New Features of Java 8 - Java 8 Recipes - page 62

How It Works
For a number of years, the JavaFX platform did not have a standard DatePicker
component. The DatePicker component, new to JavaFX 8, fills that void by provid-
ing developers with a way to select a date from a given calendar. The DatePicker
component goes hand-in-hand with the Date-Time API, which enables easy date selec-
tion and date calculations.
The DatePicker includes a Month selector, Year selector, and Day selector. To
add the component to your application, import
javafx.scene.control.DatePicker and create a new instance of the com-
ponent. By default, if no date is passed into the component it will display a blank text
box. The constructor for the component allows you to pass in a LocalDate object
upon initialization, as shown in the example.
The DatePicker is very extensible, as it provides the ability for customization.
For instance, the weeks of the year can be set using the setShowWeekNumbers()
method, and the chronology can be set using the setChronology() method. The
following code shows the same example from the solution, but this time the
DatePicker has been customized to show the week numbers and use Japanese chro-
nology.
public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception {
dateLabel = new Label("Select a date using the
widget");
datePicker = new DatePicker(LocalDate.now());
datePicker.setOnAction(event -> {
dateLabel.setText("The selected date is: "
+ datePicker.getValue());
});
datePicker.setShowWeekNumbers(true);
datePicker.setChronology(JapaneseChronology.INSTANCE);
FlowPane flow = new FlowPane();
flow.setPadding(new Insets(5, 5, 5, 5));
flow.getChildren().add(dateLabel);
flow.getChildren().add(datePicker);
primaryStage.setScene(new Scene(flow, 300, 100));