create search TextField field to search in a javafx tableview

Question

Say I have a TableView with many columns, and I want to add a search field to filter rows that fit certain criteria, search by name as an example . thank you

Answer 1

Say you have a TableView called myTable filled with myObject Objects. Create a TextField, in this case I named it filterField, so here is a simple implementation.

FilteredList<myObject> filteredData = new FilteredList<>(data, p -> true);

        // 2. Set the filter Predicate whenever the filter changes.
        filterField.textProperty().addListener((observable, oldValue, newValue) -> {
            filteredData.setPredicate(myObject -> {
                // If filter text is empty, display all persons.
                if (newValue == null || newValue.isEmpty()) {
                    return true;
                }

                // Compare first name and last name field in your object with filter.
                String lowerCaseFilter = newValue.toLowerCase();

                if (String.valueOf(myObject.getFirstName()).toLowerCase().contains(lowerCaseFilter)) {
                    return true;
                    // Filter matches first name.

                } else if (String.valueOf(myObject.getLastName()).toLowerCase().contains(lowerCaseFilter)) {
                    return true; // Filter matches last name.
                } 

                return false; // Does not match.
            });
        });

        // 3. Wrap the FilteredList in a SortedList. 
        SortedList<myObject> sortedData = new SortedList<>(filteredData);

        // 4. Bind the SortedList comparator to the TableView comparator.
        sortedData.comparatorProperty().bind(myTable.comparatorProperty());
        // 5. Add sorted (and filtered) data to the table.
        myTable.setItems(sortedData);