How would I make a paste from java using the system clipboard?

Question

I want to make a paste from the system clipboard in java. How would I do this?

Answer 1

Try this

public static void type(String characters) {
Clipboard clipboard = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemClipboard();
StringSelection stringSelection = new StringSelection( characters );
clipboard.setContents(stringSelection, instance);
//control+V is for pasting...
robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_CONTROL);
robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_V);
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_V);
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_CONTROL);
}

Answer 2

You could use the robot class like this

try
{
    Robot r = new Robot();
    r.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_CONTROL);
    r.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_V);
    r.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_CONTROL);
    r.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_V);

}
catch(Exception e)
{

}

Answer 3

You have to use Java graphics library, eg. take a look at http://download.oracle.com/javase/1,5.0/docs/api/java/awt/datatransfer/Clipboard.html

Answer 4

You could also try using the Clipboard class.

Answer 5

You can use the Clipboard class as follows to achieve the paste:

public static void getClipboardContents() {
        String result = "";
        Clipboard clipboard = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemClipboard();
        //odd: the Object param of getContents is not currently used
        Transferable contents = clipboard.getContents(null);
        boolean hasTransferableText =
          (contents != null) &&
          contents.isDataFlavorSupported(DataFlavor.stringFlavor)
        ;
        if (hasTransferableText) {
    

  try {
            result = (String)contents.getTransferData(DataFlavor.stringFlavor);
            System.out.print(result);
          }
          catch (UnsupportedFlavorException | IOException ex){
            System.out.println(ex);
            ex.printStackTrace();
          }
        }
      }

The content from the system clipboard is found in the result string variable. Solution coming from: http://www.javapractices.com/topic/TopicAction.do?Id=82

Answer 6

While the robot class would work, it's not as elegant as using the system clipboard directly, like this:

private void onPaste(){
    Clipboard c = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemClipboard();
    Transferable t = c.getContents(this);
    if (t == null)
        return;
    try {
        jtxtfield.setText((String) t.getTransferData(DataFlavor.stringFlavor));
    } catch (Exception e){
        e.printStackTrace();
    }//try
}//onPaste