Java JTextField with input hint

Question

I would like to add a hint value to my javax.swing.JTextField. It should look like Firefox rendering of <input type="text" title="bla">. This creates an edit field with the text 'bla' in the background. If the textbox has focus the title-text disappears and just reappears if the user leaves the editbox without text.

Is there a (free) swing component that does something like this?

Answer 1

Here is a simple way that looks good in any L&F:

public class HintTextField extends JTextField {
    public HintTextField(String hint) {
        _hint = hint;
    }
    @Override
    public void paint(Graphics g) {
        super.paint(g);
        if (getText().length() == 0) {
            int h = getHeight();
            ((Graphics2D)g).setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_TEXT_ANTIALIASING,RenderingHints.VALUE_TEXT_ANTIALIAS_ON);
            Insets ins = getInsets();
            FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrics();
            int c0 = getBackground().getRGB();
            int c1 = getForeground().getRGB();
            int m = 0xfefefefe;
            int c2 = ((c0 & m) >>> 1) + ((c1 & m) >>> 1);
            g.setColor(new Color(c2, true));
            g.drawString(_hint, ins.left, h / 2 + fm.getAscent() / 2 - 2);
        }
    }
    private final String _hint;
}

Answer 2

Take a look at this one: http://code.google.com/p/xswingx/

It is not very difficult to implement it by yourself, btw. A couple of listeners and custom renderer and voila.

Answer 3

Have look at WebLookAndFeel at https://github.com/mgarin/weblaf/

WebTextField txtName = new com.alee.laf.text.WebTextField();

txtName.setHideInputPromptOnFocus(false);

txtName.setInputPrompt("Name");

txtName.setInputPromptFont(new java.awt.Font("Ubuntu", 0, 18));

txtName.setInputPromptForeground(new java.awt.Color(102, 102, 102));

txtName.setInputPromptPosition(0);

Answer 4

For any Swing component (that is, anything that extends JComponent), you can call the setToolTipText(String) method.

For more information, reference the following links:

• API Documentation for setToolTipText
• "How to Use Tool Tips" tutorial

Answer 5

You could create your own:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.FocusEvent;
import java.awt.event.FocusListener;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Main {

  public static void main(String[] args) {

    final JFrame frame = new JFrame();

    frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());

    final JTextField textFieldA = new HintTextField("A hint here");
    final JTextField textFieldB = new HintTextField("Another hint here");

    frame.add(textFieldA, BorderLayout.NORTH);
    frame.add(textFieldB, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    JButton btnGetText = new JButton("Get text");

    btnGetText.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      @Override
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        String message = String.format("textFieldA='%s', textFieldB='%s'",
            textFieldA.getText(), textFieldB.getText());
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, message);
      }
    });

    frame.add(btnGetText, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    frame.setVisible(true);
    frame.pack();
  }
}

class HintTextField extends JTextField implements FocusListener {

  private final String hint;
  private boolean showingHint;

  public HintTextField(final String hint) {
    super(hint);
    this.hint = hint;
    this.showingHint = true;
    super.addFocusListener(this);
  }

  @Override
  public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
    if(this.getText().isEmpty()) {
      super.setText("");
      showingHint = false;
    }
  }
  @Override
  public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
    if(this.getText().isEmpty()) {
      super.setText(hint);
      showingHint = true;
    }
  }

  @Override
  public String getText() {
    return showingHint ? "" : super.getText();
  }
}

If you're still on Java 1.5, replace the this.getText().isEmpty() with this.getText().length() == 0.

Answer 6

If you still look for a solution, here's one that combined other answers (Bart Kiers and culmat) for your reference:

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.text.JTextComponent;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.FocusEvent;
import java.awt.event.FocusListener;


public class HintTextField extends JTextField implements FocusListener
{

    private String hint;

    public HintTextField ()
    {
        this("");
    }

    public HintTextField(final String hint)
    {
        setHint(hint);
        super.addFocusListener(this);
    }

    public void setHint(String hint)
    {
        this.hint = hint;
        setUI(new HintTextFieldUI(hint, true));
        //setText(this.hint);
    }


    public void focusGained(FocusEvent e)
    {
        if(this.getText().length() == 0)
        {
            super.setText("");
        }
    }

    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e)
    {
        if(this.getText().length() == 0)
        {
            setHint(hint);
        }
    }

    public String getText()
    {
        String typed = super.getText();
        return typed.equals(hint)?"":typed;
    }
}

class HintTextFieldUI extends javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicTextFieldUI implements FocusListener
{

    private String hint;
    private boolean hideOnFocus;
    private Color color;

    public Color getColor()
    {
        return color;
    }

    public void setColor(Color color)
    {
        this.color = color;
        repaint();
    }

    private void repaint()
    {
        if(getComponent() != null)
        {
            getComponent().repaint();
        }
    }

    public boolean isHideOnFocus()
    {
        return hideOnFocus;
    }

    public void setHideOnFocus(boolean hideOnFocus)
    {
        this.hideOnFocus = hideOnFocus;
        repaint();
    }

    public String getHint()
    {
        return hint;
    }

    public void setHint(String hint)
    {
        this.hint = hint;
        repaint();
    }

    public HintTextFieldUI(String hint)
    {
        this(hint, false);
    }

    public HintTextFieldUI(String hint, boolean hideOnFocus)
    {
        this(hint, hideOnFocus, null);
    }

    public HintTextFieldUI(String hint, boolean hideOnFocus, Color color)
    {
        this.hint = hint;
        this.hideOnFocus = hideOnFocus;
        this.color = color;
    }


    protected void paintSafely(Graphics g)
    {
        super.paintSafely(g);
        JTextComponent comp = getComponent();
        if(hint != null && comp.getText().length() == 0 && (!(hideOnFocus && comp.hasFocus())))
        {
            if(color != null)
            {
                g.setColor(color);
            }
            else
            {
                g.setColor(Color.gray);
            }
            int padding = (comp.getHeight() - comp.getFont().getSize()) / 2;
            g.drawString(hint, 5, comp.getHeight() - padding - 1);
        }
    }


    public void focusGained(FocusEvent e)
    {
        if(hideOnFocus) repaint();

    }


    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e)
    {
        if(hideOnFocus) repaint();
    }

    protected void installListeners()
    {
        super.installListeners();
        getComponent().addFocusListener(this);
    }

    protected void uninstallListeners()
    {
        super.uninstallListeners();
        getComponent().removeFocusListener(this);
    }
}



Usage:
HintTextField field = new HintTextField();
field.setHint("Here's a hint");