Ever wanted to get a print out of all components that make up a piece of UI?

This little recursive snippet does that for you.

private void printChildren(Composite composite, int count) {
  StringBuilder spaces = new StringBuilder(count * 2);
  for (int i = 0; i < count * 2; i++) {
    spaces.append(' ');
  }
  for (Control c : composite.getChildren()) {
    System.out.println(String.format("%s%s (%s)", spaces.toString(), c.toString(), c.getLayoutData()));
    if (c instanceof Composite) {
      printChildren((Composite) c, count + 1);
    }
  }
}

Here’s an example of the output:

Composite {} (null)
  Composite {} (null)
    Composite {} (null)
      Composite {} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=Undefined 256 grabExcessHorizontalSpace=true verticalAlignment=GridData.CENTER})
        Label {Subject:} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=SWT.BEGINNING verticalAlignment=GridData.CENTER})
        Label {This is a message about the cool Eclipse RCP!} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=SWT.BEGINNING verticalAlignment=GridData.CENTER})
        Label {From:} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=SWT.BEGINNING verticalAlignment=GridData.CENTER})
        Link {<a>nicole@mail.org</a>} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=SWT.BEGINNING verticalAlignment=GridData.CENTER})
        Label {Date:} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=SWT.BEGINNING verticalAlignment=GridData.CENTER})
        Label {10:34 am} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=SWT.BEGINNING verticalAlignment=GridData.CENTER})
      Text {} (GridData {horizontalAlignment=SWT.FILL grabExcessHorizontalSpace=true verticalAlignment=SWT.FILL grabExcessVerticalSpace=true})

Related posts:

• Enhanced JavaScript Bridge, Eclipse Galileo Feature #9
• Tip: Styling Label Providers
• Replacing the Perspective-Switcher in RCP apps
• Tracing Keybindings in Eclipse RCP
• Tip: Custom OSGi (Equinox) Console Commands

Tags: eclipse, eclipse ui, swt, tips