How can I modify the behavior of the tab key in a JTextArea?

Question

I\'m creating a form in Java Swing, and one of the fields is a JTextArea. When I use the Tab key on all other fields, it gives the focus to the next

Answer 1

You can call the following method in your main JFrame or JPanel constructor. Use by calling as so: disableTabbingInTextAreas(this)

public static void disableTabbingInTextAreas(Component component){
    if(component instanceof Container && !(component instanceof JTextArea)){
        for(final Component c : ((Container) component).getComponents() ){
            disableTabbingInTextAreas(c);
        }
    }else if(component instanceof JTextArea){
        final Component c = component;
        c.addKeyListener(new KeyListener() {
            @Override
            public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {}

            @Override
            public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
                if(e.getKeyChar() == '\t'){
                    c.transferFocus();
                    e.consume();
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {}
        });
    }
}