KeyEvent processing

Question

Hello everybody!
Is there anyway to prevent a component from process KeyEvents ?
I could create a subclass with a new boolean bound property called keyEventsDisabled.
I know there is a method named processComponentKeyEvent( KeyEvent e ).
Then I could override this method and consume all key events:
protected void processComponentKeyEvent(KeyEvent e) {
if ( keyEventDisabled ) {
e.cosume();
But I will be forced to make this adjustment for every component.(that meaning I should create a new sublclass for every component, which is a unhandy task)
Is there a simple way ? Can u suggest me anything else ?
thx

Answer 1

I assume you want to disable KeyEvents to all components at the same time. I have never tried it, but I have read some posts on using a glass pane. The code would be something like:
Component glassPane = frame.getGlassPane();
glassPane.addMouseListener( new MouseAdapter() {} );
glassPane.addKeyListener( new KeyAdapter()
     public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
          e.consume();
glassPane.setVisible(true);
glassPane.requestFocus();The glass pane is an invisible component that sits over the entire frame and should therefore intercept all KeyStrokes and Mouse events. When you are ready to accept input again use glassPane.setVisible(false). Hope it works.
If it doesn't work you could add the KeyListener to each component. A little more work but better than subclassing each component.
This section from the Swing tutorial may give you a little more information on Glass Panes:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/components/rootpane.html