Question

I would like to update a text field instantly when typing in a GWT TextBox. My problem is that ValueChangeEvent and ChangeEvent handlers only fire when the TextBox loses focus. I thought about using the KeyPressEvent but then nothing would happen when performing a copy paste with the mouse.

What’s the simplest way to do that ?

Answer 1

You could catch the ONPASTE event and manually fire a ValueChangeEvent. Something like this:

public void onModuleLoad() {
    final Label text = new Label();
    final ExtendedTextBox box = new ExtendedTextBox();
    box.addValueChangeHandler(new ValueChangeHandler<String>() {

        @Override
        public void onValueChange(ValueChangeEvent<String> event) {
            text.setText(event.getValue());
        }

    });
    box.addKeyUpHandler(new KeyUpHandler() {

        @Override
        public void onKeyUp(KeyUpEvent event) {
            text.setText(box.getText());
        }
    });

    RootPanel.get().add(box);
    RootPanel.get().add(text);
}

private class ExtendedTextBox extends TextBox {

    public ExtendedTextBox() {
        super();
        sinkEvents(Event.ONPASTE);
    }

    @Override
    public void onBrowserEvent(Event event) {
        super.onBrowserEvent(event);
        switch (DOM.eventGetType(event)) {
            case Event.ONPASTE:
                Scheduler.get().scheduleDeferred(new ScheduledCommand() {

                    @Override
                    public void execute() {
                        ValueChangeEvent.fire(ExtendedTextBox.this, getText());
                    }

                });
                break;
        }
    }
}

Tested on firefox 3.6.1.