[lisae]

I am brand new to Java and I can't seem to figure this out. I have a JTable with 4 columns. The first column is a jCheckBox which is working fine. The other three are JComboBoxes. They work fine when you click them and select from the list, but our end users only want to navigate with the keyboard. They want to be able to tab to the column and just start typing the first letter of the item that they want to choose from the list and have that pop up the list and scroll to the first item in the list that starts with the letter the typed. Does anyone know how to do this? I have been playing with this for a week now and I can't seem to make it work. Please help. Below is the code for my table. Any help would be appreciated greatly. Thanks,
Lisa

 
private void LoadSTCGTable(){
     //Connect to database
        try {
                connection = ConnecttoDB.connect();
                // Tell me why I couldn't connect
            } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
                ex.printStackTrace();
            } catch (SQLException ex) {
                ex.printStackTrace();
            }  
              
     try {
            // Get listing of Squad Types
            tblSTCG.setModel(new javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel(
            new Object [][] {
                {new Boolean(false), null, null, null},
            },
            new String [] {
                "SELECT", "SQUAD TYPE", "SQUAD CLASS", "SQUAD GROUP"
            }
         ));
           
          //Add Checkbox column
           tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setCellEditor(tblSTCG.getDefaultEditor(Boolean.class)); 
           tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setCellRenderer(tblSTCG.getDefaultRenderer(Boolean.class));       
           tblSTCG.setSelectionMode(ListSelectionModel.MULTIPLE_INTERVAL_SELECTION);
           
           Whichquerytoread = 1;
           GetSql();
           sql = textfileinfo;
           stmt = connection.createStatement();
           rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql);
           md = rs.getMetaData();
           typelist = new ArrayList();
           // Loop Through Results
           typelist.add(new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc("",""));
           while (rs.next())
            {
              int i = 1;
             typelist.add( new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc(rs.getString(2),rs.getString(1))); 
                     
            }
          s1 = new TreeSet(typelist);
          
          typelist = new ArrayList(s1);
          AllTypeList = new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc[typelist.size()]; 
    	
          for (int i = 0; i<typelist.size(); i++)
             AllTypeList[i]=(PairedDescriptionCodeDesc)typelist.get(i); 
             rs.close(); 
         }
           catch (SQLException ex) {
           ex.printStackTrace();
         } 
        Vector typedata = new Vector();
         for (int i=0;i<typelist.size();i++) 
         {
            typedata.addElement((PairedDescriptionCodeDesc)typelist.get(i));
         }
         cmboType = new JComboBox();
         cmboType.setModel(new DefaultComboBoxModel(typedata));
         cmboType.putClientProperty("JComboBox.isTableCellEditor", Boolean.TRUE);
         cmboType = new JComboBox(AllTypeList);
         cmboType.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder()); 
         squadcol = tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(1);
         DefaultCellEditor cmboTypeEditor = new DefaultCellEditor(cmboType);
         cmboTypeEditor.addCellEditorListener(new NewRowCellEditorListener(tblSTCG));
         squadcol.setCellEditor(cmboTypeEditor);
     
        try {
            // Get listing of Squad Class
           Whichquerytoread = 2;
           GetSql();
           sql = textfileinfo;
           stmt = connection.createStatement();
           rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql);
           md = rs.getMetaData();
           classlist = new ArrayList();
           // Loop Through Results
           classlist.add(new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc("",""));
           while (rs.next())
            {
             classlist.add(new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc(rs.getString(2),rs.getString(1)));                     
            }
          s1 = new TreeSet(classlist);
          
          classlist = new ArrayList(s1);
          AllClassList = new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc[classlist.size()]; 
    	
          for (int i = 1; i<classlist.size(); i++)
             AllClassList[i]=(PairedDescriptionCodeDesc)classlist.get(i); 
             rs.close(); 
        }
           catch (SQLException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
        } 
        Vector classdata = new Vector();
         for (int i=0;i<classlist.size();i++) 
         classdata.addElement((PairedDescriptionCodeDesc)classlist.get(i));
         cmboClass = new JComboBox();
         cmboClass.setModel(new DefaultComboBoxModel(classdata));
         cmboClass = new JComboBox(AllClassList);  
         classcol = tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(2);
         DefaultCellEditor cmboClassEditor = new DefaultCellEditor(cmboClass);
         classcol.setCellEditor(new DefaultCellEditor(cmboClass)); 
         cmboClassEditor.addCellEditorListener(new NewRowCellEditorListener(tblSTCG));
         try {
            // Get listing of Squad Group
            Whichquerytoread = 3;
           GetSql();
           sql = textfileinfo;
           stmt = connection.createStatement();
           rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql);
           md = rs.getMetaData();
           grouplist = new ArrayList();
           // Loop Through Results
           grouplist.add(new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc("",""));
           while (rs.next())
            {
              int i = 0;
             grouplist.add( new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc(rs.getString(2), rs.getString(1))); 
                     
            }
          s1 = new TreeSet(grouplist);
     
          grouplist = new ArrayList(s1);
          AllGroupList = new PairedDescriptionCodeDesc[grouplist.size()]; 
    	
          for (int i = 0; i<grouplist.size(); i++)
             AllGroupList[i]=(PairedDescriptionCodeDesc)grouplist.get(i); 
              rs.close(); 
         }
           catch (SQLException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
         } 
        Vector groupdata = new Vector();
         for (int i=0;i<grouplist.size();i++) 
         groupdata.addElement((PairedDescriptionCodeDesc)grouplist.get(i));
         cmboGroup = new JComboBox();
         cmboGroup.setModel(new DefaultComboBoxModel(groupdata));
         cmboGroup = new JComboBox(AllGroupList);  
         groupcol = tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(3);
         DefaultCellEditor cmboEditor = new DefaultCellEditor(cmboGroup);
         cmboEditor.addCellEditorListener(new NewRowCellEditorListener(tblSTCG));
         groupcol.setCellEditor(cmboEditor);
    
         
         tblSTCG.setShowHorizontalLines(false);
         tblSTCG.setShowVerticalLines(false);
                  
         TableColumnModel columnModel = tblSTCG.getColumnModel();
         TableColumn column;
         tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(0).setPreferredWidth(5);
         tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(1).setPreferredWidth(100);
         tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(2).setPreferredWidth(100);
         tblSTCG.getColumnModel().getColumn(3).setPreferredWidth(100);
         scpSTCG.setViewportView(tblSTCG); 
                 
     }
 
 private class NewRowCellEditorListener implements CellEditorListener
    {
        JTable editingTable;
        public NewRowCellEditorListener(JTable table)
        {
            editingTable = table;
        }
        public void editingStopped(ChangeEvent e)
        {
            if(editingTable.getRowCount() == editingTable.getSelectedRow() + 1)
            {
                ((DefaultTableModel)editingTable.getModel()).addRow(new Object [] {null, null, null, null});                
            }
        }
        public void editingCanceled(ChangeEvent e)
        {}
    }

[glennji]

Not sure if it's any help, but the following article describes how to wire-in autocompletion to a JComboBox:

Inside JComboBox: adding automatic completion

When you tab to the component, does it become active i.e. you can use the up and down arrows, or is that the problem?

[lisae]

Thanks so much for the help. I will check this out and see if this will fix my problem.
When I tab to the combobox it doesn't seem to have focus on the component unless I hit the F2 key. I can't use the arrows until I either click on the component or hit F2. This is what I would like to avoid. I would like to be able to tab to the component and then use the down arrow or type a letter to show the pop up, but I can't seem to make that happen.
Thanks Again,
Lisa

[christiaan_se]

Hi Lisa,
I think your best bet is to add KeyListener to the table addKeyListener(KeyListener l) and listen to certain keys and next call JTable.editCellAt(int row, int column) to put the cell in edit mode.

hope this helps,
Christiaan

[lisae]

I know this question is going to sound silly, but I am new to Java and somewhat confused on how things work, but Since I have four columns, the first being a checkbox which is working fine and the next three being ComboBoxes, would I need to check which column that is selected and then somehow set the focus to the JComboBox component inside the cell? The whole focus thing seems to be an issue for the
ComboBoxes.
Thanks
Lisa

[christiaan_se]

Hi,
I think the problem is caused in the way the JComboBox works. It is quite a complex component actually and often behaves a bit different than you would expect, which can be quite confusing for a newcomer. I think the following code should help you:

import java.awt.*;
import java.util.Vector;

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.AncestorEvent;
import javax.swing.event.AncestorListener;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;

public class Main extends JFrame {

	public Main(String title) throws HeadlessException {
		super(title);
		setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
		setSize(new Dimension(500,500));
		setLayout(new BorderLayout());
		final JTable table = new JTable(new DefaultTableModel(5, 4));
		
		Vector<String> options = new Vector<String>();
		options.add("option 1");
		options.add("option 2");
		options.add("option 3");
		final JComboBox combobox = new JComboBox(options);
		combobox.addAncestorListener(new AncestorListener() {

			public void ancestorAdded(AncestorEvent event) {
                                                   //make sure combobox handles key events
				combobox.requestFocusInWindow();
				
			}

			public void ancestorMoved(AncestorEvent event) {

			}

			public void ancestorRemoved(AncestorEvent event) {
			}
		});

		table.getColumnModel().getColumn(2).setCellEditor(new DefaultCellEditor(combobox));
		
		add(new JScrollPane(table));
	}

	/**
	 * @param args
	 */
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Main m = new Main("test");
		m.pack();
		m.setVisible(true);
	}

}

kind regards,
Christiaan

[lisae]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It works great.
I have been trying to get this thing to work correctly for a couple of weeks and I had tried a million different things and still couldn't get it quite right.
Thanks so much for your help.
You are a lifesaver.
Lisa

[lindasussed]

I'm a newbie from Kansas.
Really like this forum so far and am looking forward to contributing!

[lindasussed]

hello to all of you guys,
I stumbled on this great site. Am going through a dark night of the soul and it was no chance I ended up here. Look forward to reading all the info and posts.