textarea | Tech Tips & Tricks

Force TAB Key In Java FX TextArea To Focus On Next Control And Ctrl+TAB To Insert TAB

April 15, 2015 by blogmeister·1 Comment

Here is code to have the TextArea control in Java FX move to the next control when the TAB key is pressed.

Somtimes we do not want tabs inside our TextArea control. Hence, when the TAB key is pressed, its natural action should be to move focus to the next available control.

textarea.addEventFilter(KeyEvent.KEY_PRESSED, new EventHandler<KeyEvent>() {
    @Override
    public void handle(KeyEvent ke) {
	if (ke.getCode() == KeyCode.TAB) {
	    // traverse focus if pressing TAB and insert tab if pressing CONTROL+TAB
	    SkinBase skin = (SkinBase) textarea.getSkin();
	    if (skin.getBehavior() instanceof TextAreaBehavior) {
		TextAreaBehavior behavior = (TextAreaBehavior) skin.getBehavior();
		if (ke.isControlDown()) {
		    behavior.callAction("InsertTab");
		} else {
		    behavior.callAction("TraverseNext");
		}
		ke.consume();
	    }                    
	}
    }
});

textarea.addEventFilter(KeyEvent.KEY_PRESSED, new EventHandler<KeyEvent>() {

@Override

public void handle(KeyEvent ke) {

if (ke.getCode() == KeyCode.TAB) {

// traverse focus if pressing TAB and insert tab if pressing CONTROL+TAB

SkinBase skin = (SkinBase) textarea.getSkin();

if (skin.getBehavior() instanceof TextAreaBehavior) {

TextAreaBehavior behavior = (TextAreaBehavior) skin.getBehavior();

if (ke.isControlDown()) {

behavior.callAction("InsertTab");

} else {

behavior.callAction("TraverseNext");

}

ke.consume();

}

});

If CONTROL+TAB is pressed and the TextArea control has focus, a TAB character will be inserted within the control.

How To Set Dynamic Height Of TextArea Based On Width In Java FX 2

September 21, 2013 by blogmeister·4 Comments

I wish Oracle simply included this feature so developers would not have to code it from scratch. However, I came across a custom made class called ScrollFreeTextArea from the javafx-demos website.

This class simply did the trick for me. So whenever you type a long text and it wraps itself or press the ENTER key for a new line, the height of the TextArea increases without displaying the scrollbar.

Here is the complete source code.

public class ScrollFreeTextArea extends StackPane {
	private Label label;
	private TextArea textArea;
	private Character enterChar = new Character((char) 10);
	private Region content;
	private SimpleDoubleProperty contentHeight = new SimpleDoubleProperty();	
	private final double NEW_LINE_HEIGHT = 18D;
	private final double TOP_PADDING = 3D;
	private final double BOTTOM_PADDING = 6D;
	public ScrollFreeTextArea() {
		super();
		configure();
	}
	private void configure() {
		setAlignment(Pos.TOP_LEFT);
		this.textArea = new TextArea() {
            @Override
			protected void layoutChildren() {
				super.layoutChildren();
				if (content == null) {
					content = (Region) lookup(".content");
					contentHeight.bind(content.heightProperty());
					content.heightProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<Number>() {
						@Override
						public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends Number> paramObservableValue,	Number paramT1, Number paramT2) {
							//System.out.println("Content View Height :"+paramT2.doubleValue());
						}
					});
				}
			};
		};
		this.textArea.setWrapText(true); 
        this.label = new Label();
		this.label.setWrapText(true);
		this.label.prefWidthProperty().bind(this.textArea.widthProperty());
		label.textProperty().bind(new StringBinding() {
			{
				bind(textArea.textProperty());
			}
			@Override
			protected String computeValue() {
				if (textArea.getText() != null && textArea.getText().length() > 0) {
					if (!((Character)textArea.getText().charAt(textArea.getText().length() - 1)).equals(enterChar)) { 
						return textArea.getText() + enterChar;
					}
				}
				return textArea.getText();
			}
		});
		StackPane lblContainer = StackPaneBuilder.create()
										  .alignment(Pos.TOP_LEFT)
										  .padding(new Insets(4,7,7,7))
										  .children(label)
										  .build();
		// Binding the container width/height to the TextArea width.
		lblContainer.maxWidthProperty().bind(textArea.widthProperty());        
		textArea.textProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<String>() {
			@Override
			public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends String> paramObservableValue,	String paramT1, String value) {
				layoutForNewLine(textArea.getText());
			}
		});
		label.heightProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<Number>() {
			@Override
			public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends Number> paramObservableValue,	Number paramT1, Number paramT2) {
				layoutForNewLine(textArea.getText());
			}
		});
		getChildren().addAll(lblContainer, textArea);
	}
	private void layoutForNewLine(String text){
		if (text != null && text.length() > 0 && ((Character)text.charAt(text.length() - 1)).equals(enterChar)) {
			textArea.setPrefHeight(label.getHeight() + NEW_LINE_HEIGHT + TOP_PADDING + BOTTOM_PADDING);
			textArea.setMinHeight(textArea.getPrefHeight());
		} 
        else {
			textArea.setPrefHeight(label.getHeight() + TOP_PADDING + BOTTOM_PADDING);
			textArea.setMinHeight(textArea.getPrefHeight());
		}
	}
    public TextArea getTextArea() {
        return textArea;
    }
}

public class ScrollFreeTextArea extends StackPane {

private Label label;

private TextArea textArea;

private Character enterChar = new Character((char) 10);

private Region content;

private SimpleDoubleProperty contentHeight = new SimpleDoubleProperty();

private final double NEW_LINE_HEIGHT = 18D;

private final double TOP_PADDING = 3D;

private final double BOTTOM_PADDING = 6D;

public ScrollFreeTextArea() {

super();

configure();

}

private void configure() {

setAlignment(Pos.TOP_LEFT);

this.textArea = new TextArea() {

@Override

protected void layoutChildren() {

super.layoutChildren();

if (content == null) {

content = (Region) lookup(".content");

contentHeight.bind(content.heightProperty());

content.heightProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<Number>() {

@Override

public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends Number> paramObservableValue, Number paramT1, Number paramT2) {

//System.out.println("Content View Height :"+paramT2.doubleValue());

}

});

}

};

this.textArea.setWrapText(true);

this.label = new Label();

this.label.setWrapText(true);

this.label.prefWidthProperty().bind(this.textArea.widthProperty());

label.textProperty().bind(new StringBinding() {

{

bind(textArea.textProperty());

}

@Override

protected String computeValue() {

if (textArea.getText() != null && textArea.getText().length() > 0) {

if (!((Character)textArea.getText().charAt(textArea.getText().length() - 1)).equals(enterChar)) {

return textArea.getText() + enterChar;

}

return textArea.getText();

}

});

StackPane lblContainer = StackPaneBuilder.create()

.alignment(Pos.TOP_LEFT)

.padding(new Insets(4,7,7,7))

.children(label)

.build();

// Binding the container width/height to the TextArea width.

lblContainer.maxWidthProperty().bind(textArea.widthProperty());

textArea.textProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<String>() {

@Override

public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends String> paramObservableValue, String paramT1, String value) {

layoutForNewLine(textArea.getText());

}

});

label.heightProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<Number>() {

@Override

public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends Number> paramObservableValue, Number paramT1, Number paramT2) {

layoutForNewLine(textArea.getText());

}

});

getChildren().addAll(lblContainer, textArea);

}

private void layoutForNewLine(String text){

if (text != null && text.length() > 0 && ((Character)text.charAt(text.length() - 1)).equals(enterChar)) {

textArea.setPrefHeight(label.getHeight() + NEW_LINE_HEIGHT + TOP_PADDING + BOTTOM_PADDING);

textArea.setMinHeight(textArea.getPrefHeight());

}

else {

textArea.setPrefHeight(label.getHeight() + TOP_PADDING + BOTTOM_PADDING);

textArea.setMinHeight(textArea.getPrefHeight());

}

public TextArea getTextArea() {

return textArea;

}

How To Add A Titled Border On A TextArea In Java FX

September 16, 2013 by blogmeister·0 Comments

You may want yo create something like this.

Now, even using CSS this is not possible if you directly add a label on the TextArea itself and change its z-location. I came across a post somewhere in the Stack Overflow forum and user jewelsea created a custom made BorderedTitledPane class that simulates a Titled Border in Java’s Swing.

Using this class I added a TextArea to the BorderedTitledPane and with a little CSS tweaking, removed the border and changed its z-location so that the Label title will be positioned right between the border of the TextArea.

Here is the BorderedTitlePane.

public class BorderedTitledPane extends StackPane {
    public BorderedTitledPane(String titleString, Node content) {
        Label title = new Label(" " + titleString + " ");
        title.getStyleClass().add("bordered-titled-title");
        StackPane.setMargin(title, new Insets(0, 25, 0, 0));
        StackPane.setAlignment(title, Pos.TOP_RIGHT);
        StackPane contentPane = new StackPane();
        contentPane.getChildren().add(content);
        getStyleClass().add("bordered-titled-border");
        getChildren().addAll(contentPane, title);
    }
}

public class BorderedTitledPane extends StackPane {

public BorderedTitledPane(String titleString, Node content) {

Label title = new Label(" " + titleString + " ");

title.getStyleClass().add("bordered-titled-title");

StackPane.setMargin(title, new Insets(0, 25, 0, 0));

StackPane.setAlignment(title, Pos.TOP_RIGHT);

StackPane contentPane = new StackPane();

contentPane.getChildren().add(content);

getStyleClass().add("bordered-titled-border");

getChildren().addAll(contentPane, title);

}

And here is the CSS code to make that possible.

.bordered-titled-title {
    -fx-background-color: darkgray;
    -fx-translate-y: -13;
    -fx-padding: 0 0 5 0;
}
.bordered-titled-border {
    -fx-content-display: top;
    -fx-border-insets: 15 0 0 0;
    -fx-border-color: transparent;
}
.bordered-titled-content {
    -fx-border-insets: 20 0 0 0;
}

.bordered-titled-title {

-fx-background-color: darkgray;

-fx-translate-y: -13;

-fx-padding: 0 0 5 0;

}

.bordered-titled-border {

-fx-content-display: top;

-fx-border-insets: 15 0 0 0;

-fx-border-color: transparent;

}

.bordered-titled-content {

-fx-border-insets: 20 0 0 0;

}

Doing this in Swing is possibly tedious but Java FX and CSS gives developers so much flexibility creating new layouts.

To use the class, call it like this.

BorderedTitledPane btp = new BorderedTitledPane("My Title, myTextArea);

1	BorderedTitledPane btp = new BorderedTitledPane("My Title, myTextArea);

And add it to the scene’s container.

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Tag: textarea

Force TAB Key In Java FX TextArea To Focus On Next Control And Ctrl+TAB To Insert TAB

How To Set Dynamic Height Of TextArea Based On Width In Java FX 2

How To Add A Titled Border On A TextArea In Java FX