A JavaFX TextArea control enables users of a JavaFX application to enter text spanning multiple lines, which can then be read by the application. The JavaFX TextArea control is represented by the class javafx.scene.control.TextArea
.
Creating a TextArea
You create a TextArea control by creating an instance of the TextArea
class. Here is a JavaFX TextArea
instantiation example:
TextArea textArea = new TextArea();
Adding a TextArea to the Scene Graph
For a JavaFX TextArea
to be visible the TextArea
object must be added to the scene graph. This means adding it to a Scene
object, or as child of a layout which is attached to a Scene
object.
Here is an example that attaches a JavaFX TextArea
to the scene graph:
package com.jenkov.javafx.controls;
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.TextArea;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
public class TextAreaExperiments extends Application {
@Override
public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception {
primaryStage.setTitle("TextArea Experiment 1");
TextArea textArea = new TextArea();
VBox vbox = new VBox(textArea);
Scene scene = new Scene(vbox, 200, 100);
primaryStage.setScene(scene);
primaryStage.show();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Application.launch(args);
}
}
The result of running the above JavaFX TextArea
example is an application that looks like this:
Reading the Text of a TextArea
You can read the text entered into a TextArea
via its getText()
method. Here is an example of reading text of a JavaFX TextArea
control via its getText()
method:
String text = textArea.getText();
Here is a full example that shows a TextArea
and a Button
and which reads the text entered into the TextArea
when the button is clicked:
package com.jenkov.javafx.controls;
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.control.TextArea;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
public class TextAreaExperiments extends Application {
@Override
public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception {
primaryStage.setTitle("TextArea Experiment 1");
TextArea textArea = new TextArea();
Button button = new Button("Click to get text");
button.setMinWidth(50);
button.setOnAction(action -> {
System.out.println(textArea.getText());
textArea.setText("Clicked!");
});
VBox vbox = new VBox(textArea, button);
Scene scene = new Scene(vbox, 200, 100);
primaryStage.setScene(scene);
primaryStage.show();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Application.launch(args);
}
}
Setting the Text of a TextArea
You can set the text of a TextArea
control via its setText()
method. Here is an example of setting the text of a TextArea
control via setText()
:
textArea.setText("New Text");