Autocomplete Combobox in Javafx

AutoComplete ComboBox in JavaFX

I found a solution that's working for me:

public class AutoCompleteComboBoxListener<T> implements EventHandler<KeyEvent> {

    private ComboBox comboBox;
    private StringBuilder sb;
    private ObservableList<T> data;
    private boolean moveCaretToPos = false;
    private int caretPos;

    public AutoCompleteComboBoxListener(final ComboBox comboBox) {
        this.comboBox = comboBox;
        sb = new StringBuilder();
        data = comboBox.getItems();

        this.comboBox.setEditable(true);
        this.comboBox.setOnKeyPressed(new EventHandler<KeyEvent>() {

            @Override
            public void handle(KeyEvent t) {
                comboBox.hide();
            }
        });
        this.comboBox.setOnKeyReleased(AutoCompleteComboBoxListener.this);
    }

    @Override
    public void handle(KeyEvent event) {

        if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.UP) {
            caretPos = -1;
            moveCaret(comboBox.getEditor().getText().length());
            return;
        } else if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.DOWN) {
            if(!comboBox.isShowing()) {
                comboBox.show();
            }
            caretPos = -1;
            moveCaret(comboBox.getEditor().getText().length());
            return;
        } else if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.BACK_SPACE) {
            moveCaretToPos = true;
            caretPos = comboBox.getEditor().getCaretPosition();
        } else if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.DELETE) {
            moveCaretToPos = true;
            caretPos = comboBox.getEditor().getCaretPosition();
        }

        if (event.getCode() == KeyCode.RIGHT || event.getCode() == KeyCode.LEFT
                || event.isControlDown() || event.getCode() == KeyCode.HOME
                || event.getCode() == KeyCode.END || event.getCode() == KeyCode.TAB) {
            return;
        }

        ObservableList list = FXCollections.observableArrayList();
        for (int i=0; i<data.size(); i++) {
            if(data.get(i).toString().toLowerCase().startsWith(
                AutoCompleteComboBoxListener.this.comboBox
                .getEditor().getText().toLowerCase())) {
                list.add(data.get(i));
            }
        }
        String t = comboBox.getEditor().getText();

        comboBox.setItems(list);
        comboBox.getEditor().setText(t);
        if(!moveCaretToPos) {
            caretPos = -1;
        }
        moveCaret(t.length());
        if(!list.isEmpty()) {
            comboBox.show();
        }
    }

    private void moveCaret(int textLength) {
        if(caretPos == -1) {
            comboBox.getEditor().positionCaret(textLength);
        } else {
            comboBox.getEditor().positionCaret(caretPos);
        }
        moveCaretToPos = false;
    }

}

You can call it with

new AutoCompleteComboBoxListener<>(comboBox);

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It's based on this and I customized it to fit my needs.

Feel free to use it and if anybody can improve it, tell me.

JavaFX autocomplete ComboBox drop-down size

This is because the comboBox.hide(); method is not called (the drop-down list is automatically updated on show).

You can improve the listener as:

public class AutoCompleteComboBoxListener<T> implements EventHandler<KeyEvent> {

    private ComboBox<T> comboBox;
    private ObservableList<T> data;
    private boolean moveCaretToPos = false;
    private int caretPos;

    public AutoCompleteComboBoxListener(final ComboBox<T> comboBox) {
        this.comboBox = comboBox;
        data = comboBox.getItems();

        this.comboBox.setEditable(true);
        this.comboBox.setOnKeyReleased(AutoCompleteComboBoxListener.this);
    }

    @Override
    public void handle(KeyEvent event) {

        if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.UP) {
            caretPos = -1;
            moveCaret(comboBox.getEditor().getText().length());
            return;
        } else if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.DOWN) {
            if(!comboBox.isShowing())
                comboBox.show();

            caretPos = -1;
            moveCaret(comboBox.getEditor().getText().length());
            return;
        } 

        if (event.getCode() == KeyCode.RIGHT || event.getCode() == KeyCode.LEFT
                || event.isControlDown() || event.getCode() == KeyCode.HOME
                || event.getCode() == KeyCode.END || event.getCode() == KeyCode.TAB) {
            return;
        }

        comboBox.hide();

        if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.BACK_SPACE) {
            moveCaretToPos = true;
            caretPos = comboBox.getEditor().getCaretPosition();
        } else if(event.getCode() == KeyCode.DELETE) {
            moveCaretToPos = true;
            caretPos = comboBox.getEditor().getCaretPosition();
        }

        ObservableList<T> list = FXCollections.observableArrayList();
        for (int i=0; i<data.size(); i++) {
            if(data.get(i).toString().toLowerCase().startsWith(
                AutoCompleteComboBoxListener.this.comboBox
                .getEditor().getText().toLowerCase())) {
                list.add(data.get(i));
            }
        }
        String t = comboBox.getEditor().getText();

        comboBox.setItems(list);
        comboBox.getEditor().setText(t);
        if(!moveCaretToPos) {
            caretPos = -1;
        }
        moveCaret(t.length());
        if(!list.isEmpty()) {
            comboBox.show();
        }
    }

    private void moveCaret(int textLength) {
        if(caretPos == -1) 
            comboBox.getEditor().positionCaret(textLength);
        else 
            comboBox.getEditor().positionCaret(caretPos);

        moveCaretToPos = false;
    }

}

This update will ensure, that the drop-down list will be hidden and re-shown every time the search String has been changed.

AutoComplete ComboBox in JavaFX without Lambda Expressions

Your IDE should be able to convert back and forth. Below is a sample of using that in Eclipse.

1)

comboBox.getEditor().focusedProperty().addListener(new InvalidationListener() {
            @Override
            public void invalidated(Observable observable) {
                 if (comboBox.getSelectionModel().getSelectedIndex() < 0) {
                     comboBox.getEditor().setText(null);
                 }
            }
        });

2)

comboBox.addEventHandler(KeyEvent.KEY_PRESSED, new EventHandler<KeyEvent>() {
            @Override
            public void handle(KeyEvent t) {
                comboBox.hide();
            }
        });

Hope that helps.

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