Prevent JavaFx Scene from gaining focus - Onscreen Keyboard - java

I'm trying to build an onscreen keyboard in javafx. The only issue I am having is that when you select the javafx scene or click a button on the window, the focus is then redirected to the javafx scene and the button click doesn't actually type a letter on a browser, text document, etc.
Here is my code for the button click. I'm using the robot class.
private void handleButtonAction(ActionEvent event) throws AWTException {
Robot a = new Robot();
a.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_Y);//testing keypress of "Y".
}
I've seen in Swing how you can set a focus property to false, but I'm set on using JavaFx. I've seen quite a few people attempt this same question, but no one has a correct answer.


I am afraid there is currently no way to achieve this purely with JavaFx.
Here is an example how you could achieve it by wrapping your JavaFx-App in a Swing-App. An architectural monstrosity ;).
Alternatively, I could imagine that using a native layer like JNI/JNA is possible in this scenario.
However, in this case I would question if Java is technically the right tool for the job. One might argue, that an OSK is by definition tightly coupled to the OS and as such more native toolkits are in order. This of course depends on the scope of your project. As a side project this might be fine, but as a product not.

Related

Passing of MouseEvents to other applications/windows in JavaFX-8

i was wondering if it is possible to pass an MouseEvent, which occurs on a specific Stage to pass through the window of another program/application which to be fired there.
To be more specific, i want to program a HUD-like program for informational purposes, which should not interfere with the normal desktop usage (such as operating scrollbars/buttons which are underneath the "HUD").
One approach to accomplish such behaviour could be achieved using the Robot class in combination with an MouseListener.
Example:
scene.setOnMouseClicked(new EventHandler<MouseEvent>(){
#Override
public void handle(MouseEvent event) {
stage.hide();
robot.mousePress(InputEvent.BUTTON1_MASK)
stage.show();
}
});
That should work (not yet tried), but feels kinda like a workaround, also this attempt should make problems if one tries to handle drag & drop. Are there any other possibilities to pass any kind of MouseEvents to other windows? Is it possible to make a Stage mouse transparent such as it is possible for Nodes ?

Prevent JavaFX Window from Stealing Focus

I'm trying to make an overlay on the screen using JavaFX and an issue I'm having is that whenever my overlay pops up, it steals focus from whichever program I'm currently in. The issue with this is that my overlay allows the user to simulate keyboard key presses using the robot class (like an on-screen keyboard) and without keeping the focus in the original window, the typed characters have nowhere to go. I've tried setting the modality to none, but that's also the default option and it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Would putting my JavaFX scene in a JFrame work or is there some better way to do it only in JavaFX?

Try this
when focused -> compute what you want to
then call Stage.toBack(); //the currently focused window prior to yours will gain focus back

I am unsure how to record how many times a mouse was clicked in a certain area

I'm fluent in java, and have messed with vb.net, but I prefer java. I wish to make a program that ++'s a variable everytime I click my mouse in a certain coordinate on my screen. Not sure how to record when a mouse click has happened outside of the program's forms.

This can't be done in pure Java but people have written JNI libraries that can capture global mouse and keyboard events. Take a look at
https://github.com/kwhat/jnativehook

Javafx popup won't hide behind other application upon losing focus

So my question, as stated (sort of) in the title, is about the behaviour in some respects of the Javafx (namely 2.2) Popup. Most of the time, you get a popup, and you give it a window to act as it's parent, you give it some scene, and it tends to act relatively independently.
This is all fine, however, in my case, I needed a popup that would anchor itself to a particular stage (window), at a particular location, when an event happened. That popup would then, in turn, disappear when the window disappeared (minimize, off screen, whatever), moved when it would, and in all essence and functionality, be a physical extension of the window, just with a custom shape.
Now of course, there are a lot of nuances with that, and everything for the most part, works great. The only thing I can't seem to figure out is that normally in a platform like Windows 7 64 bit, say. You open two programs, alright. Then if the programs are overlapping a little bit, whichever has focus gets to have the entire program displayed, whereas the other one gives the impression of being 'behind' the other window. (Whether or not windows actually renders application graphics 'behind' a window when another has focus on the same spot, I'm not sure.). Normally, javafx also supports this functionality just fine. But for some reason, The Popup class in javafx (see docs here) doesn't do that. It's always on top of whatever it's displayed with, without exception. For the point of completeness, here's my pretty straightforward popup code (at least the part pertaining to showing it and it's properties):
Popup myPop = new Popup();
//************************Popup Property Setter**************************
//&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
myPop.setWidth(width);
myPop.setHeight(initialHeight);
myPop.setAutoHide(false);
myPop.setAutoFix(false);
myPop.setHideOnEscape(false);
myPop.setX(xLocation);
myPop.setY(yLocation);
//&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
//**********************end of Popup Properties**************************
myPop.getContent().add(main_anchor);
myPop.show(FileChooserWindow.get_stage());
main anchor has some various components i include inside of the 'myPop' popup, and FileChooserWindow is a non-null parent window that will be open at the time of this method calling without exception.
Here is a screenshot as well of the behaviour I'm referring to. Notice the highlighted text in the pdf, that is where my cursor currently has focus. Also, the window that the popup is anchored to can be seen in the back of the pdf poking out from the left.
Any help you guys can give would be much appreciated. I really hope I don't have to check for active processes and their location relative to the popup, that's getting dangerously close to my knowledge border, and sounds like a total PITA.

So, after toying with this for a few more days, I have a rough workaround, although it is a hack in the full meaning of the term.
Although the popup behaviour is still mystifying me, I can simulate a fix in this behaviour by adding a changeListener to the stage to which it is attached (since I didn't want the popup to close if it's parent window had focus, only if anything BUT the popup and it's parent got focus).
See code as follows:
FileChooserWindow.get_stage().focusedProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<Boolean>(){
#Override
public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends Boolean> ov, Boolean oldValue, Boolean newValue) {
if (!newValue){
if(AutogenPopup.popupReturner().focusedProperty().get()){
AutogenPopup.popupReturner().hide();
}
}else{
if(FileChooserController.refreshAutoPopup && FileChooserController.autoGen_flag){
AutogenPopup.popupReturner().show(FileChooserWindow.get_stage());
}
}
}
});
never mind some of those flags that I'm checking against, they are simply some internal tools to make sure that the popup only appears when the program is in the proper state.
Now, one interesting thing to note. The AutogenPopup.popupReturner().focusedProperty().get()
Seemed to be returning true when the popup's parent window LOST focus. Which is quite counter-intuitive to me, and in my opinion, is even a touch buggy. Now, this does not simulate the behaviour of a modern operating system where a window can slide in and out of focus incrementally, since the popup will just completely disappear upon it's parent window losing focus. But seeing as how my popup just displays additional text entry on the side of the main window, this is an acceptable compromise until I think of a better solution. (Perhaps the better solution is not to use a popup at all, and instead skin a window to act in a popup-y fashion).
Anyway, I hope this helps someone, maybe eventually there will be a more fine-grained way to control this popup functionality.

Making a game menu using Canvas?

I am already familiar with JButtons, JLabels and such, but I want to start making a game a very "colorful" menu. Is there a way to do this using Canvas (like adding a mouse listener and make some buttons in PhotoShop and detect if the mouse hovers over and clicks the button), or is there a better way?

Since you're already familiar with JButtons, you may find it easier (and more practical) simply to extend the existing JButton and modify its appearance, so that it looks like an image rather than the traditional grey button.
Amongst other things, it means you get all the standard button behaviour for free, including special cases, and in exchange all you have to do is override a couple of methods.
Have a read through the accepted answer for the following question, which explains pretty much exactly how to do that:
Creating a custom button in Java

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