Selecting multiple text in JTextArea

Question

Howdy Java folks! I've been busting my butt trying to select more than one piece of text in a JTextArea. For example, I would like to:
textArea.select(0, 4); // and then select another piece of text
textArea.select(7, 9); // and show both text snippets highlighted
But I would like to keep both and possible more pieces of text highlighted. The 2nd select() will override the first thus only showing the last area selected.
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks a mucho.

Answer 1

Try this. It selects vertical block of text.
best regards
Stas
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.datatransfer.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
import javax.swing.plaf.*;
import javax.swing.plaf.basic.*;
public class Test
JFrame frame;
JTextArea ta;
public static void main(String args[])
new Test();
public Test()
frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
ta=new JTextArea("test11111\ntest22222\ntest33333\ntest44444\ntest55555\n");
ta.setCaret(new Caret_());
JScrollPane scroll=new JScrollPane(ta);
frame.getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.getContentPane().add(scroll,BorderLayout.CENTER);
JButton copy=new JButton("Copy");
ActionListener lst=new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
try {
Highlighter.Highlight[] selections= ta.getHighlighter().getHighlights();
String text="";
int cnt=selections.length;
for (int i=0; i<cnt; i++) {
int start=selections.getStartOffset();
int end=selections[i].getEndOffset();
String selectedText=ta.getDocument().getText(start,end-start);
text+=selectedText+'\n';
System.err.println(selectedText);
StringSelection ss=new StringSelection(text);
Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemClipboard().setContents(ss,ss);
catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
copy.addActionListener(lst);
frame.getContentPane().add(copy,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
frame.setSize(300,200);
frame.setVisible(true);
class Caret_ extends DefaultCaret {
Point lastPoint=new Point(0,0);
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) {
super.mouseMoved(e);
lastPoint=new Point(e.getX(),e.getY());
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
super.mouseClicked(e);
getComponent().getHighlighter().removeAllHighlights();
protected void moveCaret(MouseEvent e) {
Point pt = new Point(e.getX(), e.getY());
Position.Bias[] biasRet = new Position.Bias[1];
int pos = getComponent().getUI().viewToModel(getComponent(), pt, biasRet);
if(biasRet[0] == null)
biasRet[0] = Position.Bias.Forward;
if (pos >= 0) {
setDot(pos);
Point start=new Point(Math.min(lastPoint.x,pt.x),Math.min(lastPoint.y,pt.y));
Point end=new Point(Math.max(lastPoint.x,pt.x),Math.max(lastPoint.y,pt.y));
customHighlight(start,end);
protected void customHighlight(Point start, Point end) {
getComponent().getHighlighter().removeAllHighlights();
int y=start.y;
int firstX=start.x;
int lastX=end.x;
int pos1 = getComponent().getUI().viewToModel(getComponent(), new Point(firstX,y));
int pos2 = getComponent().getUI().viewToModel(getComponent(), new Point(lastX,y));
try {
getComponent().getHighlighter().addHighlight(pos1,pos2,((DefaultHighlighter)getComponent().getHighlighter()).DefaultPainter);
catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
y++;
while (y<end.y) {
int pos1new = getComponent().getUI().viewToModel(getComponent(), new Point(firstX,y));
int pos2new = getComponent().getUI().viewToModel(getComponent(), new Point(lastX,y));
if (pos1!=pos1new) {
pos1=pos1new;
pos2=pos2new;
try {
getComponent().getHighlighter().addHighlight(pos1,pos2,((DefaultHighlighter)getComponent().getHighlighter()).DefaultPainter);
catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
y++;