I'm trying to build a custom UI to practice my interface development.
What I would like to do is create a 'sidebar' on a JFrame, which acts as a tabbed pane for a number of JPanels that I would like to be able to switch between.
Currently, I have a 'sidebar' consisting of a number of buttons, and through clicking a button - I would 'hide' one panel, and 'swap in' another (although I am yet unsure of how best to do this). The panels I am creating are the same size, but I do not know how to swap a panel in one position on my UI with another panel, in that same position.
As a result of this I have researched tabbed panes, and these seem like they could be perfect for what I'm trying to implement. I know I can set each pane to display my own JPanel, but I would like the actual tabs to be represented by the custom buttons I have made.
Is this possible with the JTabbedPane class? Or should I continue figuring out how to swap in and out my panels using the button action listener?