Thread: Using JComboBox in JFileChooser and having problems

I figured out how to add a delete key, which is what I originally made the thing for, to see if I could do it.

Now, I replaced the JTextField where you put in the file name and put in a JComboBox instead. I tried to get it now so that it will change the items in the JComboBox as you type, making it so that it will show all the files that start with the letters in the JComboBox. I had it so that it was supposed to let you edit the first row and update so that if you choose another row, it will change the contents of the first row in the combo box to the text of that row.

However, I had to remove the first row, maybe that's the issue.

For one thing, it's not letting you type right away, despite me having set the first row's index to already be selected, you have to go and click it. (Which is annoying.)

I have just fixed part of the thing now so that the exceptions go away. However, it's not adding any items to the JComboBox when I type.

It has only the first row able to be edited and the rest not.

I had wanted it to be basically like a JTextField, but with a JComboBox so that it could display the list of files that start with the characters in the JTextField.

It took me a while to figure out what component went where in the JFileChooser component hierarchy, but I did, so that's not the issue here.

It is saying that when I remove the item at 0 in my ActionListener, that that is the cause of the exception. I don't know how to remedy it. JComboBox doesn't have a setItemAt(Object item, int index) method. The only way I could change the contents of the item was to remove then re-add with the new contents.

(All my stuff with the delete button works, though I wish it would auto-refresh as right now, it'll still show the item and let you keep "deleting" it, unless you hit refresh on the JFileChooser, but I can't find a way to refresh it, so I had to make it exit the file chooser rather than waste the user's time. You don't need to look at the stuff that involves the delete button.)

 
import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
import java.io.File;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentListener;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentEvent;
 
public class FileChooserWithDelete extends JFileChooser
{
 
 
   private JComboBox<String> comboBox;
 
   public FileChooserWithDelete()
   {
      super("./");
 
      JButton delete = new JButton("Delete");
      delete.setToolTipText("Delete file");
 
      comboBox = new JComboBox<String>();
      comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
      comboBox.setSelectedIndex(0);
 
      comboBox.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener() {
 
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               {
                  if (comboBox.getSelectedIndex() != 0)
                  {
                     comboBox.setEditable(false);
                     comboBox.removeItemAt(0);
                     comboBox.insertItemAt((String) comboBox.getSelectedItem(), 0);
                  }
 
                  else
                     comboBox.setEditable(true);
 
               }});
 
      final javax.swing.text.JTextComponent tc = (javax.swing.text.JTextComponent) comboBox.getEditor().getEditorComponent();
      tc.getDocument().addDocumentListener(
            new DocumentListener() {
 
 
               public void changedUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
                  populateComboBox();
 
               }
 
               public void removeUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
 
 
               }
 
               public void insertUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
 
 
 
               }
 
 
 
 
            });
 
 
      java.awt.Container cont = (java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3]);
 
      java.awt.Container cont2 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[3]);
      java.awt.Container cont3 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[0]);
 
      cont3.remove(1);
 
      cont3.add(comboBox, 1);
 
 
 
 
 
      delete.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener()
            {
 
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               {
 
                  File f= getSelectedFile();
 
                  java.awt.Container cont = (java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3]);
 
                  java.awt.Container cont2 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[3]);
                  java.awt.Container cont3 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[0]);
 
 
                  String text = (String) comboBox.getItemAt(0);
 
                  if (f == null)
                     f = new File("./" + text);
 
 
 
                  int option =  JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Are you sure you wnat to delete?", "Delete file " + f.getName() + "?", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION, JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE);
 
                  if (option == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION)
                  {
 
                     if (!f.exists() || jtf.getText() == null)
                     {
                        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "File doesn't exist.", "Could not find file.", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
                        cancelSelection();
 
                     }
 
                     else
                     {
                        f.delete();
 
                        cancelSelection();
                     }
 
 
 
 
 
                  }
               }});
 
 
 
      cont2.setLayout(new java.awt.FlowLayout());
 
 
 
      cont2.add(delete);
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
 
      FileChooserWithDelete fcwd = new FileChooserWithDelete();
 
 
      fcwd.showOpenDialog(null);
 
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
 
 
   private void populateComboBox()
   {
 
      comboBox.removeAllItems();
 
      comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
 
      File f = new File("./");
 
      java.io.File[] files = f.listFiles();
 
      String str = comboBox.getItemAt(0);
 
      int j = 1;
 
 
      for (int i=0; i < files.length; i++)
      {
 
         if (files[i].getName().startsWith(str))
            comboBox.insertItemAt( files[i].getName(), j);
         j++;
 
      }
 
 
 
 
   }
 
 
 
 
}

Note, this already is a SSCCE as it has a main method and I intend to use it in something already more developed, er, once, and if, I get this to work.

I replaced the JTextField in the JFileChooser with a JComboBox.

It is supposed to store all the files that start with the text in the first row of the JCombobBox (kind of like the text field on Windows that will show all files that start with something so you can find them without having to fully type them.)

However, the typing part now works, but it's not adding any files to the list below the first row. I can't figure out why.

I've tried a ton of stuff including catching exceptions and SwingUtilities but it's still throwing those errors. I found that I don't need to check for a changedUpdate(), only insert and remove, but it says that I'm trying to mutate it in notification or something like that. I also caught that I hadn't added a bracket in a for loop, and fixed that, but that's not causing the problem. At one point, I got it to work, kinda, but it was throwing tons of exceptions and somehow, maybe due to oversensitive clicks, it was sometimes moving up the directory hierarchy. (i.e from C:/Users/Bla bla bla to C:/Users)

It is showing these two lines as the cause of the attempt to mutate in notification error message.

comboBox.removeAllItems();
comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);


Here's the entire code:

 
 
import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
import java.io.File;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentListener;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentEvent;
 
public class FileChooserWithDelete extends JFileChooser
{
 
   private String textFieldString;
   private JComboBox<String> comboBox;
 
   public FileChooserWithDelete()
   {
      super("./");
 
      JButton delete = new JButton("Delete");
      delete.setToolTipText("Delete file");
 
      comboBox = new JComboBox<String>();
      comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
      comboBox.setSelectedIndex(0);
 
      comboBox.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener() {
 
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               {
 
                  if (comboBox.getSelectedIndex() != 0)
                  {
                     comboBox.setEditable(false);
                     comboBox.removeItemAt(0);
                     comboBox.insertItemAt((String) comboBox.getSelectedItem(), 0);
                  }
 
                  else
                     comboBox.setEditable(true);
 
 
 
               }});
 
      final javax.swing.text.JTextComponent tc = (javax.swing.text.JTextComponent) comboBox.getEditor().getEditorComponent();
      tc.getDocument().addDocumentListener(
            new DocumentListener() {
 
 
               public void changedUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
                  //populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Change update");
 
               }
 
               public void removeUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
                  populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Remove Update");
 
               }
 
               public void insertUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
 
                  populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Insert update");
 
               }
 
 
 
 
            });
 
 
      java.awt.Container cont = (java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3]);
 
      java.awt.Container cont2 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[3]);
      java.awt.Container cont3 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[0]);
 
      cont3.remove(1);
 
      cont3.add(comboBox, 1);
 
 
 
 
 
      delete.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener()
            {
 
 
 
 
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               {
 
                  File f= getSelectedFile();
 
                  java.awt.Container cont = (java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3]);
 
                  java.awt.Container cont2 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[3]);
                  java.awt.Container cont3 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[0]);
                  //javax.swing.JTextField jtf = (javax.swing.JTextField) (cont3.getComponents()[1]);
 
                  String text = (String) comboBox.getItemAt(0);
 
                  if (f == null)
                     f = new File("./" + text);
 
 
 
                  int option =  JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Are you sure you wnat to delete?", "Delete file " + f.getName() + "?", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION, JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE);
 
                  if (option == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION)
                  {
 
                     if (!f.exists() || text == null)
                     {
                        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "File doesn't exist.", "Could not find file.", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
                        cancelSelection();
 
                     }
 
                     else
                     {
                        f.delete();
 
                        cancelSelection();
                     }
 
 
 
 
 
                  }
               }});
 
 
 
      cont2.setLayout(new java.awt.FlowLayout());
 
 
      //((java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3])).add(delete);
      cont2.add(delete);
 
      //cont2.add(delete);
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
 
      FileChooserWithDelete fcwd = new FileChooserWithDelete();
 
 
      fcwd.showOpenDialog(null);
 
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
   private void setTextString(String textFieldString)
   {
      this.textFieldString = textFieldString;
   }
 
   private String getTextString()
   {
      return textFieldString;
   }
 
   private void populateComboBox()
   {
 
      System.out.println("Method called.");
 
 
 
 
      comboBox.removeAllItems();
      comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
 
 
 
 
 
 
      File f = new File("./");
 
 
      java.io.File[] files = f.listFiles();
 
      String str = comboBox.getItemAt(0);
 
      int j = 1;
 
 
      for (int i=0; i < files.length; i++)
      {
 
         //System.out.println("Added " + i);
         if (files[i].getName().startsWith(str))
         {
            comboBox.insertItemAt( files[i].getName(), j);
            j++;
         }
 
      }
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
 
 
 
}

Now, the typing thing doesn't work anymore. It did earlier because it was never populating the JComboBox with the items I wanted it to and now that I had it call the methods that do populate it, it's going haywire.

It also doesn't like these lines at times in my ActionListener:

comboBox.setEditable(false);
comboBox.removeItemAt(0);
comboBox.insertItemAt((String) comboBox.getSelectedItem(), 0);

Ok, now it will add the stuff with the new code but it is adding everything to the combobox and it shouldn't. I think it is adding it when the thing is blank, then it is somehow removing the first row though it shouldn't, hence it's uneditable.

I don't know why the clowns that designed JComboBox couldn't have used the extra few minutes to make a setContentAt(Object item, int index) method. But they didn't, so I have to remove and add it back with the new content if it is selected.

 
import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
import java.io.File;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentListener;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentEvent;
 
public class FileChooserWithDelete extends JFileChooser
{
 
   private String textFieldString;
   private JComboBox<String> comboBox;
 
   public FileChooserWithDelete()
   {
      super("./");
 
      JButton delete = new JButton("Delete");
      delete.setToolTipText("Delete file");
 
      comboBox = new JComboBox<String>();
      comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
      comboBox.setSelectedIndex(0);
      comboBox.setEditable(true);
 
 
      comboBox.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener() {
 
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               {
 
                  try
                  {
                     if (comboBox.getSelectedIndex() != 0)
                     {
                        comboBox.setEditable(false);
                        comboBox.removeItemAt(0);
                        comboBox.insertItemAt((String) comboBox.getSelectedItem(), 0);
                        System.out.println("False");
                     }
 
                     else
                     {
                        System.out.println("True");
                        comboBox.setEditable(true);
 
                     }
                  }
 
                  catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException aioobe)
                  {
 
 
                  }
 
 
 
               }});
 
      final javax.swing.text.JTextComponent tc = (javax.swing.text.JTextComponent) comboBox.getEditor().getEditorComponent();
      tc.getDocument().addDocumentListener(
            new DocumentListener() {
 
 
               public void changedUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
                  //populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Change update");
 
               }
 
               public void removeUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
                  populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Remove Update");
 
               }
 
               public void insertUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
 
                  populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Insert update");
 
               }
 
 
 
 
            });
 
 
      java.awt.Container cont = (java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3]);
 
      java.awt.Container cont2 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[3]);
      java.awt.Container cont3 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[0]);
 
      cont3.remove(1);
 
      cont3.add(comboBox, 1);
 
 
 
 
 
      delete.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener()
            {
 
 
 
 
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               {
 
                  File f= getSelectedFile();
 
                  java.awt.Container cont = (java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3]);
 
                  java.awt.Container cont2 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[3]);
                  java.awt.Container cont3 = (java.awt.Container) (cont.getComponents()[0]);
                  //javax.swing.JTextField jtf = (javax.swing.JTextField) (cont3.getComponents()[1]);
 
                  String text = (String) comboBox.getItemAt(0);
 
                  if (f == null)
                     f = new File("./" + text);
 
 
 
                  int option =  JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Are you sure you wnat to delete?", "Delete file " + f.getName() + "?", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION, JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE);
 
                  if (option == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION)
                  {
 
                     if (!f.exists() || text == null)
                     {
                        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "File doesn't exist.", "Could not find file.", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
                        cancelSelection();
 
                     }
 
                     else
                     {
                        f.delete();
 
                        cancelSelection();
                     }
 
 
 
 
 
                  }
               }});
 
 
 
      cont2.setLayout(new java.awt.FlowLayout());
 
 
      //((java.awt.Container) (getComponents()[3])).add(delete);
      cont2.add(delete);
 
      //cont2.add(delete);
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
 
      FileChooserWithDelete fcwd = new FileChooserWithDelete();
 
 
      fcwd.showOpenDialog(null);
 
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
   private void setTextString(String textFieldString)
   {
      this.textFieldString = textFieldString;
   }
 
   private String getTextString()
   {
      return textFieldString;
   }
 
   private void populateComboBox()
   {
 
 
      javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(
 
            new Runnable() 
            {
 
               public void run()
               {
 
                  System.out.println("Method called.");
 
                  System.out.println(comboBox.getItemAt(0));
 
 
                  comboBox.removeAllItems();
                  comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
 
 
 
 
 
 
                  File f = new File("./");
 
 
                  java.io.File[] files = f.listFiles();
 
                  String str = comboBox.getItemAt(0);
 
                  int j = 1;
 
 
                  for (int i=0; i < files.length; i++)
                  {
 
                  //System.out.println("Added " + i);
                     if (files[i].getName().startsWith(str))
                     {
                        comboBox.insertItemAt( files[i].getName(), j);
                        j++;
                     }
 
                  }
 
 
 
 
 
               }});
 
 
   }
 
 
 
 
}

If, for instance, if have

Bob.exe
Ben.txt
Beth.sql

and I select Ben.txt, I want it to set the value at the first row to Ben.txt, and I don't want the first row removed and I still want the first row editable.

The best I can explain this is how, in Windows, it can show a text field with a combobox below it that shows all the files that start with the text that you type in. That's pretty much what I'm trying to do.

Also, I don't want to use the word "snubbed", but it seems a lot of the threads around me are being answered, both before and after are answered for quite a distance, but not mine. And this seems to be happening an awful lot lately. I don't want to use the accusation of being blacklisted, but it kinda feels that way.

(In any event, I'm going to start cross-posting at Stack Overflow soon. I'm getting nearer to getting it but still am lost.)

Ok, here's an even shorter version of the program that just focuses on a JComboBox and a File and stuff. It doesn't have the JFileChooser stuff in it. The issue may be related to just JComboBox and File.

 
 
 
import java.io.File;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentListener;
import javax.swing.event.DocumentEvent;
 
public class JComboBoxProblem  extends javax.swing.JFrame;
{
 
 
   private JComboBox<String> comboBox;
 
 
   public JComboBoxProblem
   {
      super("Example");
 
 
 
      comboBox = new JComboBox<String>();
      comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
      comboBox.setSelectedIndex(0);
      comboBox.setEditable(true);
 
 
      comboBox.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener() {
 
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
               {
 
                  try
                  {
                     if (comboBox.getSelectedIndex() != 0)
                     {
                        comboBox.setEditable(false);
                        comboBox.removeItemAt(0);
                        comboBox.insertItemAt((String) comboBox.getSelectedItem(), 0);
                        System.out.println("False");
                     }
 
                     else
                     {
                        System.out.println("True");
                        comboBox.setEditable(true);
 
                     }
                  }
 
                  catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException aioobe)
                  {
 
 
                  }
 
 
 
               }});
 
      final javax.swing.text.JTextComponent tc = (javax.swing.text.JTextComponent) comboBox.getEditor().getEditorComponent();
      tc.getDocument().addDocumentListener(
            new DocumentListener() {
 
 
               public void changedUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
                  //populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Change update");
 
               }
 
               public void removeUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
                  populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Remove Update");
 
               }
 
               public void insertUpdate(DocumentEvent e)
               {
 
                  populateComboBox();
                  System.out.println("Insert update");
 
               }
 
 
 
 
            });
 
 
      add(comboBox);
 
 
 
               setVisible(true);
 
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
 
 
 
      new JComboBoxProblem();
 
 
 
 
 
   }
 
 
 
   private void populateComboBox()
   {
 
 
      javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(
 
            new Runnable() 
            {
 
               public void run()
               {
 
                  System.out.println("Method called.");
 
                  System.out.println(comboBox.getItemAt(0));
 
 
                  comboBox.removeAllItems();
                  comboBox.insertItemAt("", 0);
 
 
 
 
 
 
                  File f = new File("./");
 
 
                  java.io.File[] files = f.listFiles();
 
                  String str = comboBox.getItemAt(0);
 
                  int j = 1;
 
 
                  for (int i=0; i < files.length; i++)
                  {
 
                  //System.out.println("Added " + i);
                     if (files[i].getName().startsWith(str))
                     {
                        comboBox.insertItemAt( files[i].getName(), j);
                        j++;
                     }
 
                  }
 
 
 
 
 
               }});
 
 
   }
 
 
 
 
}

Again, it is adding the files now, but it is always adding all of them. Worse, it won't let me change it and instead starts to auto-complete on the top row, which I never want unless I select something, and I wasn't selecting something and it still happened.


This thread has been cross posted here:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20343177/using-a-jcombobox-on-a-jfilechooser-to-list-all-files-that-begin-with-text-of-fi

Although cross posting is allowed, for everyone's benefit, please read:

Java Programming Forums Cross Posting Rules

The Problems With Cross Posting

I got this issue to work, though I have other problems, but I'm opening another thread for that.