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

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 2

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; }