Question

Was wondering if it is possible to initialize a text field with printing (this part I know how to do), but then have the printing highlighted, and then disappear when the user starts typing? Even without the highlighting, how can you have the field initialize with something like,” Please enter your phone number”, and then have that disappear so the the user doesn’t have to delete the text?

Answer 1

There is another approach, with the focusGained event.
Just mark the initial Text:

   String initialText = "Enter your story here...";
   ...
   jTextArea1.setText(initialText); 
   ...

   private void focusGained(java.awt.event.FocusEvent evt) {
        if (jTextArea1.getText().equals(initialText)) {
            //jTextArea1.setSelectionStart(0);
            //jTextArea1.setSelectionEnd(jTextArea1.getText().length());
            jTextArea1.selectAll();
        }
    }

This way whenever the user types something in the jTextArea1 the initial text will be substituted immediately.