Java Swing - How to disable a JPanel?

Use the JXLayer, with LockableUI.

The Disabled Panel provides support for two approaches. One to recursively disable components, the other to "paint" the panel with a disabled look.

The following method uses recursion to achieve this. Pass in any Container, and this method will return a Component array of all of the non-Container components located anywhere "inside" of the Container.

    private Component[] getComponents(Component container) {
        ArrayList<Component> list = null;

        try {
            list = new ArrayList<Component>(Arrays.asList(
                  ((Container) container).getComponents()));
            for (int index = 0; index < list.size(); index++) {
                for (Component currentComponent : getComponents(list.get(index))) {
                    list.add(currentComponent);
                }
            }
        } catch (ClassCastException e) {
            list = new ArrayList<Component>();
        }

        return list.toArray(new Component[list.size()]);
        }
    }

Simply loop through the elements of the returned array and disable the components.

for(Component component : getComponents(container)) {
    component.setEnabled(false);
}

The panel should have a getComponents() method which can use in a loop to disable the sub-components without explicitly naming them.