The Java Developers Almanac 1.4

Home > List of Packages > javax.swing.text [49 examples] > JFormattedTextField [3 examples]

e996. Creating a Text Field to Display and Edit a Date

This example uses a JFormattedTextField to allow the display and editing of a date. By default, when the component loses the focus and the modified value is a valid date, the modified value is saved. Otherwise, if the modified value is not a valid date, the modified value is discarded and the old value is displayed.

    // Support a date in the MEDIUM format in the current locale;
    // see e322 Formatting and Parsing a Date Using Default Formats.
    // For Locale.ENGLISH, the format would be Feb 8, 2002.
    JFormattedTextField tft1 = new JFormattedTextField(new Date());
    
    // Support a date in the SHORT format using the current locale.
    // For Locale.ENGLISH, the format would be 2/8/02.
    JFormattedTextField tft2 = new JFormattedTextField(DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.SHORT));
    tft2.setValue(new Date());
    
    // Support a date with the custom format: 2002-8-2
    JFormattedTextField tft3 = new JFormattedTextField(new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-M-d"));
    tft3.setValue(new Date());
    // See also e320 Formatting a Date Using a Custom Format
    
    // Retrieve the date from the text field
    Date date = (Date)tft3.getValue();

The following example demonstrates how to dynamically change the format:

    // Change the format to: 2/8/2002
    DateFormatter fmt = (DateFormatter)tft3.getFormatter();
    fmt.setFormat(new SimpleDateFormat("d/M/yyyy"));
    
    // Reformat the display
    tft3.setValue(tft3.getValue());