How to rename submenu items?

Question

I have a submenu populated with some actions, however the name that appears on them is not desirable. Instead of "Copy" and "Paste", I get the less desirable: copy-to-clipboard, paste-to-clipboard. I need to change that.

      //Submenu           
       SubMenu = new JMenu("Paste");
           menuOptions.add(SubMenu); 

           Action textActionCopy = new DefaultEditorKit.CopyAction();
           Action textActionPaste = new DefaultEditorKit.PasteAction();

           //Copy
           SubMenu.add(textActionCopy);

           //Paste
           SubMenu.add(textActionPaste);

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 23 '14 at 22:03

How about create an MenuItem and add the action then add to menu..

Sample:

       //Submenu           
       subMenu = new JMenu("Paste");
       menuOptions.add(SubMenu); 

       JMenuItem cut = new JMenuItem(new DefaultEditorKit.CutAction());
       JMenuItem copy = new JMenuItem(new DefaultEditorKit.CopyAction());
       JMenuItem paste = new JMenuItem(new DefaultEditorKit.PasteAction());
       subMenu .add(cut);

       paste.setText("Paste");
       cut.setText("Cut");
       copy.setText("Copy");

       subMenu .add(copy);
       subMenu .add(paste);

Also follow the Java convention for variable names

This is the best way to do it. Thank you. – Pursuer of Dying Stars Apr 23 '14 at 22:13 — Pursuer of Dying Stars, Apr 23 '14 at 22:13

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 23 '14 at 22:05

Let Java String manipulation code do this for you.

for example, assuming an array of Actions:

private Action[] textActions = { new DefaultEditorKit.CutAction(),
     new DefaultEditorKit.CopyAction(), new DefaultEditorKit.PasteAction(), };

Get the original name of the action via Action's getValue(...) method.
Change the name to get rid of the -to-clipboard part by geting the subString that begins at the beginning of the String and ends at the "-": substring(0, value.indexOf("-"));
Use subString again to start the String with a capital letter.
Use the Action putValue(...) method to set the Action's name to our new value.

For example:

private Action[] textActions = { new DefaultEditorKit.CutAction(),
     new DefaultEditorKit.CopyAction(), new DefaultEditorKit.PasteAction(), };

public DisplayText(String title, String info) {
  JMenu menu = new JMenu("Edit");
  for (Action textAction : textActions) {
     String value = textAction.getValue(AbstractAction.NAME).toString();
     value = value.substring(0, value.indexOf("-"));
     value = value.substring(0, 1).toUpperCase() + value.substring(1);
     textAction.putValue(AbstractAction.NAME, value);
     menu.add(new JMenuItem(textAction));
   }

Watch out for Strings that don't contain the `'-'`, which will return an `indexOf` -1 which gives you `value.substring(0, -1)`. You may as well also use the `ch` form of indexOf ... `value.indexOf('-')` — Stephen P, Apr 23 '14 at 22:15
@StephenP: true, but his program is looking specifically at the Actions from the DefaultEditorKit (as per his previous question), and they all have `-` embedded in them. It is also true that there is no guarantee that this will always remain so. — Hovercraft Full Of Eels, Apr 23 '14 at 22:16

How to rename submenu items?

2 Answers2