JDKTM 7 Documentation




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Standard Ed. 7
DRAFT ea-b59
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java.awt.event
Class ActionEvent

java.lang.Object
  extended by java.util.EventObject
      extended by java.awt.AWTEvent
          extended by java.awt.event.ActionEvent
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable
public class ActionEvent
extends AWTEvent

A semantic event which indicates that a component-defined action occurred. This high-level event is generated by a component (such as a Button) when the component-specific action occurs (such as being pressed). The event is passed to every ActionListener object that registered to receive such events using the component's addActionListener method.

Note: To invoke an ActionEvent on a Button using the keyboard, use the Space bar.

The object that implements the ActionListener interface gets this ActionEvent when the event occurs. The listener is therefore spared the details of processing individual mouse movements and mouse clicks, and can instead process a "meaningful" (semantic) event like "button pressed".

An unspecified behavior will be caused if the id parameter of any particular ActionEvent instance is not in the range from ACTION_FIRST to ACTION_LAST.

Since:
1.1
See Also:
ActionListener, Tutorial: Java 1.1 Event Model, Serialized Form

Field Summary
Modifier and Type Field and Description
static int ACTION_FIRST
          The first number in the range of ids used for action events.
static int ACTION_LAST
          The last number in the range of ids used for action events.
static int ACTION_PERFORMED
          This event id indicates that a meaningful action occured.
static int ALT_MASK
          The alt modifier.
static int CTRL_MASK
          The control modifier.
static int META_MASK
          The meta modifier.
static int SHIFT_MASK
          The shift modifier.
 
Fields inherited from class java.awt.AWTEvent
ACTION_EVENT_MASK, ADJUSTMENT_EVENT_MASK, COMPONENT_EVENT_MASK, consumed, CONTAINER_EVENT_MASK, FOCUS_EVENT_MASK, HIERARCHY_BOUNDS_EVENT_MASK, HIERARCHY_EVENT_MASK, id, INPUT_METHOD_EVENT_MASK, INVOCATION_EVENT_MASK, ITEM_EVENT_MASK, KEY_EVENT_MASK, MOUSE_EVENT_MASK, MOUSE_MOTION_EVENT_MASK, MOUSE_WHEEL_EVENT_MASK, PAINT_EVENT_MASK, RESERVED_ID_MAX, TEXT_EVENT_MASK, WINDOW_EVENT_MASK, WINDOW_FOCUS_EVENT_MASK, WINDOW_STATE_EVENT_MASK
 
Fields inherited from class java.util.EventObject
source
 
Constructor Summary
Constructor and Description
ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command)
          Constructs an ActionEvent object.
ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command, int modifiers)
          Constructs an ActionEvent object with modifier keys.
ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command, long when, int modifiers)
          Constructs an ActionEvent object with the specified modifier keys and timestamp.
 
Method Summary
Modifier and Type Method and Description
 String getActionCommand()
          Returns the command string associated with this action.
 int getModifiers()
          Returns the modifier keys held down during this action event.
 long getWhen()
          Returns the timestamp of when this event occurred.
 String paramString()
          Returns a parameter string identifying this action event.
 
Methods inherited from class java.awt.AWTEvent
consume, getID, isConsumed, setSource, toString
 
Methods inherited from class java.util.EventObject
getSource
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 

Field Detail

SHIFT_MASK

public static final int SHIFT_MASK
The shift modifier. An indicator that the shift key was held down during the event.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

CTRL_MASK

public static final int CTRL_MASK
The control modifier. An indicator that the control key was held down during the event.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

META_MASK

public static final int META_MASK
The meta modifier. An indicator that the meta key was held down during the event.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALT_MASK

public static final int ALT_MASK
The alt modifier. An indicator that the alt key was held down during the event.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ACTION_FIRST

public static final int ACTION_FIRST
The first number in the range of ids used for action events.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ACTION_LAST

public static final int ACTION_LAST
The last number in the range of ids used for action events.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ACTION_PERFORMED

public static final int ACTION_PERFORMED
This event id indicates that a meaningful action occured.

See Also:
Constant Field Values
Constructor Detail

ActionEvent

public ActionEvent(Object source,
                   int id,
                   String command)
Constructs an ActionEvent object.

This method throws an IllegalArgumentException if source is null. A null command string is legal, but not recommended.

Parameters:
source - The object that originated the event
id - An integer that identifies the event. For information on allowable values, see the class description for ActionEvent
command - A string that may specify a command (possibly one of several) associated with the event
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if source is null
See Also:
EventObject.getSource(), AWTEvent.getID(), getActionCommand()

ActionEvent

public ActionEvent(Object source,
                   int id,
                   String command,
                   int modifiers)
Constructs an ActionEvent object with modifier keys.

This method throws an IllegalArgumentException if source is null. A null command string is legal, but not recommended.

Parameters:
source - The object that originated the event
id - An integer that identifies the event. For information on allowable values, see the class description for ActionEvent
command - A string that may specify a command (possibly one of several) associated with the event
modifiers - The modifier keys down during event (shift, ctrl, alt, meta). Passing negative parameter is not recommended. Zero value means that no modifiers were passed
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if source is null
See Also:
EventObject.getSource(), AWTEvent.getID(), getActionCommand(), getModifiers()

ActionEvent

public ActionEvent(Object source,
                   int id,
                   String command,
                   long when,
                   int modifiers)
Constructs an ActionEvent object with the specified modifier keys and timestamp.

This method throws an IllegalArgumentException if source is null. A null command string is legal, but not recommended.

Parameters:
source - The object that originated the event
id - An integer that identifies the event. For information on allowable values, see the class description for ActionEvent
command - A string that may specify a command (possibly one of several) associated with the event
modifiers - The modifier keys down during event (shift, ctrl, alt, meta). Passing negative parameter is not recommended. Zero value means that no modifiers were passed
when - A long that gives the time the event occurred. Passing negative or zero value is not recommended
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if source is null
Since:
1.4
See Also:
EventObject.getSource(), AWTEvent.getID(), getActionCommand(), getModifiers(), getWhen()
Method Detail

getActionCommand

public String getActionCommand()
Returns the command string associated with this action. This string allows a "modal" component to specify one of several commands, depending on its state. For example, a single button might toggle between "show details" and "hide details". The source object and the event would be the same in each case, but the command string would identify the intended action.

Note that if a null command string was passed to the constructor for this ActionEvent, this this method returns null.

Returns:
the string identifying the command for this event

getWhen

public long getWhen()
Returns the timestamp of when this event occurred. Because an ActionEvent is a high-level, semantic event, the timestamp is typically the same as an underlying InputEvent.

Returns:
this event's timestamp
Since:
1.4

getModifiers

public int getModifiers()
Returns the modifier keys held down during this action event.

Returns:
the bitwise-or of the modifier constants

paramString

public String paramString()
Returns a parameter string identifying this action event. This method is useful for event-logging and for debugging.

Overrides:
paramString in class AWTEvent
Returns:
a string identifying the event and its associated command
Overview  Package   Class  Use  Tree  Deprecated  Index  Help 
Java™ Platform
Standard Ed. 7
DRAFT ea-b59
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SUMMARY: NESTED | FIELD | CONSTR | METHOD DETAIL: FIELD | CONSTR | METHOD