Class ActionEvent

java.awt.event.ActionEvent

All Implemented Interfaces:: Serializable

public class ActionEvent extends AWTEvent

A semantic event which indicates that a component-defined action occurred. This high-level event is generated by a component (such as a Button) when the component-specific action occurs (such as being pressed). The event is passed to every ActionListener object that registered to receive such events using the component's addActionListener method.

Note: To invoke an ActionEvent on a Button using the keyboard, use the Space bar.

The object that implements the ActionListener interface gets this ActionEvent when the event occurs. The listener is therefore spared the details of processing individual mouse movements and mouse clicks, and can instead process a "meaningful" (semantic) event like "button pressed".

An unspecified behavior will be caused if the id parameter of any particular ActionEvent instance is not in the range from ACTION_FIRST to ACTION_LAST.

Since:

1.1

See Also:

Field Summary

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
`static final int`	`ACTION_FIRST`	The first number in the range of ids used for action events.
`static final int`	`ACTION_LAST`	The last number in the range of ids used for action events.
`static final int`	`ACTION_PERFORMED`	This event id indicates that a meaningful action occurred.
`static final int`	`ALT_MASK`	The alt modifier.
`static final int`	`CTRL_MASK`	The control modifier.
`static final int`	`META_MASK`	The meta modifier.
`static final int`	`SHIFT_MASK`	The shift modifier.

Fields declared in class AWTEvent

ACTION_EVENT_MASK, ADJUSTMENT_EVENT_MASK, COMPONENT_EVENT_MASK, consumed, CONTAINER_EVENT_MASK, FOCUS_EVENT_MASK, HIERARCHY_BOUNDS_EVENT_MASK, HIERARCHY_EVENT_MASK, id, INPUT_METHOD_EVENT_MASK, INVOCATION_EVENT_MASK, ITEM_EVENT_MASK, KEY_EVENT_MASK, MOUSE_EVENT_MASK, MOUSE_MOTION_EVENT_MASK, MOUSE_WHEEL_EVENT_MASK, PAINT_EVENT_MASK, RESERVED_ID_MAX, TEXT_EVENT_MASK, WINDOW_EVENT_MASK, WINDOW_FOCUS_EVENT_MASK, WINDOW_STATE_EVENT_MASK

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
`static final long`	`ACTION_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting action events.
`static final long`	`ADJUSTMENT_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting adjustment events.
`static final long`	`COMPONENT_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting component events.
`protected boolean`	`consumed`	Controls whether or not the event is sent back down to the peer once the source has processed it - false means it's sent to the peer; true means it's not.
`static final long`	`CONTAINER_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting container events.
`static final long`	`FOCUS_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting focus events.
`static final long`	`HIERARCHY_BOUNDS_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting hierarchy bounds events.
`static final long`	`HIERARCHY_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting hierarchy events.
`protected int`	`id`	The event's id.
`static final long`	`INPUT_METHOD_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting input method events.
`static final long`	`INVOCATION_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting invocation events.
`static final long`	`ITEM_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting item events.
`static final long`	`KEY_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting key events.
`static final long`	`MOUSE_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting mouse events.
`static final long`	`MOUSE_MOTION_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting mouse motion events.
`static final long`	`MOUSE_WHEEL_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting mouse wheel events.
`static final long`	`PAINT_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting paint events.
`static final int`	`RESERVED_ID_MAX`	The maximum value for reserved AWT event IDs.
`static final long`	`TEXT_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting text events.
`static final long`	`WINDOW_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting window events.
`static final long`	`WINDOW_FOCUS_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting window focus events.
`static final long`	`WINDOW_STATE_EVENT_MASK`	The event mask for selecting window state events.

Fields declared in class EventObject

source

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
`protected Object`	`source`	The object on which the Event initially occurred.

Constructor Summary

Constructor	Description
`ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command)`	Constructs an `ActionEvent` object.
`ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command, int modifiers)`	Constructs an `ActionEvent` object with modifier keys.
`ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command, long when, int modifiers)`	Constructs an `ActionEvent` object with the specified modifier keys and timestamp.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`String`	`getActionCommand()`	Returns the command string associated with this action.
`int`	`getModifiers()`	Returns the modifier keys held down during this action event.
`long`	`getWhen()`	Returns the timestamp of when this event occurred.
`String`	`paramString()`	Returns a parameter string identifying this action event.

Methods declared in class AWTEvent

consume, getID, isConsumed, setSource, toString

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`protected void`	`consume()`	Consumes this event, if this event can be consumed.
`int`	`getID()`	Returns the event type.
`protected boolean`	`isConsumed()`	Returns whether this event has been consumed.
`void`	`setSource(Object newSource)`	Retargets an event to a new source.
`String`	`toString()`	Returns a String representation of this object.

Methods declared in class EventObject

getSource

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`Object`	`getSource()`	The object on which the Event initially occurred.

Methods declared in class Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`protected Object`	`clone()`	Creates and returns a copy of this object.
`boolean`	`equals(Object obj)`	Indicates whether some other object is "equal to" this one.
`protected void`	`finalize()`	Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version. Finalization is deprecated and subject to removal in a future release.
`final Class<?>`	`getClass()`	Returns the runtime class of this `Object`.
`int`	`hashCode()`	Returns a hash code value for this object.
`final void`	`notify()`	Wakes up a single thread that is waiting on this object's monitor.
`final void`	`notifyAll()`	Wakes up all threads that are waiting on this object's monitor.
`final void`	`wait()`	Causes the current thread to wait until it is awakened, typically by being notified or interrupted.
`final void`	`wait(long timeoutMillis)`	Causes the current thread to wait until it is awakened, typically by being notified or interrupted, or until a certain amount of real time has elapsed.
`final void`	`wait(long timeoutMillis, int nanos)`	Causes the current thread to wait until it is awakened, typically by being notified or interrupted, or until a certain amount of real time has elapsed.

Field Details

SHIFT_MASK

public static final int SHIFT_MASK

The shift modifier. An indicator that the shift key was held down during the event.

See Also:

CTRL_MASK

public static final int CTRL_MASK

The control modifier. An indicator that the control key was held down during the event.

See Also:

META_MASK

public static final int META_MASK

The meta modifier. An indicator that the meta key was held down during the event.

See Also:

ALT_MASK

public static final int ALT_MASK

The alt modifier. An indicator that the alt key was held down during the event.

See Also:

ACTION_FIRST

public static final int ACTION_FIRST

The first number in the range of ids used for action events.

See Also:

ACTION_LAST

public static final int ACTION_LAST

The last number in the range of ids used for action events.

See Also:

ACTION_PERFORMED

@Native public static final int ACTION_PERFORMED

This event id indicates that a meaningful action occurred.

See Also:

Constructor Details

ActionEvent

public ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command)

Constructs an ActionEvent object.

This method throws an IllegalArgumentException if source is null. A null command string is legal, but not recommended.

Parameters:

source - The object that originated the event

id - An integer that identifies the event. For information on allowable values, see the class description for ActionEvent

command - A string that may specify a command (possibly one of several) associated with the event

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if source is null

See Also:

ActionEvent

public ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command, int modifiers)

Constructs an ActionEvent object with modifier keys.

This method throws an IllegalArgumentException if source is null. A null command string is legal, but not recommended.

Parameters:

source - The object that originated the event

id - An integer that identifies the event. For information on allowable values, see the class description for ActionEvent

command - A string that may specify a command (possibly one of several) associated with the event

modifiers - The modifier keys down during event (shift, ctrl, alt, meta). Passing negative parameter is not recommended. Zero value means that no modifiers were passed

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if source is null

See Also:

ActionEvent

public ActionEvent(Object source, int id, String command, long when, int modifiers)

Constructs an ActionEvent object with the specified modifier keys and timestamp.

This method throws an IllegalArgumentException if source is null. A null command string is legal, but not recommended.

Parameters:

source - The object that originated the event

id - An integer that identifies the event. For information on allowable values, see the class description for ActionEvent

command - A string that may specify a command (possibly one of several) associated with the event

when - A long that gives the time the event occurred. Passing negative or zero value is not recommended

modifiers - The modifier keys down during event (shift, ctrl, alt, meta). Passing negative parameter is not recommended. Zero value means that no modifiers were passed

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if source is null

Since:

1.4

See Also:

Method Details

getActionCommand

public String getActionCommand()

Returns the command string associated with this action. This string allows a "modal" component to specify one of several commands, depending on its state. For example, a single button might toggle between "show details" and "hide details". The source object and the event would be the same in each case, but the command string would identify the intended action.

Note that if a null command string was passed to the constructor for this ActionEvent, this this method returns null.

Returns:: the string identifying the command for this event

getWhen

public long getWhen()

Returns the timestamp of when this event occurred. Because an ActionEvent is a high-level, semantic event, the timestamp is typically the same as an underlying InputEvent.

Returns:: this event's timestamp
Since:: 1.4

getModifiers

public int getModifiers()

Returns the modifier keys held down during this action event.

Returns:: the bitwise-or of the modifier constants

paramString

public String paramString()

Returns a parameter string identifying this action event. This method is useful for event-logging and for debugging.

Overrides:: paramString in class AWTEvent
Returns:: a string identifying the event and its associated command

© 1993, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Documentation extracted from Debian's OpenJDK Development Kit package.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2, with the Classpath Exception.
Various third party code in OpenJDK is licensed under different licenses (see Debian package).
Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.