Click a row in jTextArea and get the content of the row.

Question

I have an array of strings display in a textarea, once a user click on a row, i will like to display the content of the clicked row. I am new in java swing. how should i achieve it? thank you all!!

Answer 1

Working example with CaretListener:
package org.apex.sunforums;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
* TextAreaLineSelectionTest.java
* @author mrityunjoy_saha
* @version 1.0
* @since Apex 1.2
public class TextAreaLineSelectionTest {
    public void createUI() {
        final JFrame frame = new JFrame("TextAreaLineSelectionTest");
        frame.setSize(400, 400);
        JPanel panel = new JPanel();
        panel.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, 1));
        final JTextArea textField = new JTextArea(
                "Hello\nThis is a test class.\nTo show line selection\nType some text and see the magic.",
                10, 20);
        JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(textField,
                JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS,
                JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
        final JLabel display = new JLabel();
        textField.addCaretListener(new CaretListener() {
            public void caretUpdate(CaretEvent e) {
                String lineText = "";
                try {
                    int dot = e.getDot();
                    int rowStart = Utilities.getRowStart(textField, dot);
                    int rowEnd = Utilities.getRowEnd(textField, dot);
                    lineText = textField.getDocument().getText(rowStart,
                            (rowEnd - rowStart));
                } catch (BadLocationException ex) {
                    ex.printStackTrace();
                display.setText(lineText);
        panel.add(scroll);
        panel.add(display);
        frame.getContentPane().add(panel);
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        final TextAreaLineSelectionTest test = new TextAreaLineSelectionTest();
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                test.createUI();
}Thanks,
Mrityunjoy