In Swing, how to apply KeyListener on no specific component

Question

Generally we apply the Key Listener on specific components like text field, password fields, etc. But I would like to generalize this listener behavior to be applicable to a

Answer 1

Swing was designed to be used with Key Bindings which might do what you want. I would start by checking out Key Bindings. Don't forget to read the Swing tutorial for complete information.

If that doesn't help then see Global Event Listeners for a couple of suggestions.

Answer 2

All swing components are a JComponent. You may use all of then as a JComponent:

@Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
   JComponent component = (JComponent) e.getSource();
   // TODO Implements your action
}

You can see that this is a limited approach.

You also may work according to the class of your source:

@Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
    Object source = (JComponent) e.getSource();

    if (source instanceof JTextField) {
        // TODO Implment action for JTextField
    } else if (source instanceof JTextArea) {
        // TODO Implment action for JTextArea
    }
}

Depending on your needs you may use the Reflections API to do this...