Detecting when user presses enter in Java

user489041 picture user489041 · Jan 12, 2011 · Viewed 44.2k times · Source

I have a subclass of JComboBox. I attempt to add a key listener with the following code.


        addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() 
        {
            public void keyPressed(KeyEvent evt)
            {
                if(evt.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_ENTER)
                {
                    System.out.println("Pressed");
                }
            }
        });

This however does not correctly detect when the user presses a key. It is actually not called at all. Am I adding this listener wrong? Are there other ways to add it?

Answer

jricher picture jricher · Jan 12, 2011

Key events aren't fired on the box itself, but its editor. You need to add the keyListener to the editor of the JComboBox and not the box directly:

comboBox.getEditor().getEditorComponent().addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() 
    {
        public void keyPressed(KeyEvent evt)
        {
            if(evt.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_ENTER)
            {
                System.out.println("Pressed");
            }
        }
    });

Edit: fixed method call.