getBounds();</code> <br>
  <img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24><code> gc.drawLine(0,0,bounds.width,bounds.height);</code> 
  <br>
  <img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24><code> gc.drawLine(0,bounds.height,bounds.width,0);</code> 
  <br>
  <img src="images/tag_3.gif" height=13 width=24><code> gc.dispose();</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; image.dispose();</code> <br>
  &nbsp; 
<table BORDER >
  <caption>
  <TBODY>
  <br></TBODY>
  </caption>
  <tr> 
    <td>&nbsp;<i>Original image&nbsp;</i></td>
    <td><i>Image after the GC draws across it</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td><img src="images/image_lg_orig.gif" height=164 width=115></td>
    <td><img src="images/image_lg_lines.gif" height=164 width=115></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>When creating a GC you must be responsible for disposing it&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_3.gif" height=13 width=24> 
  by calling its dispose() method. For more information on how to manage SWT resources 
  see <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/articles/swt-design-2/swt-design-2.html">SWT: 
  The Standard Widget Toolkit.</a>&nbsp; A GC that's instantiated by the program 
  should be drawn upon and then disposed as soon as possible.&nbsp; This is because 
  each GC requires an underlying platform resource, and on some operating systems 
  these may be scarce, such as Windows 98 that only allows 5 GC objects to be 
  created before it runs out resources. 
<h2> Drawing on a Control</h2>
The class <code>org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control</code> is a Drawable, so you could 
draw onto a Control the same way you draw onto an Image (passing the Control as 
the argument of GC to draw onto it), however unlike drawing on an image (that 
permanently changes the data making up the graphic), if you use a GC to draw onto 
a control you must be aware that when the operating system itself draws the control 
it will overwrite your changes.&nbsp; The correct way to draw onto a control is 
by adding a listener to its paint event.&nbsp; The listener class is <code>org.eclipse.swt.events.PaintListener</code>, 
and the callback method argument is an instance of <code>org.eclipse.swt.events.PaintEvent</code>.&nbsp; 
The PaintEvent includes a GC that you can send message to, that is already prepared 
to draw onto the control and includes the damaged area. 
<p>The following code&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24> adds a paint 
  listener to a Shell, and in the paintControl callback method&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24> 
  draws a line from the origin to bottom right corner. 
<p><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shell shell = new Shell(display);</code> <br>
  <img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24><code> shell.addPaintListener(new PaintListener(){</code> 
  <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; public void paintControl(PaintEvent 
  e){</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rectangle 
  clientArea = shell.getClientArea();</code> <br>
  <img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  e.gc.drawLine(0,0,clientArea.width,clientArea.height);</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; }</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; });</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; shell.setSize(150,150)</code> 
<p><img src="images/ShellDrawnLine.gif" height=215 width=267> 
<p>Although the size of the Shell is set to (150,150), the area that can be drawn 
  onto is smaller.&nbsp; This is known as the client area, and takes into account 
  any trim or borders; for a Shell this includes its edges, titlebar and menubar.&nbsp; 
  To determine the clientArea of any Composite use the method <code>getClientArea().</code> 
<p>The application always get a paint event after the underlying OS has drawn 
  the control, so any drawing done to the paint event's GC will be shown on top 
  of the control.&nbsp; There are some exceptions to this, such as for a ToolBar 
  where on certain platforms the items are heavyweight controls that can't be 
  drawn on top of, however this is not considered normal behavior.&nbsp; For general-purpose 
  drawing the control <code><a href="http://eclipse.org/articles/Article-SWT-graphics/SWT_graphics.html#Canvas">org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Canvas</a></code> 
  can be used that is optimized for graphics operations. 
<h1> <a NAME="Clipping"></a>Clipping</h1>
The clipping area of a GC is the portion onto which visible drawing occurs. By 
default a GC is clipped to the bounds of the drawable that it was constructed 
with. Altering the clipping area of a GC allows you to create graphic effects.&nbsp; 
An example of this is if you wanted to fill a triangle shape that had a portion 
of its edges missing.&nbsp; One way to do this would be to draw multiple polygons 
rectangles making up the shape, another way however is to fill the shape, but 
to clip the GC so that the edges are outside the clipping area. 
<p><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; shell.addPaintListener(new PaintListener() {</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; public void paintControl(PaintEvent 
  e) {</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rectangle 
  clientArea = shell.getClientArea();</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; int width 
  = clientArea.width;</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; int height 
  = clientArea.height;</code> <br>
  <img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  e.gc.setClipping(20,20,width - 40, height - 40);</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; e.gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_CYAN));</code> 
  <br>
  <img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  e.gc.fillPolygon(new int[] {0,0,width,0,width/2,height});</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; }</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; });</code> 
<p>This code draws a triangle on a Shell as a polygon from&nbsp; the&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24> 
  top left, top right, and center of the bottom edge. Beforehand however, the 
  GC is clipped with a rectangle&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24> 
  that reduces the client area with a margin of 20 pixels wide, so only the clipped 
  rectangle is draw. 
<p><img src="images/ClippedTriangles.gif" height=191 width=562> 
<p>When a paintEvent occurs for a control the GC is always clipped to just the 
  area that needs repainting. For example, if another window is moved in front 
  of an SWT shell and then moved away, the newly revealed portion of the GUI is 
  marked as damaged and a paint event is queued.&nbsp; When the paint event occurs, 
  the <code>paintControl(PaintEvent evt)</code> method argument contains the area 
  of the Control that requires redrawing in its x, y, width and height fields.&nbsp; 
  The damage to the control can be complex containing multiple disjoint rectangles, 
  and if there is more than one damaged area of a control when the paint event 
  occurs the damaged areas are merged into a single rectangle representing the 
  union of the damaged areas. This step is performed by the underlying platform 
  and is designed to aid performance as multiple paint events are processed in 
  a single callback. 
<p>In the example above that fills a clipped triangle&nbsp; each time the <code>paintControl(PaintEvent)</code> 
  method is called, an optimization could be to look at the PaintEvent's area.&nbsp; 
  It maybe that the paint event doesn't even intersect the shape being drawn in 
  which case no drawing need occur, or if only a portion of the drawing is needs 
  repainting then only this is drawn.&nbsp; Depending on the type of drawing, 
  working out which portion of a GC to selectively redraw however can be more 
  expensive than just relying on the fact the GC is clipped, and in practice code 
  inside paint events often just ignores the damaged area and re-does all of the 
  GC drawing, relying on clipping to ensure only the damaged area is refreshed. 
<p>If a program needs to manually damage an area of a control this can be done 
  using <code>Control.redraw(int x, int y, int width, int height)</code>, or <code>Control.redraw()</code> 
  to damage the entire client area.&nbsp; The area is marked as damaged and will 
  be included in the next paint event that occurs.&nbsp; To cause a synchronous 
  and immediate paint event to occur use the method <code>Control.update()</code> 
  that will force all outstanding paint requests to be processed for the control. 
  If there are no paint request&nbsp; (i.e. none of the client area is damaged), 
  then <code>update()</code> will do nothing. 
<h1> <a NAME="Canvas"></a>Canvas</h1>
Although any Control can be drawn onto through its paintEvent, the subclass org.eclipse.swt.widgets.<code>Canvas</code> 
is specifically designed for graphics operations. This can be done either by using 
a Canvas and adding a paint listener, or through subclassing to create a re-usable 
Custom Control.&nbsp; Canvas has a number of style bits that can be used to affect 
how painting occurs. 
<p>The default behavior for a Canvas is that before it paints itself the entire 
  client area is filled with the current background color.&nbsp; This can create 
  screen flicker, because if the paintEvent also draws onto the GC, then the user 
  sees a flash between the original background being filled, and the drawing occurring.&nbsp; 
  One way to avoid this is to use the style bit SWT.NO_BACKGROUND when creating 
  the Canvas.&nbsp; This prevents the native background from being drawn, however 
  it means the program must be responsible for drawing every pixel of the client 
  area. 
<p>When a widget is resized a paint event occurs.&nbsp; This can create screen 
  flicker as repeated repainting of the client area occurs.&nbsp; Flicker is also 
  known as flash, and the style bit SWT.NO_REDRAW_RESIZE can be used to reduce 
  this.&nbsp; When NO_REDRAW_RESIZE is used and the control's size is reduced 
  no paint event is generated.&nbsp; This means there will be no flash as the 
  control is not unnecessarily redrawn, and if the size is increased then the 
  paint event's GC is clipped set to just the area that needs repainting.&nbsp; 
  This is the newly revealed bottom and right edge rectangles in a shape like 
  a backwards L. 
<p>The style bit NO-REDRAW_RESIZE works well to reduce flicker if a fixed-size 
  drawing is being done on the GC, and each newly exposed area generates a paint 
  event onto which a fresh piece of the drawing occurs.&nbsp; Incorrectly used 
  however, NO_REDRAW_RESIZE can lead to a graphic effect known as cheese.&nbsp; 
  Cheese is a general term that applies when a portion of a widget is not updated 
  correctly following a resize. An example of&nbsp; is shown below where the paint 
  event needs to update the entire client area, such as&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24> 
  fill it with an oval shape.&nbsp; Because no paint event occurs when the window 
  is reduced in size the shape is not redrawn when the size is decreased, and 
  when the window is made larger because the GC is clipped to just the damaged 
  area Cheese occurs in the newly expanded area because the previous drawing is 
  not erased ( as the paint event is clipped to only the newly exposed area ). 
<p><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; shell.setLayout(new FillLayout());</code> <br>
  <img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24><code> final Canvas canvas = new Canvas(shell,SWT.NO_REDRAW_RESIZE);</code> 
<p><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; canvas.addPaintListener(new PaintListener() {</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; public void paintControl(PaintEvent 
  e) {</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rectangle 
  clientArea = canvas.getClientArea();</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; e.gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_CYAN));</code> 
  <br>
  <img src="images/tag_1.gif" height=13 width=24><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  e.gc.fillOval(0,0,clientArea.width,clientArea.height);</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; }</code> <br>
  <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; });</code> 
<p>When the canvas size is increased the GC is clipped to just the area that needs 
  repainting and cheese occurs. 
<p><img src="images/Cheese_Complete.gif"> 
<p>To correct this problem in line&nbsp;<img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24> 
  the style bit of SWT.NONE should be used so that the GC is not clipped on expansion, 
  and a paint event occurs even when the shell size is reduced so the full oval 
  can be repainted. 
<p><img src="images/tag_2.gif" height=13 width=24><code> final Canvas canvas = new Canvas(shell,SWT.NONE);</code> 
<p>For any SWT widget, if more than one rectangle is damaged then the platform 
  merges these into a single damaged area that is the union of all damaged rectangles 
  so the SWT program only processes a single paint event. The style bit NO_MERGE_PAINTS 
  on Canvas can be used to override this behavior which means the listener will 
  be called with a single paint event for every separate damaged rectangle. 
<p>The style bits NO_BACKGROUND, NO_REDRAW_RESIZE and NO_MERGE_PAINTS can be used 
  with any Composite or subclass, including Canvas, Shell, or Group.&nbsp; Although 
  this is allowed by SWT ( no exceptions will be thrown ) the Composite class's 
  Javadoc includes the following style bit warning <i>"... their behavior is undefined 
  if they are used with subclasses of <code>Composite</code> other than <code>Canvas</code>".&nbsp; 
  </i>The Canvas class is therefore the preferred control to use when performing 
  arbitrary drawing operations. 
<p>Another way to reduce flicker is to batch up the drawing that occurs on the 
  display by double buffering.&nbsp; Double buffering is a technique where the 
  drawing occurs onto a GC that is not the one used on the paintEvent, and the 
  contents are then copied across. To do this you can create an Image with the 
  same size as the Canvas' client area and then draw onto this with a <code>GC(Image)</code>;&nbsp; 
  The final image is then transferred across to the paint event's GC with a single 
  <code>drawImage(Image image, int x, int y) </code>method call.&nbsp; When using 
  this technique be aware that some platforms perform native double buffering 
  for you already, so you may in fact be triple buffering. 
<h1> <a NAME="Drawing lines and"></a>Drawing lines and shapes</h1>
A GC has a number of methods that allow lines to be drawn on it, either between 
two points, a series of interconnected points, or a pre-defined shape.&nbsp; Lines 
are drawn in the foreground color of the GC and can be drawn in a number of styles 
and with different thickeness.&nbsp; For a paint event the GC has the same attributes 
as the control that fired the event (foreground / background color and font), 
and the default line style is solid with a width of 1 pixel. 
<h2> <code>GC.drawLine(int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2);</code></h2>
Draw a line between two points on the drawable surface beginning at x1,y1 and 
ending at x2,y2.&nbsp; The end points are included in the line, and if they are 
the same then a single pixel dot will be drawn. 
<h2> <code>GC.drawPolyline(int[] pointArray);</code></h2>
Draw a series of interconnecting lines with the int[] representing x and y positions 
for consecutive points.&nbsp; The statement: <br>
<code>gc.drawPolyline(new int[] { 25,5,45,45,5,45 });</code> <br>
draws a line from 25,5 to 45,45 and then from 45,45 onto 5,45. 
<p><img src="images/PolygonClient.gif" height=94 width=161> 
<h2> <code>GC.drawPolygon(int[] pointArray);</code></h2>
Similar to <code>drawPolyline(int[])</code> except that the last point is joined to 
the first <br>
<code>gc.drawPolygon(new int[] { 25,5,45,45,5,45 });</code> <br>
This draws the three corners of the triangle and, by joining the point at 5,45 
with 25,5 completes the shape by creating a contained area <br>
<img src="images/PolygonClient.gif" height=94 width=161> 
<h2> <code>GC.drawRectangle(int x, int y, int width, int height);</code></h2>
Draw a rectangle with the top left corner at x,y with the specified with and height 
<br>
<code>gc.drawRectangle(5,5,90,45);</code> <br>
draws a rectangle with one corner at 5,5 and the opposite corner at 95,50; <br>
<img src="images/RectangleClient.gif" height=97 width=174> 
<p>When a rectangle is drawn the bottom and right edges are drawn and it is conceptually 
  similar to lines being drawn between its four corners.&nbsp; As well as passing 
  the x,y,width and height as individual arguments the method is overloaded so 
  you can pass in the entire Rectangle - <code>GC.drawRectangle(Rectangle);</code> 
<h2> <code>GC.drawRoundedRectangle(int x, int y, int width, int height, int arcWidth, 
  int arcHeight);</code></h2>
A rounded rectangle differs from a standard rectangle in that its corners are 
rounded.&nbsp; The rounding on each corner can be thought of as 1/4 of an oval, 
and the arcWidth and arcHeight specify the width and height of the full oval. 
<br>
<code>gc.drawRoundedRectangle(5,5,90,45,25,15); </code>draws a rounded rectangle with 
a top left corner of 5,5.&nbsp; The figure below shows a zoomed picture of the 
bottom right corner together with an imaginary oval shown with a width of 25 and 
a height of 15 to show how the rounded corner is created from 1/4 of the oval. 
<p><img src="images/RoundedRectangleClient.gif" height=121 width=449> 
<p>The implementation of the rounded rectangle could be achieved with 4 calls 
  to <code>drawArc() </code>and 4 to <code>drawLine(). </code>However on some platforms 
  such as Windows or Photon there is an optimized platform API that SWT uses. 
<h2> <code>GC.drawOval(int x, int y, int width, int height);</code></h2>
An oval is draw within the rectangle defined by its top left corner (x,y) and 
its width and height.&nbsp; To draw a circle set the width and height to be the 
same value. <br>
<code>gc.drawOval(5,5,90,45);</code> 
<p><img src="images/OvalClient.gif" height=95 width=188> 
<h2> <code>GC.drawArc(int x, int y, int width, int height, int startAngle, int endAngle);</code></h2>
An arc is drawn within the area bounded by the rectangle whose top left corner 
is x,y and has the specified width and height.&nbsp; The startAngle is on the 
horizontal x axis, so 0 degrees does not represent North but instead can be thought 
of as pointing East.&nbsp; The arc is drawn anticlockwise for the number of degrees 
specified by the endAngle <br>
<code>gc.drawArc(5,5,90,45,90,200);</code> <br>
This draws an arc beginning at 90 degrees, which is vertical ( 0 degrees being 
horizontal ), and the arc continues for 200 degrees.&nbsp; The arc does not stop 
when it reaches the endAngle of 200 degrees relative to the 0 axis, rather it 
stops when it has traversed 200 degrees relative to its starting position. 
<p><img src="images/ArcClient.gif" height=87 width=161> 
<h2> <code>GC.setLineStyle(int style);</code></h2>
Lines can be drawn in a number of styles that are defined as static constants 
on the class <code>org.eclipse.swt.SWT </code>beginning LINE_. <br>
&nbsp; 
<table BORDER >
  <caption>
  <TBODY>
  <br></TBODY>
  </caption>
  <tr> 
    <td>SWT.LINE_SOLID</td>
    <td><img src="images/Line_SOLID.gif" height=16 width=292></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td>SWT.LINE_DOT</td>
    <td><img src="images/LINE_DOT.gif" height=16 width=292></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td>SWT.LINE_DASH</td>
    <td><img src="images/LINE_DASH.gif" height=16 width=292></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td>SWT.LINE_DASHDOT</td>
    <td><img src="images/LINE_DASHDOT.gif" height=16 width=292></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td>SWT.LINE_DASHDOTDOT</td>
    <td><img src="images/LINE_DASHDOTDOT.gif" height=16 width=292></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<h2> <code>GC.setLineWidth(int width);</code></h2>
The default width for a line is 1 pixel, however this can be changed by setting 
the lineWidth of the GC. <br>
&nbsp; 
<table BORDER >
  <caption>
  <TBODY>
  <br></TBODY>
  </caption>
  <tr> 
    <td>gc.setLineWidth(2);</td>
    <td><img src="images/Width_2.gif" height=16 width=292></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td>gc.setLineWidth(4);</td>
    <td><img src="images/Width_4.gif" height=16 width=292></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>Because line styles and width affect all of the draw operations, allowing you 
  to achieve effects such as a dotted rectangle or an oval with a thick line. 
<p><code>gc.setLineWidth(3);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.drawOval(5,5,40,40);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setLineWidth(1);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setLineStyle(SWT.LINE_DOT);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setForeground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_BLUE));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.drawRectangle(60,5,60,40);</code> 
<p><img src="images/LineShapes.gif" height=91 width=172> <br>
  When a property such as a line width, line style or color is changed on a GC 
  this affects all subsequent drawing operations.&nbsp; The code snippet above 
  changes the width to 3 to draw the oval, but it then changes it back to 1 before 
  drawing the dotted blue rectangle.&nbsp; Forgetting to revert values in a GC 
  after modifying them is a common bug when doing SWT graphics programming. 
<h1> <a NAME="Drawing Text"></a>Drawing text</h1>
Text can be drawn onto a GC, the glyphs are drawn in the GC's foreground color 
and font, and the area it occupies is drawn with the GC's background color.&nbsp; 
To draw text you define its top left corner, width and height.&nbsp; There are 
two sets of methods to draw text, the first set of which have <b><code>Text</code></b> 
in their method name, and will handle line delimiters and tabs and are used to 
implement an emulated Label. The second set of API methods have <b><code>String</code></b> 
in their method name, and no tab expansion or carriage return processing occurs, 
and are used for more sophisticated controls like the <code>StyledText </code>used 
by the Eclipse Java editor. 
<h2> <code>GC.drawText(String text, int x, int y);</code></h2>
<code>Font font = new Font(display,"Arial",14,SWT.BOLD | SWT.ITALIC);</code> <br>
<code>// ...</code> <br>
<code>gc.drawText("Hello World",5,5);</code> <br>
<code>gc.setForeground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_BLUE));</code> <br>
<code>gc.setFont(font);</code> <br>
<code>gc.drawText("Hello\tThere\nWide\tWorld",5,25);</code> <br>
<code>// ...</code> <br>
<code>font.dispose();</code> 
<p><img src="images/TextHelloWorld.gif" height=108 width=200> 
<p>The drawText API processes the control characters \t as tab \n as a carriage 
  return. 
<h2> <code>GC.drawString(String text, int x, int y);</code></h2>
<code>Font font = new Font(display,"Arial",14,SWT.BOLD | SWT.ITALIC);</code> <br>
<code>// ...</code> <br>
<code>gc.drawString("Hello World",5,5);</code> <br>
<code>gc.setForeground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_BLUE));</code> <br>
<code>gc.setFont(font);</code> <br>
<code>gc.drawString("Hello\tThere\nWide\tWorld",5,25);</code> <br>
<code>// ...</code> <br>
<code>font.dispose()</code> 
<p><img src="images/StringHelloWorld.gif" height=106 width=304> <br>
  When drawString is used, the tab and carriage return characters are not processed 
<p>The size that a String occupies when it is drawn onto a GC is based on its 
  contents and the font of the GC.&nbsp; To determine the area that a String will 
  occupy when it is drawn use the methods <code>GC.stringExtent(String text), </code>or<code> 
  GC.textExtent(String text). </code>These return a Point whose x and y are the 
  width and height required to render the String argument. 
<h2> <code>GC.drawText(String text, int x, int y, boolean isTransparent);</code></h2>
When drawText(String text, int x, int y) is used the text is drawn in the GC's 
current foreground color.&nbsp; If you are drawing on top of an area where you 
want the existing background to show through, then you can set the isTransparent 
argument to true.&nbsp; This is useful if you are drawing on top of an image and 
you don't want the text to obscure the image's background. 
<p><code>Font font = new Font(display,"Arial",12,SWT.BOLD | SWT.ITALIC);</code> <br>
  <code>Image image = new Image(display,"C:/devEclipse_02/eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.platform_2.0.2/eclipse_lg.gif");</code> 
  <br>
  <code>GC gc = new GC(image);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.drawText("Hello World",5,5);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setFont(font);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setForeground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_WHITE));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.drawText("Hello World",5,25,true);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.dispose();</code> <br>
  <code>image.dispose();</code> <br>
  <code>font.dispose();</code> 
<p><img src="images/TextHelloWorldTransparent.gif" height=182 width=159> <br>
  &nbsp; 
<h2> <code>GC.drawText(String text, int x, int y, int flags);</code></h2>
The flags are a bitmask of the constants SWT.DRAW_DELIMITER, SWT.DRAW_TAB, SWT.DRAW_TRANSPARENT 
and SWT.DRAW_MNEMONIC.&nbsp; These determine whether or not \n is processed as 
a carriage return, \t as a tab expansion, whether background transparency is used, 
and whether &amp; is processed as a mnemonic or a literal. 
<p><code>gc.drawImage(image,0,0);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.drawText("Hello\t&amp;There\nWide\tWorld",5,5,SWT.DRAW_TRANSPARENT);</code> 
  <br>
  <code>gc.drawText("Hello\t&amp;There\nWide\tWorld",5,25,SWT.DRAW_DELIMITER | SWT.DRAW_TAB 
  | SWT.DRAW_MNEMONIC );</code> 
<p><img src="images/TextFlags.gif" height=166 width=192> <br>
  &nbsp; <br>
  &nbsp; 
<h1> <a NAME="Filling shapes"></a>Filling shapes</h1>
Whereas lines are drawn in the GC's foreground color, shapes are filled with the 
GC's background color. 
<h2> <code>GC.fillPolygon(int[]);</code></h2>
<code>gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_BLUE));</code> <br>
<code>gc.fillPolygon(new int[] { 25,5,45,45,5,45 })</code> <br>
<img src="images/PolygonFillClient.gif" height=96 width=164> 
<h2> <code>GC.fillRectangle(int x, int y, int width, int height);</code></h2>
<code>gc.fillRectangle(5,5,90,45);</code> 
<p><img src="images/RectangleFillClient.gif" height=98 width=165> 
<p>When a rectangle is filled, the bottom and right edges are not included.&nbsp; 
  With the code above the origin point 5,5 is included in the filled blue rectangle, 
  however the argument rectangle's bottom right corner of 95,50 (5+90 , 45+5) 
  is outside the filled area.&nbsp; The bottom right corner of the filled rectangle 
  is at 94,49.&nbsp; This is unlike the behavior for <code>drawRectangle(5,5,90,45)</code>, 
  where the full shape is outlined so the bottom right corner is 95,50. 
<p>To illustrate this, the code below strokes a rectangle whose corners are 5,5 
  and 90,45 before filling it in cyan.&nbsp; To ensure that the filling of the 
  rectangle doesn't overwrite its drawn outline, the origin is offset to 6,6.&nbsp; 
  This moves the bottom right corner of the filled rectangle, however because 
  it has already excluded the bottom and right edges it only needs to be inset 
  by one to not overlap with the drawn rectangle. 
<p><code>gc.drawRectangle(5,5,90,45);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_CYAN));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.fillRectangle(6,6,89,44);</code> 
<p><img src="images/RectangleStrokeFill.gif" height=111 width=195> 
<h2> <code>GC.fillRoundedRectangle(int x, int y, int width, int height, int arcWidth, 
  int arcHeight);</code></h2>
<code>gc.fillRoundRectangle(5,5,90,45,25,15);</code> 
<p><img src="images/RoundedRectangleFilledClient.gif" height=95 width=166> 
<p>Like the <code>GC.fillRectangle(...) </code>method, the bottom and right edges 
  are excluded from the filled shape so the bottom right corner becomes 94,49 
  rather than 95,50. 
<h2> <code>GC.fillOval(int x, int y, int width, int height);</code></h2>
<code>gc.fillOval(5,5,90,45);</code> 
<p><img src="images/OvalFilledClient.gif" height=93 width=167 align=ABSBOTTOM> 
<p>Like the other fill APIs, the bounding rectangle's bottom right corner is inset 
  by one. 
<h2> <code>GC.fillArc(int x, int y, int widt4h., int height, int startAngle, int 
  endAngle);</code></h2>
<code>gc.fillArc(5,5,90,45,90,200);</code> <br>
<img src="images/ArcFilledClient.gif" height=97 width=196> <br>
The arguments to the <code>fillArc(...)</code> method are similar to the <code>drawArc(...)</code>, 
with the offset from an East axis to begin filling and the number of degrees to 
continue the arc in an anti-clockwise direction. However unlike the <code>drawArc(...)</code> 
whose bottom right corner of the bounding rectangle is the origin offset by the 
width and height, <code>fillArc(...)</code> follows the same pattern used by the other 
fill methods where the bottom and right edge are excluded and the corner inset 
by one. 
<h2> <code>GC.fillGradientRectangle(int x, int y, int width. int height, vertical 
  boolean);</code></h2>
This allows a rectangle to be filled with a gradient of coloring between the GC's 
foreground and background color.&nbsp; The gradient can either be horizontal or 
vertical 
<p><code>gc.setBackgrouind(display,getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_BLUE));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.fillGradientRectangle(5,5,90,45,false);</code> 
<p>This creates a horizontal gradient fill starting with the foreground color 
  (black) on the left, and finishing with the background color (blue) on the right.&nbsp; 
  As with the other fill methods, the bottom and right edges are excluded so the 
  bottom right corner becomes inset by 1. 
<p><img src="images/GradientFillFalse.gif" height=97 width=166> 
<p><code>gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_BLUE));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setForeground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_CYAN));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.fillGradientRectangle(5,5,90,45,true);</code> 
<p>The vertical gradient begins at the top with the foreground color (cyan) and 
  finishes at the bottom with the blue background color. 
<p><img src="images/GradientFillTrue.gif" height=100 width=166> 
<h1> <a NAME="XOR"></a>XOR</h1>
When drawing occurs on a GC you are altering its pixel values that make up the 
graphic on the Drawable surface.&nbsp; If you set the GC's XOR mode to true, then 
what occurs is that for each pixel the red, green and blue values of the source 
being drawn are XOR'd with the existing red, green and blue values and the result 
becomes the new destination pixel. <br>
&nbsp; 
<p><code>shell.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_WHITE));</code> <br>
  <code>// ...</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_BLUE));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.fillRectangle(5,5,90,45);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setXORMode(true);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_WHITE));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.fillRectangle(20,20,50,50);</code> <br>
  <code>gc.setBackground(display.getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_RED));</code> <br>
  <code>gc.fillOval(80,20,50,50);</code> 
<p><img src="images/XORFills.gif" height=117 width=276> 
<p>The filled rectangle has a background color of white (255,255,255).&nbsp; When 
  this is drawn over the blue (0,0,255) the XOR'd result is yellow (255,255,0).&nbsp; 
  The portion of the rectangle drawn over the white background (255,255,255) creates 
  an XOR result of black (0,0,0). The filled oval has a background color or red 
  (255,0,0).&nbsp; When this is drawn over blue the resulting XOR value is purple 
  (255,0,255), and when it is drawn over white the result is cyan (0,255,255); 
<h1> <a NAME="Drawing Images"></a>Drawing Images</h1>
The class <code>org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Image</code> represents a graphic that has 
been prepared ready to be displayed on a device such as a Display or Printer.&nbsp; 
The simplest way to create an image is to load it from a recognized file format.&nbsp; 
Supported file formats are GIF, BMP (Windows format bitmap), JPG, PNG, and in 
newer Eclipse releases TIFF. 
<p><code>Image image = new Image(display,"C:/eclipse/eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.platform_2.0.2/eclipse_lg.gif");</code> 
<h2> <code>GC.drawImage(Image image, int x, int y);</code></h2>
Every image has a size that is determined by its bounds.&nbsp; For example, the 
size of the image <code>eclipse_lg.gif </code>is 115,164 and can be determined by 
using the method <code>image.getBounds(). </code>When an image is drawn it will be 
shown at the width and height defined by its bounds.. 
<p><code>gc.drawImage(image,5,5);</code> <br>
  <img src="images/ImageClient.jpg" height=221 width=175> 
<h2> <code>GC.drawImage(Image image, int srcX, int srcY, int srcWidth, int srcHeight, 
  int dstX, int dstY, int dstWidth, int dstHeight);</code></h2>
Images can be drawn with different sizes from their original width and height, 
and also portions of images can be drawn. 
<p>The src coordinates are relative to image itself, so to draw the entire image 
  use 0,0 and width and height set to the image bound's width and height.&nbsp; 
  The dst arguments represent where to draw the image on the GC, and what size 
  to draw it at.&nbsp; The original image is 115 by 164, so to stretch it to twice 
  the width and half the height use the statement 
<p><code>gc.drawImage(image,0,0,115,164,5,5,230,82);</code> <br>
  <img src="images/ImageClientStretched.jpg" height=136 width=289> 
<p>Using the src coordinates allows you to specify that you want only a portion 
  of the image drawn.&nbsp; For example, if you only want a section from the top 
  right area of the image drawn, you can use src coordinates of 20,0 and a width 
  and height of 95,82.&nbsp; The code below draws the destination rectangle with 
  the same width and height (95,82) as the cropped area, however a different size 
  could be used to stretch or shrink the image portion. 
<p><code>gc.drawImage(image,20,0,95,82,5,5,95,82);</code> 
<p><img src="images/ImageClipped.jpg" height=219 width=405> 
<p>Other images effects can be achieved, such as transparency, animation and alpha 
  channel blending of images.&nbsp; These are outside the scope of this article, 
  however I hope to cover these in a future article. 
<h1> <a NAME="Understanding Images"></a>Conclusion</h1>
This article has shown how a GC can be used to draw lines, text, and to fill shapes.&nbsp; 
A GC can be created by passing the drawable into its constructor, such as an Image, 
or for a Control by using the <code>paintEvent</code> callback.&nbsp; The API of a 
GC allows lines and shapes to be drawn in its foreground color and filled in its 
background color.&nbsp; The general purpose Canvas control is optimized to allow 
drawing through its <code>paintEvent</code>, and it has a number of constructor style 
bits to control when paint events occur.&nbsp; GC clipping allows you to control 
the region of the GC that visible drawing occurs on, and when drawing different 
line styles can be used, and text and images can be shown. 
<p><font size="-2">Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks 
  or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other 
  countries, or both. </font>
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