Java SWT Text Tutorial with Examples

SWT Text
SWT Text Example
SWT Text and Styles
Useful methods

1. SWT Text

The TextField class implements a UI control that accepts and displays text input. It provides capabilities to receive text input from a user.

Text class is used to create a text input which allows users to enter on a single line. It can also create a text input to enter on multiple lines or to create a password field.

See more Password Field:
SWT Password Field

// Style ....
int style = SWT.BORDER;
int style = SWT.BORDER | SWT.PASSWORD;

Text text = new Text(parent, style);

The Styles can be applied to Text:

Style	Description
SWT.BORDER	To create text with border
SWT.MULTI	Allow enter content on multiple lines
SWT.PASSWORD	To display the Text as a password field
SWT.V_SCROLL	Show vertical scroll bar, usually used with SWT.MULTI
SWT.H_SCROLL	Show horizontal scroll bar, usually used with SWT.MULTI
SWT.WRAP	Automatically wrap if the text is too long.
SWT.READ_ONLY	Do not allow editing, it is equivalent to calling the text.setEditable (false) method;
SWT.LEFT	Aligning text to the left
SWT.RIGHT	Aligning text to the right
SWT.CENTER	Aligning text to the center

Review some helpful methods that you can use with text fields.

text.setEnabled(enabled);
text.setFont(font);
text.setForeground(color);
text.setEditable(editable);
text.setTextLimit(limit); 
text.setToolTipText(string);
text.setTextDirection(textDirection);
text.addSegmentListener(listener);

2. SWT Text Example

TextDemo.java

package org.o7planning.swt.text;

import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.RowData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.RowLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Label;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;

public class TextDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Display display = new Display();
        Shell shell = new Shell(display);
        shell.setText("SWT Text (o7planning.org)");

        RowLayout rowLayout = new RowLayout();
        rowLayout.marginLeft = 10;
        rowLayout.marginTop = 10;
        rowLayout.spacing = 15;
        shell.setLayout(rowLayout);
        // Label
        Label label = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE);
        label.setText("Your Name: ");
        // Text
        Text text = new Text(shell, SWT.BORDER);
        RowData layoutData = new RowData();
        layoutData.width = 150;
        text.setLayoutData(layoutData);
        text.setText("Tran");

        shell.setSize(400, 200);
        shell.open();
        while (!shell.isDisposed()) {
            if (!display.readAndDispatch())
                display.sleep();
        }
        display.dispose();
    }
}

3. SWT Text and Styles

The example below illustrates the creation of different SWT Texts with styles such as SWT.BORDER, SWT.PASSWORD, SWT.MULTI, SWT.WRAP, SWT.READ_ONLY,...

TextStylesDemo.java

package org.o7planning.swt.text;

import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.RowData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.RowLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;

public class TextStylesDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Display display = new Display();
        Shell shell = new Shell(display);
        shell.setText("SWT Text (o7planning.org)");

        RowLayout rowLayout = new RowLayout(SWT.VERTICAL);
        rowLayout.marginLeft = 10;
        rowLayout.marginTop = 10;
        rowLayout.spacing = 15;
        shell.setLayout(rowLayout);

        // Text without border
        Text text1 = new Text(shell, SWT.NONE);
        text1.setText("SWT.NONE");
        text1.setLayoutData(new RowData(150, SWT.DEFAULT));

        // Text with border
        Text text2 = new Text(shell, SWT.BORDER);
        text2.setText("SWT.BORDER");
        text2.setLayoutData(new RowData(150, SWT.DEFAULT));

        // Text with border and readonly.
        Text text3 = new Text(shell, SWT.BORDER | SWT.READ_ONLY);
        text3.setText("SWT.BORDER | SWT.READ_ONLY");
        text3.setLayoutData(new RowData(200, SWT.DEFAULT));

        // Password field.
        Text text4 = new Text(shell, SWT.BORDER | SWT.PASSWORD);
        text4.setText("12345");
        text4.setLayoutData(new RowData(150, SWT.DEFAULT));

        // Text with multi lines and show vertiacal scroll.
        Text text5 = new Text(shell, SWT.BORDER | SWT.MULTI | SWT.V_SCROLL);
        text5.setText("SWT.BORDER | SWT.MULTI | SWT.V_SCROLL \n\n Hello World");
        text5.setLayoutData(new RowData(250, 80));  
        // Wrap
        Text text6 = new Text(shell, SWT.BORDER | SWT.WRAP);
        text6.setLayoutData(new RowData(120, 80));
        text6.setText("SWT.BORDER | SWT.WRAP, This is a text, it very long, and need to warp it"); 
        shell.setSize(400, 400);
        shell.open();
        while (!shell.isDisposed()) {
            if (!display.readAndDispatch())
                display.sleep();
        }
        display.dispose();
    }
}

4. Useful methods

The example below illustrates the usage of methods such as copy(), paste(), cut(), which are usefull methods of TextField.

TextDemo2.java

package org.o7planning.swt.text;

import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionAdapter;
import org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionEvent;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.RowData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.RowLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Button;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;

public class TextDemo2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Display display = new Display();
        Shell shell = new Shell(display);
        shell.setText("SWT Text (o7planning.org)");

        RowLayout rowLayout = new RowLayout();
        rowLayout.marginLeft = 10;
        rowLayout.marginTop = 10;
        rowLayout.spacing = 5;
        shell.setLayout(rowLayout);
        // Text
        Text text = new Text(shell, SWT.BORDER);
        text.setLayoutData(new RowData(150, SWT.DEFAULT));
        text.setText("This is a Text");
        // Clear Button
        Button clearButton = new Button(shell, SWT.PUSH);
        clearButton.setText("Clear");
        // Copy Button
        Button copyButton = new Button(shell, SWT.PUSH);
        copyButton.setText("Copy");

        // Cut Button
        Button cutButton = new Button(shell, SWT.PUSH);
        cutButton.setText("Cut");
        // Paste Button
        Button pasteButton = new Button(shell, SWT.PUSH);
        pasteButton.setText("Paste");
        clearButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
                text.setText("");
                text.forceFocus();
            }
        });
        copyButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
                text.copy();
                text.forceFocus();
            }
        });
        cutButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
                text.cut();
                text.forceFocus();
            }
        });
        pasteButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
                text.paste();
                text.forceFocus();
            }
        });
        shell.setSize(400, 200);
        shell.open();
        while (!shell.isDisposed()) {
            if (!display.readAndDispatch())
                display.sleep();
        }
        display.dispose();
    }
}

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