Swing: Scroll to bottom of JScrollPane, conditional on current viewport location

Question

I am attempting to mimic the functionality of Adium and most other chat clients I've seen, wherein the scrollbars advance to the bottom when new messages come in, but only if you're already there. In other words, if you've scrolled a few lines up and are reading, when a new message comes in it won't jump your position to the bottom of the screen; that would be annoying. But if you're scrolled to the bottom, the program rightly assumes that you want to see the most recent messages at all times, and so auto-scrolls accordingly.

I have had a bear of a time trying to mimic this; the platform seems to fight this behavior at all costs. The best I can do is as follows:

In constructor:

JTextArea chatArea = new JTextArea();
JScrollPane chatAreaScrollPane = new JScrollPane(chatArea);

// We will manually handle advancing chat window
DefaultCaret caret = (DefaultCaret) chatArea.getCaret();
caret.setUpdatePolicy(DefaultCaret.NEVER_UPDATE);

In method that handles new text coming in:

boolean atBottom = isViewAtBottom();

// Append the text using styles etc to the chatArea

if (atBottom) {
    scrollViewportToBottom();
} 


public boolean isAtBottom() {
    // Is the last line of text the last line of text visible?
    Adjustable sb = chatAreaScrollPane.getVerticalScrollBar();

    int val = sb.getValue();
    int lowest = val + sb.getVisibleAmount();
    int maxVal = sb.getMaximum();

    boolean atBottom = maxVal == lowest;
    return atBottom;
}


private void scrollToBottom() {
    chatArea.setCaretPosition(chatArea.getDocument().getLength());
}

Now, this works, but it's janky and not ideal for two reasons.

By setting the caret position, whatever selection the user may have in the chat area is erased. I can imagine this would be very irritating if he's attempting to copy/paste.
Since the advancement of the scroll pane occurs after the text is inserted, there is a split second where the scrollbar is in the wrong position, and then it visually jumps towards the end. This is not ideal.

Before you ask, yes I've read this blog post on Text Area Scrolling, but the default scroll to bottom behavior is not what I want.

Other related (but to my mind, not completely helpful in this regard) questions: Setting scroll bar on a jscrollpane Making a JScrollPane automatically scroll all the way down.

Any help in this regard would be very much appreciated.

Edit:

As per Devon_C_Miller's advice, I have an improved way of scrolling to the bottom, solving issue #1.

private void scrollToBottom() {
    javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
       public void run() {
           try {
               int endPosition = chatArea.getDocument().getLength();
               Rectangle bottom = chatArea.modelToView(endPosition);
               chatArea.scrollRectToVisible(bottom);
           }
           catch (BadLocationException e) {
               System.err.println("Could not scroll to " + e);
           }
       }
    });
}

I still have problem #2.

You can check my answer there : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4045722/how-to-make-jtextpane-autoscroll-only-when-scroll-bar-is-at-bottom-and-scroll-lo/23654546#23654546 — Tim Autin, May 14 '14 at 12:21

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 19 '10 at 20:38

7

Take a look at the scrollRectToVisible(Rectangle r) and modelToView(int pos)

That should get you what you're looking for without disturbing the user's selection.

As for the scrollbar, try forcing the scroll and the append into occur on different events. For example:

if (atBottom) {
    // append new line & do scroll
    SwingUtilities.invokerLater(new Runnable(){
        public void run() {
            // append text
        }});
} else {
    // append newline
    // append text
}

answered Apr 19 '10 at 20:38

Devon_C_Miller

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3
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I don't understand what you mean about the different events... I am scrolling as a separate event. – I82Much Apr 19 '10 at 21:42
The goal of splitting up the scroll and the append is to allow the GUI a chance to repaint between the scroll and the addition of the text. That allows the scrollbar move to the bottom before the text appears. – Devon_C_Miller Apr 20 '10 at 02:21
I am splitting up the scroll and append, but clearly the append has to occur before the scrolling, otherwise we won't be at the bottom of the view when the text is appended. – I82Much Apr 20 '10 at 14:56
Take a look at the comments in the code I posted above. Append a newline and scroll in one event, then add the text without a preceding newline in the invokeLater. – Devon_C_Miller Apr 20 '10 at 20:03

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 19 '12 at 11:13

Based on previous answers and further Google'ing I made a test in which a Thread continously appends Strings to a JTextArea in a JScrollPane. I think it is important to use invokeLater here, since the JScrollBar needs to be updated with its new maximum value before we scroll to that value. Using invokeLater, the AWT Thread will take care of this.

private class AppendThread extends Thread {
    public void run() {
      while (true) {
        String s = "random number = " + Math.random() + "\n";
        boolean scrollDown = textAreaBottomIsVisible();
        textArea.append(s);
        if (scrollDown) {
          javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
                  public void run() {
                      JScrollBar bar = scrollPane.getVerticalScrollBar();
                      bar.setValue(bar.getMaximum());
                  }
              }
          );
        }
        try {
          Thread.sleep(1000);
        } catch (Exception e) {
          System.err.println("exception = " + e);
        }
      }
    }

    private boolean textAreaBottomIsVisible() {
      Adjustable sb = scrollPane.getVerticalScrollBar();
      int val = sb.getValue();
      int lowest = val + sb.getVisibleAmount();
      int maxVal = sb.getMaximum();
      boolean atBottom = maxVal == lowest;
      return atBottom;
    }
}

desperateCoder · Answer 3 · 2015-10-28T16:48:59.160

A little late but here is something i found: http://www.camick.com/java/source/SmartScroller.java

In essence you can use following code:

JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(myOversizedComponent);
// Injects smartscroll behaviour to your scrollpane
new SmartScroller(scrollPane);

And here the SmartScroller class:

import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;

/**
 *  The SmartScroller will attempt to keep the viewport positioned based on
 *  the users interaction with the scrollbar. The normal behaviour is to keep
 *  the viewport positioned to see new data as it is dynamically added.
 *
 *  Assuming vertical scrolling and data is added to the bottom:
 *
 *  - when the viewport is at the bottom and new data is added,
 *    then automatically scroll the viewport to the bottom
 *  - when the viewport is not at the bottom and new data is added,
 *    then do nothing with the viewport
 *
 *  Assuming vertical scrolling and data is added to the top:
 *
 *  - when the viewport is at the top and new data is added,
 *    then do nothing with the viewport
 *  - when the viewport is not at the top and new data is added, then adjust
 *    the viewport to the relative position it was at before the data was added
 *
 *  Similiar logic would apply for horizontal scrolling.
 */
public class SmartScroller implements AdjustmentListener
{
    public final static int HORIZONTAL = 0;
    public final static int VERTICAL = 1;

    public final static int START = 0;
    public final static int END = 1;

    private int viewportPosition;

    private JScrollBar scrollBar;
    private boolean adjustScrollBar = true;

    private int previousValue = -1;
    private int previousMaximum = -1;

    /**
     *  Convenience constructor.
     *  Scroll direction is VERTICAL and viewport position is at the END.
     *
     *  @param scrollPane the scroll pane to monitor
     */
    public SmartScroller(JScrollPane scrollPane)
    {
        this(scrollPane, VERTICAL, END);
    }

    /**
     *  Convenience constructor.
     *  Scroll direction is VERTICAL.
     *
     *  @param scrollPane the scroll pane to monitor
     *  @param viewportPosition valid values are START and END
     */
    public SmartScroller(JScrollPane scrollPane, int viewportPosition)
    {
        this(scrollPane, VERTICAL, viewportPosition);
    }

    /**
     *  Specify how the SmartScroller will function.
     *
     *  @param scrollPane the scroll pane to monitor
     *  @param scrollDirection indicates which JScrollBar to monitor.
     *                         Valid values are HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL.
     *  @param viewportPosition indicates where the viewport will normally be
     *                          positioned as data is added.
     *                          Valid values are START and END
     */
    public SmartScroller(JScrollPane scrollPane, int scrollDirection, int viewportPosition)
    {
        if (scrollDirection != HORIZONTAL
        &&  scrollDirection != VERTICAL)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid scroll direction specified");

        if (viewportPosition != START
        &&  viewportPosition != END)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid viewport position specified");

        this.viewportPosition = viewportPosition;

        if (scrollDirection == HORIZONTAL)
            scrollBar = scrollPane.getHorizontalScrollBar();
        else
            scrollBar = scrollPane.getVerticalScrollBar();

        scrollBar.addAdjustmentListener( this );

        //  Turn off automatic scrolling for text components

        Component view = scrollPane.getViewport().getView();

        if (view instanceof JTextComponent)
        {
            JTextComponent textComponent = (JTextComponent)view;
            DefaultCaret caret = (DefaultCaret)textComponent.getCaret();
            caret.setUpdatePolicy(DefaultCaret.NEVER_UPDATE);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void adjustmentValueChanged(final AdjustmentEvent e)
    {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
        {
            public void run()
            {
                checkScrollBar(e);
            }
        });
    }

    /*
     *  Analyze every adjustment event to determine when the viewport
     *  needs to be repositioned.
     */
    private void checkScrollBar(AdjustmentEvent e)
    {
        //  The scroll bar listModel contains information needed to determine
        //  whether the viewport should be repositioned or not.

        JScrollBar scrollBar = (JScrollBar)e.getSource();
        BoundedRangeModel listModel = scrollBar.getModel();
        int value = listModel.getValue();
        int extent = listModel.getExtent();
        int maximum = listModel.getMaximum();

        boolean valueChanged = previousValue != value;
        boolean maximumChanged = previousMaximum != maximum;

        //  Check if the user has manually repositioned the scrollbar

        if (valueChanged && !maximumChanged)
        {
            if (viewportPosition == START)
                adjustScrollBar = value != 0;
            else
                adjustScrollBar = value + extent >= maximum;
        }

        //  Reset the "value" so we can reposition the viewport and
        //  distinguish between a user scroll and a program scroll.
        //  (ie. valueChanged will be false on a program scroll)

        if (adjustScrollBar && viewportPosition == END)
        {
            //  Scroll the viewport to the end.
            scrollBar.removeAdjustmentListener( this );
            value = maximum - extent;
            scrollBar.setValue( value );
            scrollBar.addAdjustmentListener( this );
        }

        if (adjustScrollBar && viewportPosition == START)
        {
            //  Keep the viewport at the same relative viewportPosition
            scrollBar.removeAdjustmentListener( this );
            value = value + maximum - previousMaximum;
            scrollBar.setValue( value );
            scrollBar.addAdjustmentListener( this );
        }

        previousValue = value;
        previousMaximum = maximum;
    }
}

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 19 '10 at 20:50

1

Check out this example.

Although, I would change the code to use the following which is more efficient:

caret.setDot(textArea.getDocument().getLength());

answered Apr 19 '10 at 20:50

camickr

321,443
19
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That example again discards the selection. Furthermore the scroll bar still jumps. – I82Much Apr 19 '10 at 21:41
I don't see the "scrollbar jumping". You can always change the code to NOT reset the caret position if a selection is found. Then the viewport won't scroll automatically, but I would think that is the behaviour you want. If a user is currently selecting text the scrolling should not be automatic. – camickr Apr 20 '10 at 01:57

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 19 '12 at 04:29

I've spent the last few days trying different approaches to this exact problem. The best solution I've found is to replace the layout manager of JScrollPane's viewport and implement all the desired scrolling behavior there. The jumpy scrollbar knob is gone, and it's blazing fast -- so fast that it created another race condition I had to work around. Details are here: http://www.java-forums.org/awt-swing/56808-scroll-bar-knob-jumpy-when-component-growing.html

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:45

0

public static void scrollToBottom(JComponent component) 
{
    Rectangle visibleRect = component.getVisibleRect();
    visibleRect.y = component.getHeight() - visibleRect.height;
    component.scrollRectToVisible(visibleRect);
}

You can find the full details here: How to make JTextPane autoscroll only when scroll bar is at bottom and scroll lock is off?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:45

Community

1
1

answered Nov 28 '12 at 02:23

Stephane Grenier

15,527
38
117
192

score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Feb 28 '13 at 19:02

0

DefaultCaret caret = (DefaultCaret)textArea.getCaret();  
caret.setUpdatePolicy(DefaultCaret.ALWAYS_UPDATE);

edited Feb 28 '13 at 19:02

animuson

53,861
28
137
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answered Feb 28 '13 at 18:46

Narain

1

Swing: Scroll to bottom of JScrollPane, conditional on current viewport location

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