How to display a default message in JTextField java

java swing jtextfield
Gustavo Baiocchi Costa picture Gustavo Baiocchi Costa · Feb 17, 2013 · Viewed 57.4k times · Source

I want to create a JTextField with a message inside as a deafult. But not as a proper text but as a comment about what to type inside the JTextField. So if i type jtf.getText() it returns null or empty because it is just a comment that was printed there. When you click on it then it disappears and you can write whatever you want on it. Is there any method to do such a thing?

Answer

Cyrille Ka picture Cyrille Ka · Feb 17, 2013

A possible technique is to first set the default string as the text of the textField:

JTextField myField = new JTextField("Default Text");

Then use a FocusListener, so that when the user put the focus in the element, the text disappears:

myField.addFocusListener(new FocusListener() {
    public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
        myField.setText("");
    }

    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
        // nothing
    }
});

But you have to be careful: if the user never put the focus in the text field, getText() will return the default string. Therefore, you'd better manage a boolean that tells if the text field has ever had the focus.

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