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How to make JTextArea autoscroll

i have problem with my JTextArea i java. When i print output in the text area, it doesn't automatically scroll to the bottom. And when it reaches the bottom of text area i cannot scroll it with scroll panel. Here is my GUI Code:
public void initializeWindow()
{
JPanel pan;
JPanel colorBox;
JPanel consolePanel;
JLabel panText;
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
JScrollPane scroll;
gridPanels = new JPanel[sizeX][sizeY];
boardPanel = new JPanel();
legend = new JPanel();
consolePanel = new JPanel();
consoleOutput = new JTextArea(25,20);
consoleOutput.setEditable(false);
consoleOutput.setPreferredSize(new Dimension( 200,300));
consoleOutput.setAutoscrolls(true);
scroll = new JScrollPane(this.consoleOutput, JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS, JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER);
consolePanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
consolePanel.add(consoleOutput);
consolePanel.add(scroll);
boardPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(30,30,10,30));
boardPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(sizeX,sizeY));
legend.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(30,30,10,30));
legend.setPreferredSize( new Dimension(300,boardPanel.getHeight()));
PrintStream printStream = new PrintStream(new CustomOutputStream(consoleOutput));
for (Organizm org: legendOrgs)
{
pan = new JPanel();
colorBox = new JPanel();
panText = new JLabel();
pan.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(100,70));
pan.setAlignmentX(Component.LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
pan.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEADING));
colorBox.setBackground(org.getOrgColor());
colorBox.setAlignmentX(Component.LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
colorBox.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(30,30));
colorBox.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(30,30));
panText.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,15));
panText.setText(" - " + org.getName());
panText.setAlignmentX(Component.RIGHT_ALIGNMENT);
pan.add(colorBox);
pan.add(panText);
legend.add(pan);
}
legend.add(consolePanel);
for(int i=0; i<sizeY; i++)
{
for(int j=0; j<sizeX; j++)
{
gridPanels[i][j] = new JPanel();
if(organizmy[i][j]!=null)
gridPanels[i][j].setBackground(organizmy[i][j].getOrgColor());
else gridPanels[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
boardPanel.add(gridPanels[i][j]);
}
}
System.setOut(printStream);
System.setErr(printStream);
frame.add(boardPanel);
frame.add(legend,BorderLayout.EAST);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setTitle("Wirtualny świat");
frame.pack();
frame.setExtendedState(JFrame.MAXIMIZED_BOTH);
frame.setVisible(true);
worldFrame = frame;
}
And here is my Custom output Stream class which is used to print everything i print via System.out.println to my text Area:
public class CustomOutputStream extends OutputStream
{
private final JTextArea textArea;
public CustomOutputStream(JTextArea textArea)
{
this.textArea = textArea;
}
#Override
public void write(int b)
{
textArea.append(String.valueOf((char)b));
textArea.setCaretPosition(textArea.getDocument().getLength());
}
}
Here is link to image what it looks like in GUI:

You need to remove this line from your code:
consoleOutput.setPreferredSize(new Dimension( 200,300));
Unfortunately, it prevents your JTextArea from being scrollable because you set static size to that element.
P.S. Stay away from Swing - there are better options in Java

It works for me.
import javax.swing.*;
public class Scrollin{
public static void main(String[] args){
JFrame frame = new JFrame("scrolling");
JTextArea area = new JTextArea(20, 20);
frame.add(new JScrollPane(area));
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.pack();
Timer t = new Timer( 150, evt->{
area.setCaretPosition( area.getDocument().getLength() );
area.append("word is born\n");
});
t.start();
}
}
As text is added, the window will scroll to the end provided the cursor is at the end of the document.
Maybe you can start with something as short as this to demonstrate your issue?

Why does horizontal scrollbar do not work with my JTextArea?

Trying to read and write a text document, everything is working but the horizontal scrollbar isn't visible.
I tried to activate the JScrollPane horizontal scrollbar manually but that wasnt a result.
public class JScrollPaneÜbung extends JFrame
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private JTextArea area;
private JTextField field;
private JScrollPane scroll;
private JButton dateisuche;
private JButton dateispeichern;
private Panel panel;
private Panel sPanel;
public JScrollPaneÜbung()
{
area = new JTextArea(32, 41);
field = new JTextField(30);
scroll = new JScrollPane(area);
dateispeichern = new JButton("Speichern");
dateisuche = new JButton("Durchsuchen");
panel = new Panel();
sPanel = new Panel();
createGUI();
}
public void createGUI() {
setBounds(200, 200, 600, 600);
BorderLayout b = new BorderLayout();
setLayout(b);
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
dateisuche.addActionListener(new JScrollPaneListener(this));
dateispeichern.addActionListener(new JScrollPaneListener(this));
panel.add(dateisuche);
panel.add(field);
panel.add(scroll);
sPanel.add(dateispeichern);
add(panel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
add(sPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new JScrollPaneÜbung();
}
No horizontal scrollbar visible, but my text document is longer than the JTextArea

You're using a regular JPane. Use a JScrollPane instead. You can find documentation here that will guide you.
Resource

JButton not responsive - have to click twice

I created a GUI using java swing and in a specific situation, the JButton is unresponsive and I have to click it twice. On the click, it takes the info in the textArea and sends it to a TextParser class to be parsed. If I type more stuff in the area after, and click the evaluateButton, it doesn't respond and I have to click it again to work. Does anyone know if this is a known bug or how I can fix this?
The code for the class is as follows.
/**
* Add the components to the GUI.
* #param pane - the pane for the GUI
*/
public static void addComponentsToPane(Container pane) {
pane.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
JPanel instructionsPanel = new JPanel();
JLabel instructions = new JLabel("Enter the email text below");
instructionsPanel.setBackground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
instructionsPanel.add(instructions);
pane.add(instructionsPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
JPanel textAreaPanel = new JPanel();
textAreaPanel.setBackground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
final JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea();
textArea.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
textArea.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(400,350));
textArea.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(400,350));
textArea.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400,350));
textArea.setLineWrap(true);
Border border = BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK);
textArea.setBorder(border);
textArea.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(500, 200));
textArea.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 16));
textAreaPanel.add(textArea);
pane.add(textAreaPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
JPanel scoringPanel = new JPanel();
JButton evaluateButton = new JButton("Evaluate Email");
final JLabel scoreLabel = new JLabel("");
JButton uploadFileBtn = new JButton("Upload File");
JButton importTermsBtn = new JButton("Import Terms");
scoringPanel.add(evaluateButton);
scoringPanel.add(uploadFileBtn);
scoringPanel.add(importTermsBtn);
scoringPanel.add(scoreLabel);
pane.add(scoringPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
evaluateButton.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
#Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
try {
String email = textArea.getText();
TextParser textParser = new TextParser(email);
double score = textParser.parse();
scoreLabel.setText(score+"");
} catch (Exception ex) {
System.out.println(ex);
}
}
});
uploadFileBtn.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
#Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
scoreLabel.setText("Feature not yet available.");
}
});
importTermsBtn.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
#Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
DatabaseInput d = new DatabaseInput();
d.main(null);
}
});
}
/**
* Create the GUI and show it.
*/
private static void createAndShowGUI() {
//Create and set up the window.
JFrame frame = new JFrame("EmailGUI");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
//frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(500,500));
frame.setTitle("Email Text Input");
frame.setResizable(true);
Dimension screenSize = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
frame.setSize(screenSize.width, screenSize.height);
//Set up the content pane.
addComponentsToPane(frame.getContentPane());
//Display the window.
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
My main method just calls createAndShowGUI(). I am new to StackOverflow so if I need to give more or less information in my post please let me know!

As Reimeus and Jason C said in the comments, I should have been using ActionListener which works perfectly.

Adding picture to JFrame from another class java

I am trying to make a program that reads a file chosen by the user, and after reading the file - the suffix "txt" is changed to "gif" and the file is saved as a picture (which is in the same catalogue as the file). The thing is, this picture variable gets its value in the "actionPerformed-method" and after that I want to add it to a frame in another class- but it doesn't show. Here's the code in my OptionsPane-class:
public class OptionsPane extends JComponent implements ActionListener{
private JButton buttonOne = new JButton("Alt.1");
private JButton buttonTwo = new JButton("Alt.2");
private JButton buttonThree = new JButton("Alt.3");
private int option;
private JButton buttonChoose = new JButton("Choose file");
private FileHandler filehandler;
private String picture;
private JLabel picLabel;
public OptionsPane(){
JLabel label = new JLabel("Choose optimization method", SwingConstants.CENTER);
JPanel subPanel = new JPanel();
label.setForeground(Color.CYAN);
label.setFont(new Font("Tahoma", Font.BOLD, 15));
this.setLayout(new BoxLayout(this, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
this.add(label);
buttonOne.addActionListener(this);
buttonTwo.addActionListener(this);
buttonThree.addActionListener(this);
buttonChoose.addActionListener(this);
subPanel.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);
subPanel.add(buttonOne);
subPanel.add(buttonTwo);
subPanel.add(buttonThree);
subPanel.add(buttonChoose);
this.add(subPanel);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(e.getSource() == buttonOne){
option = 1;
System.out.println("You clicked button 1!");
}else if(e.getSource() == buttonTwo){
option = 2;
System.out.println("You clicked button 2!");
}else if(e.getSource() == buttonThree){
option = 3;
System.out.println("You clicked button 3!");
}else if(e.getSource() == buttonChoose){
System.out.println("hello");
option = 4;
filehandler = new FileHandler();
filehandler.read();
picture = filehandler.getFilePath().replaceFirst("txt", "gif");
picLabel = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(picture));
this.add(picLabel);
}
}
}
The frame is in the "MainFrame"-class, which looks like this at the moment:
public class MainFrame extends JFrame{
private JFrame frame = new JFrame();
private String picture;
private JLabel picLabel;
public MainFrame(){
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(1300, 800));
frame.getContentPane().setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);
frame.setLayout(new BoxLayout(frame.getContentPane(), BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
OptionsPane optionspane = new OptionsPane();
frame.add(optionspane);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setResizable(true);
}
}
Why isn't the picture visible in the mainframe?
EDIT
It works now!
https://stackoverflow.com/a/22380387/3271504
Thank you for your help #arooaroo . I tried to write down some of what you wrote, but it still didn't work when I wanted to add an image based on what file the user had chosen (for example if the user chose file text1.txt i wanted the corresponding picture "text1.gif" to show up). With your help, the picture showed up when I typed a specific pathway with "/"-slashes, but when I chose a file and tried to load the picture from the file pathway, it didn't show and that is because it had backslashes in the pathways. This is how it should be (such an irritating problem):
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if(e.getSource() == buttonOne){
option = 1;
System.out.println("You clicked button 1!");
}else if(e.getSource() == buttonTwo){
option = 2;
System.out.println("You clicked button 2!");
}else if(e.getSource() == buttonThree){
option = 3;
System.out.println("You clicked button 3!");
}else if(e.getSource() == buttonChoose){
filehandler = new FileHandler();
filehandler.read();
filepath = filehandler.getFilePath();
picture = filepath.replaceFirst("txt", "gif");
picture = picture.replaceAll("\\\\", "/");
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon(picture);
mainFrame.setPicture(icon);
}
Thank you for your help!

Once you separate your GUI code in to separate classes - which is a Good Thing - you will find the eternal challenge for GUI programming is allowing for clean communication between them where there are inter-dependencies.
In this instance perhaps the simplest approach is to pass in a reference of MainFrame into OptionsPane.
Let's assume you create an additional method in MainFrame for setting the picture:
public class MainFrame extends JFrame{
// all instance vars as before
public MainFrame() {
// same as before except for this line...
OptionsPane optionspane = new OptionsPane(this);
}
public void setPicture(JLabel pictureLabel) {
// add code here for adding the picture...
// That's an exercise for yourself, or another question ;)
}
}
Then in your OptionsPane class:
....
private MainFrame mainFrame; // add a new instance var
public OptionsPane(MainFrame mainFrame) {
this.mainFrame = mainFrame;
// ... rest of the code same as before
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
//...
picture = filehandler.getFilePath().replaceFirst("txt", "gif");
picLabel = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(picture));
mainFrame.setPicture(picLabel); // <-- This is where you communicate with the mainFrame instance
//...
}
EDIT
Although my original answer provided a valid and correct solution, it's clear that the OP requires a fully working example, including the code to load display the resulting image. Here's a sample program.
public class OptionsPane extends JComponent implements ActionListener {
private JButton buttonOne = new JButton("Alt.1");
private JButton buttonTwo = new JButton("Alt.2");
private JButton buttonThree = new JButton("Alt.3");
private int option;
private JButton buttonChoose = new JButton("Choose file");
private String picture;
private JLabel picLabel;
private MainFrame mainFrame;
public OptionsPane(MainFrame mainFrame) {
this.mainFrame = mainFrame;
JLabel label = new JLabel("Choose optimization method", SwingConstants.CENTER);
JPanel subPanel = new JPanel();
label.setForeground(Color.CYAN);
label.setFont(new Font("Tahoma", Font.BOLD, 15));
this.setLayout(new BoxLayout(this, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
this.add(label);
buttonOne.addActionListener(this);
buttonTwo.addActionListener(this);
buttonThree.addActionListener(this);
buttonChoose.addActionListener(this);
subPanel.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);
subPanel.add(buttonOne);
subPanel.add(buttonTwo);
subPanel.add(buttonThree);
subPanel.add(buttonChoose);
this.add(subPanel);
}
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// For sake of simplicity I'm ignoring the original button logic here
// and focussing on just getting an icon loaded in the parent frame...
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon("/path/to/test/image.png");
// Just pass the icon itself rather than a new label.
mainFrame.setPicture(icon);
}
}
public class MainFrame {
// No need to extend JFrame if you're using a JFrame instance variable
private JFrame frame = new JFrame();
private JLabel picLabel;
private JPanel mainPanel;
public MainFrame() {
mainPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
mainPanel.setBackground(Color.DARK_GRAY);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(1300, 800));
OptionsPane optionspane = new OptionsPane(this);
mainPanel.add(optionspane, BorderLayout.NORTH);
picLabel = new JLabel();
picLabel.setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
mainPanel.add(picLabel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setResizable(true);
}
public void setPicture(ImageIcon icon) {
picLabel.setIcon(icon);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new MainFrame();
}
}
Note I've done a couple of things differently. Personally I always create a JPanel and set that up as the primary layer rather and add that directly to the frame rather than messing with the rootPane. And I used the BorderLayout in this example as it's much simpler.
The other thing is to add the JLabel which is to hold the picture to the GUI in the initial set up. Then you'll see I'm only changing its icon in the setPicture() method rather than adding a new JLabel on each instance.

Adding ScrollPane to JTextArea

I am working on a project for my college course. I was just wondering if anyone knew how to add a scrollBar to a JTextArea. At present I have the GUI laid out correctly, the only thing missing is the scroll bar.
This is what the GUI looks like. As you can see on the second TextArea I would like to add the Scrollbar.
This is my code where I create the pane. But nothing seems to happen... t2 is the JTextArea I want to add it to.
scroll = new JScrollPane(t2);
scroll.setBounds(10,60,780,500);
scroll.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(ScrollPaneConstants.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
Any help would be great, thanks!

The Scroll Bar comes when your text goes beyond the bounds of your view area. Don't use Absolute Positioning, for such a small talk at hand, always prefer Layout Managers, do read the first para of the first link, to know the advantage of using a Layout Manager.
What you simply need to do is use this thingy :
JTextArea msgArea = new JTextArea(10, 10);
msgArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
msgArea.setLineWrap(true);
JScrollPane msgScroller = new JScrollPane();
msgScroller.setBorder(
BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Messages"));
msgScroller.setViewportView(msgArea);
panelObject.add(msgScroller);
Here is a small program for your understanding :
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class JTextAreaScroller
{
private JTextArea msgArea;
private JScrollPane msgScroller;
private JTextArea logArea;
private JScrollPane logScroller;
private JButton sendButton;
private JButton terminateButton;
private Timer timer;
private int counter = 0;
private String[] messages = {
"Hello there\n",
"How you doing ?\n",
"This is a very long text that might won't fit in a single line :-)\n",
"Okay just to occupy more space, it's another line.\n",
"Don't read too much of the messages, instead work on the solution.\n",
"Byee byee :-)\n",
"Cheers\n"
};
private ActionListener timerAction = new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
{
if (counter < messages.length)
msgArea.append(messages[counter++]);
else
counter = 0;
}
};
private void displayGUI()
{
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Chat Messenger Dummy");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel contentPane = new JPanel();
contentPane.setLayout(new BorderLayout(5, 5));
JPanel centerPanel = new JPanel();
centerPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1, 5, 5));
logArea = new JTextArea(10, 10);
logArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
logArea.setLineWrap(true);
logScroller = new JScrollPane();
logScroller.setBorder(
BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Chat Log"));
logScroller.setViewportView(logArea);
msgArea = new JTextArea(10, 10);
msgArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);
msgArea.setLineWrap(true);
msgScroller = new JScrollPane();
msgScroller.setBorder(
BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Messages"));
msgScroller.setViewportView(msgArea);
centerPanel.add(logScroller);
centerPanel.add(msgScroller);
JPanel bottomPanel = new JPanel();
terminateButton = new JButton("Terminate Session");
terminateButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
{
#Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
{
if (timer.isRunning())
timer.stop();
else
timer.start();
}
});
sendButton = new JButton("Send");
bottomPanel.add(terminateButton);
bottomPanel.add(sendButton);
contentPane.add(centerPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
contentPane.add(bottomPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
frame.setVisible(true);
timer = new Timer(1000, timerAction);
timer.start();
}
public static void main(String... args)
{
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
new JTextAreaScroller().displayGUI();
}
});
}
}
Here is the outcome of the same :

The scroll bar by default will only be shown when the content overfills the available viewable area
You can change this via the JScrollPane#setVerticalScrollBarPolicy method, passing it ScrollPaneConstants.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS