Re: Anybody know how to set the color of the text in a disabled JMenuItem?

I'm not sure it's the best way, but the approach shown below may offer a
temporary workaround. IIUC, disabled isn't just a color; it's a
platform specific implementation intended to be visibly distinct from
enabled text, irrespective of color.

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class test extends JFrame {

     private static final String disabled = "MenuItem.disabledForeground";
     private static final Color disColor = (Color) UIManager.get(disabled);

     public test() {
         setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
         JMenuBar mb = new JMenuBar();
         setJMenuBar(mb);
         JMenu menu = new JMenu("test");
         mb.add(menu);

         JMenuItem mi = new JMenuItem("This is default disabled");
         mi.setEnabled(false);
         menu.add(mi);
         UIManager.put(disabled, Color.red);
         mi = new JMenuItem("This is disabled red");
         mi.setEnabled(false);
         menu.add(mi);
         UIManager.put(disabled, disColor);
         mi = new JMenuItem("Default restored");
         mi.setEnabled(false);
         menu.add(mi);

         JPanel p = new JPanel();
         p.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 100));
         add(p);

         pack();
         setVisible(true);
     }

     public static void main(String[] args) {
         EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

             @Override
             public void run() {
                 new test();
             }
         });
     }
}

Cf. the JTextComponent, which has setDisabledTextColor():

<http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.java.programmer/browse_thread/thread/b015d90109ee765d/4753a4e6556e255>