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copied!<p>The short answer to your question is, no. There are no ready made components. You're going to have to roll up your selves and get your hands dirty.</p> <p>Break your problem down.</p> <p>You need the entity to be floatable. The only two (decent) choices you have are <code>JLayeredPane</code> and <code>JDesktopPane</code>. Which you choice will depend on the features you want to implement. I'd probably start with <code>JLayeredPane</code>. This will allow you to position components where you want them and also provides the ability to more easily control the Z-level.</p> <p>The problem with this, is you will become responsible for not only positioning the components, but also resizing them.</p> <p>Next, you need an entity component.</p> <p>This would be, to my mind, a series of compound components. You'd need a "header" or "title" component, which would provide the name of the table, the expand control and a means by which you can drag it.</p> <p>I'd start with a simple <code>JPanel</code>. Onto which I would add a <code>JLabel</code>, a <code>JTextField</code> and either a <code>JButton</code> or <code>JLabel</code> to act as the expand control, depending on what look I was after.</p> <p>The <code>JLabel</code> will act as the title for the header. The <code>JTextField</code> would as as the editor. Start by making the text field hidden. With a little bit of clever use of a layout manager, you can place two components in the space place. When the text field is made visible, it will be able to lay over the label.</p> <p>You will need to add a mouse listener and mouse motion listener this component. When clicked, the editor should be shown. Use an <code>ActionListener</code> and <code>FocusListener</code> to determine when the user has finished editing and update the label and hide the editor. You'll probably also want to bind a <kbd>Esc</kbd> to the field to allow the user to cancel the edit, key bindings are best for this.</p> <p>You will also need to track the mouse drag events so you can reposition the "entity"</p> <p>This header component would then be added to the entity component.</p> <p>You would need either a <code>JList</code> or <code>JTable</code> to hold the field information. To my mind, a <code>JTable</code> would provide the most functionality, allowing you to more easily edit the field information.</p> <p>You will also need to perform some custom painting to provide links from one table to another. This is a non-trival problem and is going to need some seriously good design on your part.</p> <p>Every thing you need to get started can be found at <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/" rel="nofollow">Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing</a>, but you're also going to need to read through and understand <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/painting/" rel="nofollow">Performing Custom Painting</a> and <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/2d/" rel="nofollow">2D Graphics</a></p>

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