Click on icon in a JTextField and clear its content

Question

I am trying to create a JTextField with an image and a hint. The function of the textfield is a search field to search some books. Now, I like to go a little bit further. I would like to give the image a function. For example, if I click on the image the text in the textfield should be cleared. To achieve this implementation I created a new class and extended it with JTextField. This is the code: ``` public class JSearchTextField extends JTextField implements FocusListener { /** * */ private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L; private String textWhenNotFocused; private Icon icon; private Insets dummyInsets; private JTextField dummy; public JSearchTextField() { super(); Border border = UIManager.getBorder("TextField.border"); dummy = new JTextField("Suchen..."); this.dummyInsets = border.getBorderInsets(dummy); icon = new ImageIcon(JSearchTextField.class.getResource("/images/clearsearch.png")); this.addFocusListener(this); } public JSearchTextField(String textWhenNotFocused) { thi…

Accepted Answer

A `JTextField` is a `JComponent`, meaning it is also a container for other components. You can use the `add(Component c)` method to add other components to it. BUT A `JTextField` won't show its added components unless you provide a `LayoutManager` to it. Then it behaves just like a normal `JPanel`.

I made a small example how you can manage what you need. The label is showed to the right, and clicking it will clear the field. You can use a button as well, instead of label.

Please note you don't need to create the `Image` object from scratch as I do, you can load it from a file. I create it this way so that the example doesn't rely on other files.

```
public class TextFieldWithLabel {
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        JFrame frame = new JFrame();
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        final JTextField textField = new JTextField("Search...");
        textField.setLayout(new BorderLayout());

//creating dummy image...
        Image image = new BufferedImage(25, 25, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
        Graphics graphics = image.getGraphics();
        graphics.setColor(Color.WHITE);
        graphics.fillRect(0, 0, 25, 25);
        graphics.setColor(Color.RED);
        graphics.fillRect(2, 11, 21, 3);
        graphics.fillRect(11, 2, 3, 21);

JLabel label = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(image));
        textField.add(label, BorderLayout.EAST);
        label.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
                textField.setText("");
            }
        });
        frame.add(textField);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }
}
```

Click on icon in a JTextField and clear its content

Solution

Problem