How can I map an action for option (Mac keyboard) up for a JTextField?

Question

Looks like option up can be caught only with AWT (i.e., adding key listener). Is there a way to do it without having to mess around with AWT?

Answer 1

The Mac OS X UI delegate for JTextField does not bind alt↑ to any Action. You are free to bind the combination to any action you choose. As shown in How to Use Key Bindings, the example below binds alt↑ to the existing "caret-begin-line" defined for JTextField, which moves the caret to the beginning of the line.

final JTextField jtf = new JTextField("Test");
jtf.getInputMap().put(
    KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_UP, KeyEvent.ALT_MASK),
    "caret-begin-line");

More examples may be found here. As shown in the key binding utility cited here, JTextField binds the following WHEN_FOCUSED actions by name to the indicated key(s).

beep
caret-backward                LEFT, KP_LEFT, ctrl B
caret-begin                   ctrl P, meta UP, meta KP_UP, HOME
caret-begin-line              KP_UP, ctrl A, UP, meta KP_LEFT, meta LEFT
caret-begin-paragraph
caret-begin-word
caret-down
caret-end                     ctrl N, END, meta KP_DOWN, ctrl V, meta DOWN
caret-end-line                DOWN, meta KP_RIGHT, ctrl E, meta RIGHT, KP_DOWN
caret-end-paragraph
caret-end-word
caret-forward                 RIGHT, ctrl F, KP_RIGHT
caret-next-word               alt KP_RIGHT, alt RIGHT
caret-previous-word           alt KP_LEFT, alt LEFT
caret-up
copy
copy-to-clipboard             meta C, COPY
cut
cut-to-clipboard              CUT, meta X
default-typed
delete-next                   DELETE, ctrl D
delete-next-word              alt DELETE
delete-previous               BACK_SPACE, ctrl H
delete-previous-word          alt BACK_SPACE, ctrl W
dump-model
insert-break
insert-content
insert-tab
notify-field-accept           ENTER
page-down
page-up
paste
paste-from-clipboard          meta V, PASTE
requestFocus
select-all                    meta A
select-line
select-paragraph
select-word
selection-backward            shift LEFT, shift KP_LEFT
selection-begin               shift meta KP_UP, shift meta UP, shift HOME
selection-begin-line          shift UP, shift meta KP_LEFT, shift KP_UP, shift meta LEFT
selection-begin-paragraph
selection-begin-word
selection-down
selection-end                 shift meta DOWN, shift meta KP_DOWN, shift END
selection-end-line            shift meta KP_RIGHT, shift DOWN, shift KP_DOWN, shift meta RIGHT
selection-end-paragraph
selection-end-word
selection-forward             shift KP_RIGHT, shift RIGHT
selection-next-word           shift alt KP_RIGHT, shift alt RIGHT
selection-page-down           shift PAGE_DOWN
selection-page-left           shift meta PAGE_UP
selection-page-right          shift meta PAGE_DOWN
selection-page-up             shift PAGE_UP
selection-previous-word       shift alt LEFT, shift alt KP_LEFT
selection-up
set-read-only
set-writable
toggle-componentOrientation   shift ctrl O
unselect                      meta BACK_SLASH