JavaFX 8 TextArea loose focus on tab - javafx-8

Question

Is it possible to change the default behaviour of a JavaFX TextArea, so that pressing Tab passes the focus to the next component?

Answer 1

While #ItachiUchiha solution works, as he states, it depends on the layout (box in his sample).
Based on this question, you can modify the default behavior of a TextArea, regardless of the layout.
But you will need to use for this private API, which may change at any time without notice.
In this sample Tab and Shitf+Tab will have the desired behavior, while Ctrl+Tab will insert "\t" on the text area.
#Override
public void start(Stage primaryStage) {
TextArea area = new TextArea();
area.addEventFilter(KeyEvent.KEY_PRESSED, (KeyEvent event) -> {
if (event.getCode() == KeyCode.TAB) {
TextAreaSkin skin = (TextAreaSkin) area.getSkin();
if (skin.getBehavior() instanceof TextAreaBehavior) {
TextAreaBehavior behavior = (TextAreaBehavior) skin.getBehavior();
if (event.isControlDown()) {
behavior.callAction("InsertTab");
} else if (event.isShiftDown()) {
behavior.callAction("TraversePrevious");
} else {
behavior.callAction("TraverseNext");
}
event.consume();
}
}
});
VBox root = new VBox(20, new Button("Button 1"), area, new Button("Button 2"));
Scene scene = new Scene(root, 400, 300);
primaryStage.setScene(scene);
primaryStage.show();
}

Answer 2

Well, you definitely can do this, but it depends on the Layout to which the TextArea is added to. I have created a simple example where a TextArea and a TextField are both added to a VBox. There is a keyEventHandler which monitors the keyPress event on the TextArea and sends the focus to the next child(if any)
import java.util.Iterator;
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.event.EventHandler;
import javafx.scene.Node;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.TextArea;
import javafx.scene.control.TextField;
import javafx.scene.input.KeyCode;
import javafx.scene.input.KeyEvent;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
public class TextAreaTabFocus extends Application {
#Override
public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception {
VBox box = new VBox();
TextArea textArea = new TextArea();
TextField textField = new TextField();
box.getChildren().addAll(textArea, textField);
final EventHandler<KeyEvent> keyEventHandler =
keyEvent -> {
if (keyEvent.getCode() == KeyCode.TAB) {
Iterator<Node> itr = box.getChildren().iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()) {
if(itr.next() == keyEvent.getSource()) {
if(itr.hasNext()){
itr.next().requestFocus();
}
//If TextArea is the last child
else {
box.getChildren().get(0).requestFocus();
}
break;
}
}
keyEvent.consume();
}
};
textArea.setOnKeyPressed(keyEventHandler);
Scene scene = new Scene(box, 200, 200);
primaryStage.setScene(scene);
primaryStage.show();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
launch(args);
}
}