28/11/2017 JavaFX: Binding Properties - dummies

  PROGRAMMING  JAVA  JAVAFX: BINDING PROPERTIES

JAVAFX: BINDING PROPERTIES

By Doug Lowe

JavaFX property binding allows you to synchronize the value of two properties so that whenever one of the properties changes, the value of the
other property is updated automatically. Two types of binding are supported:

Unidirectional binding: With unidirectional binding, the binding works in just one direction. For example, if you bind property A to property
B, the value of property A changes when property B changes, but not the other way around.

Bidirectional binding: With bidirectional binding, the two property values are synchronized so that if either property changes, the other
property is automatically changed as well.

Setting up either type of binding is surprisingly easy. Every property has a bind and a bindBiDirectional method. To set up a binding, simply call
this method, specifying the property you want to bind to as the argument.

Here’s an example that creates a unidirectional binding on the text property of a label to the text property of a text eld, so that the contents of
the label always displays the contents of the text eld:

lable1.textProperty().bind(text1.textProperty());

With this binding in place, the text displayed by label1 is automatically updated, character by character, when the user types data into the text
eld.

The following example shows how to create a bidirectional binding between two text elds, named text1 and text2:

text1.textProperty()
.bindBidirectional(text2.textProperty());

With this binding in place, any text you type into either text eld will be replicated automatically in the other.

To show how binding can be used in a complete program, this code listing shows a program with two text elds with a pair of labels bound to
each. The rst text eld accepts the name of a character in a play, and the second text eld accepts the name of an actor. The labels display the
actor who will play the role, as shown in the gure.

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28/11/2017 JavaFX: Binding Properties - dummies

import javafx.application.*;
import javafx.stage.*;
import javafx.scene.*;
import javafx.scene.layout.*;
import javafx.geometry.*;
import javafx.scene.control.*;
public class RolePlayer extends Application
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
launch(args);
}
TextField txtCharacter;
TextField txtActor;
@Override public void start(Stage primaryStage)
{
// Create the Character label
Label lblCharacter = new Label("Character's Name:");
lblCharacter.setMinWidth(100);
lblCharacter.setAlignment(Pos.BOTTOM_RIGHT);
// Create the Character text field
txtCharacter = new TextField();
txtCharacter.setMinWidth(200);
txtCharacter.setMaxWidth(200);
txtCharacter.setPromptText("Enter the name of the character here.");
// Create the Actor label
Label lblActor = new Label("Actor's Name:");
lblActor.setMinWidth(100);
lblActor.setAlignment(Pos.BOTTOM_RIGHT);
// Create the Actor text field
txtActor = new TextField();
txtActor.setMinWidth(200);
txtActor.setMaxWidth(200);
txtActor.setPromptText("Enter the name of the actor here.");
// Create the Role labels
Label lblRole1 = new Label("The role of ");
Label lblRole2 = new Label();
Label lblRole3 = new Label(" will be played by ");
Label lblRole4 = new Label();
// Create the Character pane
HBox paneCharacter = new HBox(20, lblCharacter, txtCharacter);
paneCharacter.setPadding(new Insets(10));
// Create the Actor pane
HBox paneActor = new HBox(20, lblActor, txtActor);
paneActor.setPadding(new Insets(10));
// Create the Role pane
HBox paneRole = new HBox(lblRole1, lblRole2, lblRole3, lblRole4);
paneRole.setPadding(new Insets(10));
// Add the Character and Actor panes to a VBox
VBox pane = new VBox(10, paneCharacter, paneActor, paneRole);
// Create the bindings
lblRole2.textProperty().bind(txtCharacter.textProperty());
lblRole4.textProperty().bind(txtActor.textProperty());
// Set the stage
Scene scene = new Scene(pane);
primaryStage.setScene(scene);
primaryStage.setTitle("Role Player");
primaryStage.show(); }
}

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