Right-click to copy and paste in Java

Question

I am using Netbeans to develop an application that will be used in Windows. I noticed I can't right-click to copy or paste. How can I enable this? (I am using basic Swing controls such as JText and JTextArea.)

Answer 1

Why right click is not working on java application?

I wouldn't create new copy, cut, paste, undo & select all actions, because those already exist inside the ActionMap of each component. I'd simply do:

 Action copyAction = textField.getActionMap().get("copy");
 Action cutAction = textField.getActionMap().get("cut");
 Action pasteAction = textField.getActionMap().get("paste");
 Action undoAction = textField.getActionMap().get("undo");
 Action selectAllAction = textField.getActionMap().get("selectAll");


 popup.add (undoAction);
 popup.addSeparator();
 popup.add (cutAction);
 popup.add (copyAction);
 popup.add (pasteAction);
 popup.addSeparator();
 popup.add (selectAllAction);

 return popup;

That way you don't recreate more code that's already written. Other than that I'd follow that example.

Answer 2

Static class to instantly add regular popup menu to a textfield.

Just call JTextFieldRegularPopupMenu.addTo(jTextFieldObj);

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JPopupMenu;
import javax.swing.undo.*;


public class JTextFieldRegularPopupMenu {
    public static void addTo(JTextField txtField) 
    {
        JPopupMenu popup = new JPopupMenu();
        UndoManager undoManager = new UndoManager();
        txtField.getDocument().addUndoableEditListener(undoManager);

        Action undoAction = new AbstractAction("Undo") {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
                if (undoManager.canUndo()) {
                    undoManager.undo();
                }
                else {
                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,
                            "Undoable: " + undoManager.canUndo() ,
                            "Undo Status", 
                            JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
                }
            }
        };

       Action copyAction = new AbstractAction("Copy") {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
                txtField.copy();
            }
        };

        Action cutAction = new AbstractAction("Cut") {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
                txtField.cut();
            }
        };

        Action pasteAction = new AbstractAction("Paste") {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
                txtField.paste();
            }
        };

        Action selectAllAction = new AbstractAction("Select All") {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
                txtField.selectAll();
            }
        };

        popup.add (undoAction);
        popup.addSeparator();
        popup.add (cutAction);
        popup.add (copyAction);
        popup.add (pasteAction);
        popup.addSeparator();
        popup.add (selectAllAction);

       txtField.setComponentPopupMenu(popup);
    }
}

Answer 3

For your comment,

Does it interact with the operating system? I want to copy something from my Java application and paste on Notepad..

Why bother the user to manuallly copy-paste, why not write the contents of textarea to a text file?

Answer 4

final int colx;
final int rowy;
final String val1;

colx = CFDTable.getSelectedColumn();
rowy = CFDTable.getSelectedRow();

val1 = (String) CFDTable.getValueAt(rowy, colx);
JPopupMenu jPopupMenu = new javax.swing.JPopupMenu();
jPopupMenu.setName("jPopupMenu");
CFDTable.setComponentPopupMenu(jPopupMenu);
JMenuItem jMenuItem = new javax.swing.JMenuItem();
jMenuItem.setText("Copy"); // NOI18N
jMenuItem.setName("jMenuItem"); // NOI18N
jPopupMenu.add(jMenuItem);

jMenuItem.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
StringSelection entry = new StringSelection(val1);
Clipboard clipboard = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemClipboard();
clipboard.setContents(entry, entry);
}
});