JTextArea setText() & UndoManager

Question

I\'m using an UndoManager to capture changes in my JTextArea.

The method setText() however deletes everything and then pastes

Answer 1

I needed a solution that combined grouping the remove/insert of replace with a single undo (aterai's answer) plus treating continuous insertion/deletions of single characters as a single undo (similar to http://java-sl.com/tip_merge_undo_edits.html).

The combined code is:

   /*##################*/
   /* TextCompoundEdit */
   /*##################*/
   class TextCompoundEdit extends CompoundEdit
     {
      private boolean isUnDone = false;

      /*************/
      /* getLength */
      /*************/
      public int getLength()
        {
         return edits.size();
        }

      /********/
      /* undo */
      /********/
      public void undo() throws CannotUndoException
        {
         super.undo();
         isUnDone = true;
        }

      /********/
      /* redo */
      /********/
      public void redo() throws CannotUndoException
        {
         super.redo();
         isUnDone = false;
        }

      /***********/
      /* canUndo */
      /***********/
      public boolean canUndo()
        {
         return (edits.size() > 0) && (! isUnDone);
        }

      /***********/
      /* canRedo */
      /***********/
      public boolean canRedo()
        {
         return (edits.size() > 0) && isUnDone;
        }
     }

   /*#################*/
   /* TextUndoManager */
   /*#################*/
   class TextUndoManager extends AbstractUndoableEdit 
                         implements UndoableEditListener
     {     
      private String lastEditName = null;
      private int lastStart = 0;
      private ArrayList edits = new ArrayList();
      private TextCompoundEdit current;
      private int pointer = -1;
      private int groupIndex = 0;
      private String groupName = null;

      /************************/
      /* undoableEditHappened */
      /************************/
      public void undoableEditHappened(
        UndoableEditEvent e)
        {
         boolean isNeedStart = false;
         UndoableEdit edit = e.getEdit();

         if (! (edit instanceof AbstractDocument.DefaultDocumentEvent))
           { return; }

         AbstractDocument.DefaultDocumentEvent event = (AbstractDocument.DefaultDocumentEvent) edit;

         int start = event.getOffset();

         String editName;

         /*============================================*/
         /* If an explicit group name is not present,  */
         /* use the INSERT/REMOVE name from the event. */
         /*============================================*/

         if (groupName != null)
           { editName = groupName; }
         else
           { editName = event.getType().toString(); }

         /*============================*/
         /* Create a new compound edit */
         /* for the very first edit.   */
         /*============================*/

         if (current == null)
           { isNeedStart = true; }

         /*============================*/
         /* Create a new compound edit */
         /* for a different operation. */
         /*============================*/

         else if ((lastEditName == null) || 
                  (! lastEditName.equals(editName)))
           { isNeedStart = true; }

         /*================================================*/
         /* Only group continuous single character inserts */
         /* and deletes. Create a new edit if the user has */
         /* moved the caret from its prior position.       */
         /*================================================*/

         else if (groupName == null)
           {            
            if ((event.getType() == DocumentEvent.EventType.INSERT) &&
                     (start != (lastStart + 1)))
              { isNeedStart = true; }
            else if ((event.getType() == DocumentEvent.EventType.REMOVE) &&
                     (start != (lastStart - 1)))
              { isNeedStart = true; }
           }

         /*=========================================*/
         /* Adding a new edit will clear all of the */
         /* redos forward of the current position.  */
         /*=========================================*/

         while (pointer < edits.size() - 1)
           {
            edits.remove(edits.size() - 1);
            isNeedStart = true;
           }

         /*===================*/
         /* Add the new edit. */
         /*===================*/

         if (isNeedStart)
           { createCompoundEdit(); }

         current.addEdit(edit);

         /*=====================================*/
         /* Remember prior state for next edit. */
         /*=====================================*/

         lastEditName = editName;
         lastStart = start;
        }

      /*********************/
      /* startEditGrouping */
      /*********************/
      public void startEditGrouping()
        {
         groupName = "Group-" + groupIndex++;
        }

      /********************/
      /* stopEditGrouping */
      /********************/
      public void stopEditGrouping()
        {
         groupName = null;
        }

      /**********************/
      /* createCompoundEdit */
      /**********************/
      private void createCompoundEdit()
        {
         if (current == null)
           { current = new TextCompoundEdit(); }
         else if (current.getLength() > 0)
           { current = new TextCompoundEdit(); }

         edits.add(current);
         pointer++;
        }

      /********/
      /* undo */
      /********/ 
      public void undo() throws CannotUndoException
        {
         if (! canUndo())
           { throw new CannotUndoException(); }

         TextCompoundEdit u = edits.get(pointer);
         u.undo();
         pointer--;
        }

      /********/
      /* redo */
      /********/
      public void redo() throws CannotUndoException
        {
         if (! canRedo())
           { throw new CannotUndoException(); }

         pointer++;
         TextCompoundEdit u = edits.get(pointer);
         u.redo();
        }

      /***********/
      /* canUndo */
      /***********/
      public boolean canUndo()
        { 
         return pointer >= 0; 
        }

      /***********/
      /* canRedo */
      /***********/
      public boolean canRedo()
        {
         return (edits.size() > 0) && (pointer < (edits.size() - 1));
        }
     }

   /*#######################*/
   /* TextUndoPlainDocument */
   /*#######################*/
   class TextUndoPlainDocument extends PlainDocument 
     {    
      private TextUndoManager undoManager;

      /*************************/
      /* TextUndoPlainDocument */
      /*************************/
      TextUndoPlainDocument(
        TextUndoManager theManager)
        {
         super();
         undoManager = theManager;
         this.addUndoableEditListener(undoManager);
        }

      /***********/
      /* replace */
      /***********/
      @Override 
      public void replace(
        int offset, 
        int length,
        String text, 
        AttributeSet attrs) throws BadLocationException
        {
         if (length == 0)
           { super.replace(offset,length,text,attrs); }
         else
           {
            undoManager.startEditGrouping();
            super.replace(offset,length,text,attrs); 
            undoManager.stopEditGrouping();
           }
        }
     }

I invoke it in this way:

JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea(); 
TextUndoManager textAreaUndo = new TextUndoManager();
textArea.setDocument(new TextUndoPlainDocument(textAreaUndo));