Class ActionEvent

java.lang.Object

java.util.EventObject

java.awt.AWTEvent

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: How to Write an Action Listener
• Serialized Form

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
static final int	ACTION_FIRST	The first number in the range of ids used for action events.
static final int	ACTION_LAST	The last number in the range of ids used for action events.
static final int	ACTION_PERFORMED	This event id indicates that a meaningful action occurred.
static final int	ALT_MASK	The alt modifier.
static final int	CTRL_MASK	The control modifier.
static final int	META_MASK	The meta modifier.
static final int	SHIFT_MASK	The shift modifier.

Fields declared in 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 declared in class java.util.EventObject

source

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor	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	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 declared in class java.awt.AWTEvent

consume, getID, isConsumed, setSource, toString

Methods declared in class java.util.EventObject

getSource

Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Field Details

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

@Native
public static final int ACTION_PERFORMED

This event id indicates that a meaningful action occurred.

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

Constructor Details

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

when - A long that gives the time the event occurred. Passing negative or zero value is not recommended

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

Since:

1.4

See Also:

• EventObject.getSource()
• AWTEvent.getID()
• getActionCommand()
• getModifiers()
• getWhen()

Method Details

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