JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

javax.swing
Class JTextArea

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--java.awt.Component
        |
        +--java.awt.Container
              |
              +--javax.swing.JComponent
                    |
                    +--javax.swing.text.JTextComponent
                          |
                          +--javax.swing.JTextArea
All Implemented Interfaces:
Accessible, ImageObserver, MenuContainer, Scrollable, Serializable

public class JTextArea
extends JTextComponent

A JTextArea is a multi-line area that displays plain text. It is intended to be a lightweight component that provides source compatibility with the java.awt.TextArea class where it can reasonably do so. You can find information and examples of using all the text components in Using Text Components, a section in The Java Tutorial.

This component has capabilities not found in the java.awt.TextArea class. The superclass should be consulted for additional capabilities. Alternative multi-line text classes with more capabilities are JTextPane and JEditorPane.

The java.awt.TextArea internally handles scrolling. JTextArea is different in that it doesn't manage scrolling, but implements the swing Scrollable interface. This allows it to be placed inside a JScrollPane if scrolling behavior is desired, and used directly if scrolling is not desired.

The java.awt.TextArea has the ability to do line wrapping. This was controlled by the horizontal scrolling policy. Since scrolling is not done by JTextArea directly, backward compatibility must be provided another way. JTextArea has a bound property for line wrapping that controls whether or not it will wrap lines. By default, the line wrapping property is set to false (not wrapped).

java.awt.TextArea has two properties rows and columns that are used to determine the preferred size. JTextArea uses these properties to indicate the preferred size of the viewport when placed inside a JScrollPane to match the functionality provided by java.awt.TextArea. JTextArea has a preferred size of what is needed to display all of the text, so that it functions properly inside of a JScrollPane. If the value for rows or columns is equal to zero, the preferred size along that axis is used for the viewport preferred size along the same axis.

The java.awt.TextArea could be monitored for changes by adding a TextListener for TextEvents. In the JTextComponent based components, changes are broadcasted from the model via a DocumentEvent to DocumentListeners. The DocumentEvent gives the location of the change and the kind of change if desired. The code fragment might look something like:

    DocumentListener myListener = ??;
    JTextArea myArea = ??;
    myArea.getDocument().addDocumentListener(myListener);
 

For the keyboard keys used by this component in the standard Look and Feel (L&F) renditions, see the JTextArea key assignments.

Newlines
For a discussion on how newlines are handled, see DefaultEditorKit.

Warning: Serialized objects of this class will not be compatible with future Swing releases. The current serialization support is appropriate for short term storage or RMI between applications running the same version of Swing. As of 1.4, support for long term storage of all JavaBeansTM has been added to the java.beans package. Please see XMLEncoder.

See Also:
JTextPane, JEditorPane

Nested Class Summary
protected  class JTextArea.AccessibleJTextArea
          This class implements accessibility support for the JTextArea class.
 
Nested classes inherited from class javax.swing.text.JTextComponent
JTextComponent.KeyBinding
 
Nested classes inherited from class javax.swing.JComponent
 
Nested classes inherited from class java.awt.Container
 
Nested classes inherited from class java.awt.Component
Component.BltBufferStrategy, Component.FlipBufferStrategy
 
Field Summary
 
Fields inherited from class javax.swing.text.JTextComponent
DEFAULT_KEYMAP, FOCUS_ACCELERATOR_KEY
 
Fields inherited from class javax.swing.JComponent
accessibleContext, listenerList, TOOL_TIP_TEXT_KEY, ui, UNDEFINED_CONDITION, WHEN_ANCESTOR_OF_FOCUSED_COMPONENT, WHEN_FOCUSED, WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW
 
Fields inherited from class java.awt.Component
BOTTOM_ALIGNMENT, CENTER_ALIGNMENT, LEFT_ALIGNMENT, RIGHT_ALIGNMENT, TOP_ALIGNMENT
 
Fields inherited from interface java.awt.image.ImageObserver
ABORT, ALLBITS, ERROR, FRAMEBITS, HEIGHT, PROPERTIES, SOMEBITS, WIDTH
 
Constructor Summary
JTextArea()
          Constructs a new TextArea.
JTextArea(Document doc)
          Constructs a new JTextArea with the given document model, and defaults for all of the other arguments (null, 0, 0).
JTextArea(Document doc, String text, int rows, int columns)
          Constructs a new JTextArea with the specified number of rows and columns, and the given model.
JTextArea(int rows, int columns)
          Constructs a new empty TextArea with the specified number of rows and columns.
JTextArea(String text)
          Constructs a new TextArea with the specified text displayed.
JTextArea(String text, int rows, int columns)
          Constructs a new TextArea with the specified text and number of rows and columns.
 
Method Summary
 void append(String str)
          Appends the given text to the end of the document.
protected  Document createDefaultModel()
          Creates the default implementation of the model to be used at construction if one isn't explicitly given.
 AccessibleContext getAccessibleContext()
          Gets the AccessibleContext associated with this JTextArea.
 int getColumns()
          Returns the number of columns in the TextArea.
protected  int getColumnWidth()
          Gets column width.
 int getLineCount()
          Determines the number of lines contained in the area.
 int getLineEndOffset(int line)
          Determines the offset of the end of the given line.
 int getLineOfOffset(int offset)
          Translates an offset into the components text to a line number.
 int getLineStartOffset(int line)
          Determines the offset of the start of the given line.
 boolean getLineWrap()
          Gets the line-wrapping policy of the text area.
 Dimension getPreferredScrollableViewportSize()
          Returns the preferred size of the viewport if this component is embedded in a JScrollPane.
 Dimension getPreferredSize()
          Returns the preferred size of the TextArea.
protected  int getRowHeight()
          Defines the meaning of the height of a row.
 int getRows()
          Returns the number of rows in the TextArea.
 boolean getScrollableTracksViewportWidth()
          Returns true if a viewport should always force the width of this Scrollable to match the width of the viewport.
 int getScrollableUnitIncrement(Rectangle visibleRect, int orientation, int direction)
          Components that display logical rows or columns should compute the scroll increment that will completely expose one new row or column, depending on the value of orientation.
 int getTabSize()
          Gets the number of characters used to expand tabs.
 String getUIClassID()
          Returns the class ID for the UI.
 boolean getWrapStyleWord()
          Gets the style of wrapping used if the text area is wrapping lines.
 void insert(String str, int pos)
          Inserts the specified text at the specified position.
protected  String paramString()
          Returns a string representation of this JTextArea.
 void replaceRange(String str, int start, int end)
          Replaces text from the indicated start to end position with the new text specified.
 void setColumns(int columns)
          Sets the number of columns for this TextArea.
 void setFont(Font f)
          Sets the current font.
 void setLineWrap(boolean wrap)
          Sets the line-wrapping policy of the text area.
 void setRows(int rows)
          Sets the number of rows for this TextArea.
 void setTabSize(int size)
          Sets the number of characters to expand tabs to.
 void setWrapStyleWord(boolean word)
          Sets the style of wrapping used if the text area is wrapping lines.
 
Methods inherited from class javax.swing.text.JTextComponent
addCaretListener, addInputMethodListener, addKeymap, copy, cut, fireCaretUpdate, getActions, getCaret, getCaretColor, getCaretListeners, getCaretPosition, getDisabledTextColor, getDocument, getDragEnabled, getFocusAccelerator, getHighlighter, getInputMethodRequests, getKeymap, getKeymap, getMargin, getNavigationFilter, getScrollableBlockIncrement, getScrollableTracksViewportHeight, getSelectedText, getSelectedTextColor, getSelectionColor, getSelectionEnd, getSelectionStart, getText, getText, getToolTipText, getUI, isEditable, loadKeymap, modelToView, moveCaretPosition, paste, processInputMethodEvent, read, removeCaretListener, removeKeymap, removeNotify, replaceSelection, select, selectAll, setCaret, setCaretColor, setCaretPosition, setComponentOrientation, setDisabledTextColor, setDocument, setDragEnabled, setEditable, setFocusAccelerator, setHighlighter, setKeymap, setMargin, setNavigationFilter, setSelectedTextColor, setSelectionColor, setSelectionEnd, setSelectionStart, setText, setUI, updateUI, viewToModel, write
 
Methods inherited from class javax.swing.JComponent
addAncestorListener, addNotify, addPropertyChangeListener, addPropertyChangeListener, addVetoableChangeListener, computeVisibleRect, contains, createToolTip, disable, enable, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, firePropertyChange, fireVetoableChange, getActionForKeyStroke, getActionMap, getAlignmentX, getAlignmentY, getAncestorListeners, getAutoscrolls, getBorder, getBounds, getClientProperty, getComponentGraphics, getConditionForKeyStroke, getDebugGraphicsOptions, getDefaultLocale, getGraphics, getHeight, getInputMap, getInputMap, getInputVerifier, getInsets, getInsets, getListeners, getLocation, getMaximumSize, getMinimumSize, getNextFocusableComponent, getPropertyChangeListeners, getPropertyChangeListeners, getRegisteredKeyStrokes, getRootPane, getSize, getToolTipLocation, getToolTipText, getTopLevelAncestor, getTransferHandler, getVerifyInputWhenFocusTarget, getVetoableChangeListeners, getVisibleRect, getWidth, getX, getY, grabFocus, isDoubleBuffered, isLightweightComponent, isManagingFocus, isMaximumSizeSet, isMinimumSizeSet, isOpaque, isOptimizedDrawingEnabled, isPaintingTile, isPreferredSizeSet, isRequestFocusEnabled, isValidateRoot, paint, paintBorder, paintChildren, paintComponent, paintImmediately, paintImmediately, print, printAll, printBorder, printChildren, printComponent, processComponentKeyEvent, processKeyBinding, processKeyEvent, processMouseMotionEvent, putClientProperty, registerKeyboardAction, registerKeyboardAction, removeAncestorListener, removePropertyChangeListener, removePropertyChangeListener, removeVetoableChangeListener, repaint, repaint, requestDefaultFocus, requestFocus, requestFocus, requestFocusInWindow, requestFocusInWindow, resetKeyboardActions, reshape, revalidate, scrollRectToVisible, setActionMap, setAlignmentX, setAlignmentY, setAutoscrolls, setBackground, setBorder, setDebugGraphicsOptions, setDefaultLocale, setDoubleBuffered, setEnabled, setForeground, setInputMap, setInputVerifier, setMaximumSize, setMinimumSize, setNextFocusableComponent, setOpaque, setPreferredSize, setRequestFocusEnabled, setToolTipText, setTransferHandler, setUI, setVerifyInputWhenFocusTarget, setVisible, unregisterKeyboardAction, update
 
Methods inherited from class java.awt.Container
add, add, add, add, add, addContainerListener, addImpl, applyComponentOrientation, areFocusTraversalKeysSet, countComponents, deliverEvent, doLayout, findComponentAt, findComponentAt, getComponent, getComponentAt, getComponentAt, getComponentCount, getComponents, getContainerListeners, getFocusTraversalKeys, getFocusTraversalPolicy, getLayout, insets, invalidate, isAncestorOf, isFocusCycleRoot, isFocusCycleRoot, isFocusTraversalPolicySet, layout, list, list, locate, minimumSize, paintComponents, preferredSize, printComponents, processContainerEvent, processEvent, remove, remove, removeAll, removeContainerListener, setFocusCycleRoot, setFocusTraversalKeys, setFocusTraversalPolicy, setLayout, transferFocusBackward, transferFocusDownCycle, validate, validateTree
 
Methods inherited from class java.awt.Component
action, add, addComponentListener, addFocusListener, addHierarchyBoundsListener, addHierarchyListener, addKeyListener, addMouseListener, addMouseMotionListener, addMouseWheelListener, bounds, checkImage, checkImage, coalesceEvents, contains, createImage, createImage, createVolatileImage, createVolatileImage, disableEvents, dispatchEvent, enable, enableEvents, enableInputMethods, getBackground, getBounds, getColorModel, getComponentListeners, getComponentOrientation, getCursor, getDropTarget, getFocusCycleRootAncestor, getFocusListeners, getFocusTraversalKeysEnabled, getFont, getFontMetrics, getForeground, getGraphicsConfiguration, getHierarchyBoundsListeners, getHierarchyListeners, getIgnoreRepaint, getInputContext, getInputMethodListeners, getKeyListeners, getLocale, getLocation, getLocationOnScreen, getMouseListeners, getMouseMotionListeners, getMouseWheelListeners, getName, getParent, getPeer, getSize, getToolkit, getTreeLock, gotFocus, handleEvent, hasFocus, hide, imageUpdate, inside, isBackgroundSet, isCursorSet, isDisplayable, isEnabled, isFocusable, isFocusOwner, isFocusTraversable, isFontSet, isForegroundSet, isLightweight, isShowing, isValid, isVisible, keyDown, keyUp, list, list, list, location, lostFocus, mouseDown, mouseDrag, mouseEnter, mouseExit, mouseMove, mouseUp, move, nextFocus, paintAll, postEvent, prepareImage, prepareImage, processComponentEvent, processFocusEvent, processHierarchyBoundsEvent, processHierarchyEvent, processMouseEvent, processMouseWheelEvent, remove, removeComponentListener, removeFocusListener, removeHierarchyBoundsListener, removeHierarchyListener, removeInputMethodListener, removeKeyListener, removeMouseListener, removeMouseMotionListener, removeMouseWheelListener, repaint, repaint, repaint, resize, resize, setBounds, setBounds, setCursor, setDropTarget, setFocusable, setFocusTraversalKeysEnabled, setIgnoreRepaint, setLocale, setLocation, setLocation, setName, setSize, setSize, show, show, size, toString, transferFocus, transferFocusUpCycle
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

JTextArea

public JTextArea()
Constructs a new TextArea. A default model is set, the initial string is null, and rows/columns are set to 0.


JTextArea

public JTextArea(String text)
Constructs a new TextArea with the specified text displayed. A default model is created and rows/columns are set to 0.

Parameters:
text - the text to be displayed, or null

JTextArea

public JTextArea(int rows,
                 int columns)
Constructs a new empty TextArea with the specified number of rows and columns. A default model is created, and the initial string is null.

Parameters:
rows - the number of rows >= 0
columns - the number of columns >= 0
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if the rows or columns arguments are negative.

JTextArea

public JTextArea(String text,
                 int rows,
                 int columns)
Constructs a new TextArea with the specified text and number of rows and columns. A default model is created.

Parameters:
text - the text to be displayed, or null
rows - the number of rows >= 0
columns - the number of columns >= 0
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if the rows or columns arguments are negative.

JTextArea

public JTextArea(Document doc)
Constructs a new JTextArea with the given document model, and defaults for all of the other arguments (null, 0, 0).

Parameters:
doc - the model to use

JTextArea

public JTextArea(Document doc,
                 String text,
                 int rows,
                 int columns)
Constructs a new JTextArea with the specified number of rows and columns, and the given model. All of the constructors feed through this constructor.

Parameters:
doc - the model to use, or create a default one if null
text - the text to be displayed, null if none
rows - the number of rows >= 0
columns - the number of columns >= 0
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if the rows or columns arguments are negative.
Method Detail

getUIClassID

public String getUIClassID()
Returns the class ID for the UI.

Overrides:
getUIClassID in class JComponent
Returns:
the ID ("TextAreaUI")
See Also:
JComponent.getUIClassID(), UIDefaults.getUI(javax.swing.JComponent)

createDefaultModel

protected Document createDefaultModel()
Creates the default implementation of the model to be used at construction if one isn't explicitly given. A new instance of PlainDocument is returned.

Returns:
the default document model

setTabSize

public void setTabSize(int size)
Sets the number of characters to expand tabs to. This will be multiplied by the maximum advance for variable width fonts. A PropertyChange event ("tabSize") is fired when the tab size changes.

Parameters:
size - number of characters to expand to
See Also:
getTabSize()

getTabSize

public int getTabSize()
Gets the number of characters used to expand tabs. If the document is null or doesn't have a tab setting, return a default of 8.

Returns:
the number of characters

setLineWrap

public void setLineWrap(boolean wrap)
Sets the line-wrapping policy of the text area. If set to true the lines will be wrapped if they are too long to fit within the allocated width. If set to false, the lines will always be unwrapped. A PropertyChange event ("lineWrap") is fired when the policy is changed. By default this property is false.

Parameters:
wrap - indicates if lines should be wrapped
See Also:
getLineWrap()

getLineWrap

public boolean getLineWrap()
Gets the line-wrapping policy of the text area. If set to true the lines will be wrapped if they are too long to fit within the allocated width. If set to false, the lines will always be unwrapped.

Returns:
if lines will be wrapped

setWrapStyleWord

public void setWrapStyleWord(boolean word)
Sets the style of wrapping used if the text area is wrapping lines. If set to true the lines will be wrapped at word boundaries (whitespace) if they are too long to fit within the allocated width. If set to false, the lines will be wrapped at character boundaries. By default this property is false.

Parameters:
word - indicates if word boundaries should be used for line wrapping
See Also:
getWrapStyleWord()

getWrapStyleWord

public boolean getWrapStyleWord()
Gets the style of wrapping used if the text area is wrapping lines. If set to true the lines will be wrapped at word boundaries (ie whitespace) if they are too long to fit within the allocated width. If set to false, the lines will be wrapped at character boundaries.

Returns:
if the wrap style should be word boundaries instead of character boundaries
See Also:
setWrapStyleWord(boolean)

getLineOfOffset

public int getLineOfOffset(int offset)
                    throws BadLocationException
Translates an offset into the components text to a line number.

Parameters:
offset - the offset >= 0
Returns:
the line number >= 0
Throws:
BadLocationException - thrown if the offset is less than zero or greater than the document length.

getLineCount

public int getLineCount()
Determines the number of lines contained in the area.

Returns:
the number of lines > 0

getLineStartOffset

public int getLineStartOffset(int line)
                       throws BadLocationException
Determines the offset of the start of the given line.

Parameters:
line - the line number to translate >= 0
Returns:
the offset >= 0
Throws:
BadLocationException - thrown if the line is less than zero or greater or equal to the number of lines contained in the document (as reported by getLineCount).

getLineEndOffset

public int getLineEndOffset(int line)
                     throws BadLocationException
Determines the offset of the end of the given line.

Parameters:
line - the line >= 0
Returns:
the offset >= 0
Throws:
BadLocationException - Thrown if the line is less than zero or greater or equal to the number of lines contained in the document (as reported by getLineCount).

insert

public void insert(String str,
                   int pos)
Inserts the specified text at the specified position. Does nothing if the model is null or if the text is null or empty.

This method is thread safe, although most Swing methods are not. Please see Threads and Swing for more information.

Parameters:
str - the text to insert
pos - the position at which to insert >= 0
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if pos is an invalid position in the model
See Also:
TextComponent.setText(java.lang.String), replaceRange(java.lang.String, int, int)

append

public void append(String str)
Appends the given text to the end of the document. Does nothing if the model is null or the string is null or empty.

This method is thread safe, although most Swing methods are not. Please see Threads and Swing for more information.

Parameters:
str - the text to insert
See Also:
insert(java.lang.String, int)

replaceRange

public void replaceRange(String str,
                         int start,
                         int end)
Replaces text from the indicated start to end position with the new text specified. Does nothing if the model is null. Simply does a delete if the new string is null or empty.

This method is thread safe, although most Swing methods are not. Please see Threads and Swing for more information.

Parameters:
str - the text to use as the replacement
start - the start position >= 0
end - the end position >= start
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if part of the range is an invalid position in the model
See Also:
insert(java.lang.String, int), replaceRange(java.lang.String, int, int)

getRows

public int getRows()
Returns the number of rows in the TextArea.

Returns:
the number of rows >= 0

setRows

public void setRows(int rows)
Sets the number of rows for this TextArea. Calls invalidate() after setting the new value.

Parameters:
rows - the number of rows >= 0
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if rows is less than 0
See Also:
getRows()

getRowHeight

protected int getRowHeight()
Defines the meaning of the height of a row. This defaults to the height of the font.

Returns:
the height >= 1

getColumns

public int getColumns()
Returns the number of columns in the TextArea.

Returns:
number of columns >= 0

setColumns

public void setColumns(int columns)
Sets the number of columns for this TextArea. Does an invalidate() after setting the new value.

Parameters:
columns - the number of columns >= 0
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if columns is less than 0
See Also:
getColumns()

getColumnWidth

protected int getColumnWidth()
Gets column width. The meaning of what a column is can be considered a fairly weak notion for some fonts. This method is used to define the width of a column. By default this is defined to be the width of the character m for the font used. This method can be redefined to be some alternative amount.

Returns:
the column width >= 1

getPreferredSize

public Dimension getPreferredSize()
Returns the preferred size of the TextArea. This is the maximum of the size needed to display the text and the size requested for the viewport.

Overrides:
getPreferredSize in class JComponent
Returns:
the size
See Also:
JComponent.setPreferredSize(java.awt.Dimension), ComponentUI

setFont

public void setFont(Font f)
Sets the current font. This removes cached row height and column width so the new font will be reflected, and calls revalidate().

Overrides:
setFont in class JComponent
Parameters:
f - the font to use as the current font
See Also:
Component.getFont()

paramString

protected String paramString()
Returns a string representation of this JTextArea. This method is intended to be used only for debugging purposes, and the content and format of the returned string may vary between implementations. The returned string may be empty but may not be null.

Overrides:
paramString in class JTextComponent
Returns:
a string representation of this JTextArea.

getScrollableTracksViewportWidth

public boolean getScrollableTracksViewportWidth()
Returns true if a viewport should always force the width of this Scrollable to match the width of the viewport. This is implemented to return true if the line wrapping policy is true, and false if lines are not being wrapped.

Specified by:
getScrollableTracksViewportWidth in interface Scrollable
Overrides:
getScrollableTracksViewportWidth in class JTextComponent
Returns:
true if a viewport should force the Scrollables width to match its own.

getPreferredScrollableViewportSize

public Dimension getPreferredScrollableViewportSize()
Returns the preferred size of the viewport if this component is embedded in a JScrollPane. This uses the desired column and row settings if they have been set, otherwise the superclass behavior is used.

Specified by:
getPreferredScrollableViewportSize in interface Scrollable
Overrides:
getPreferredScrollableViewportSize in class JTextComponent
Returns:
The preferredSize of a JViewport whose view is this Scrollable.
See Also:
JComponent.getPreferredSize()

getScrollableUnitIncrement

public int getScrollableUnitIncrement(Rectangle visibleRect,
                                      int orientation,
                                      int direction)
Components that display logical rows or columns should compute the scroll increment that will completely expose one new row or column, depending on the value of orientation. This is implemented to use the values returned by the getRowHeight and getColumnWidth methods.

Scrolling containers, like JScrollPane, will use this method each time the user requests a unit scroll.

Specified by:
getScrollableUnitIncrement in interface Scrollable
Overrides:
getScrollableUnitIncrement in class JTextComponent
Parameters:
visibleRect - the view area visible within the viewport
orientation - Either SwingConstants.VERTICAL or SwingConstants.HORIZONTAL.
direction - Less than zero to scroll up/left, greater than zero for down/right.
Returns:
The "unit" increment for scrolling in the specified direction
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - for an invalid orientation
See Also:
JScrollBar.setUnitIncrement(int), getRowHeight(), getColumnWidth()

getAccessibleContext

public AccessibleContext getAccessibleContext()
Gets the AccessibleContext associated with this JTextArea. For JTextAreas, the AccessibleContext takes the form of an AccessibleJTextArea. A new AccessibleJTextArea instance is created if necessary.

Specified by:
getAccessibleContext in interface Accessible
Overrides:
getAccessibleContext in class JTextComponent
Returns:
an AccessibleJTextArea that serves as the AccessibleContext of this JTextArea

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

Submit a bug or feature
For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

Copyright 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms.