TextFlow Layout in JavaFX

TextFlow is a layout that allows us to set multiple text nodes in a single flow, and adjust their position and alignment according to the font, width, and line spacing of the TextFlow. It can also embed objects, such as images or shapes, that can be inserted in the text content. The class named textFlow of the package javafx.scene.layout represents the text flow. To create a TextFlow, we can use one of its constructors listed below −

• TextFlow() − Creates an empty TextFlow.

• TextFlow(Node childNodes) − Creates a TextFlow with the given nodes as children.

To customize the appearance and behavior of the TextFlow, this class provides two properties which are as follows −

• lineSpacing − This property is of double type and it is used to define the space between the text objects. You can set this property using the method named setLineSpacing().

• textAlignment − This property represents the alignment of the text objects in the pane. You can set value to this property using the method setTextAlignment(). To this method you can pass four values: CENTER, JUSTIFY, LEFT, RIGHT.

Example

The following program is an example of the text flow layout. In this, we are creating three text objects with font 15. Save this code in a file with the name TextFlowExample.java.

import javafx.application.Application; 
import javafx.scene.Scene; 
import javafx.scene.paint.Color; 
import javafx.scene.text.Font; 
import javafx.scene.text.Text; 
import javafx.scene.text.TextAlignment; 
import javafx.scene.text.TextFlow; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
         
public class TextFlowExample extends Application { 
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) {                     
      //Creating text objects  
      Text text1 = new Text("Welcome to Tutorialspoint "); 
      
      //Setting font to the text 
      text1.setFont(new Font(15)); 
      
      //Setting color to the text  
      text1.setFill(Color.DARKSLATEBLUE); 
       
      Text text2 = new Text("We provide free tutorials for readers in various technologies  "); 
      
      //Setting font to the text 
      text2.setFont(new Font(15)); 
      
      //Setting color to the text 
      text2.setFill(Color.DARKGOLDENROD); 
      Text text3 = new Text("n Recently we started free video tutorials too "); 
      
      //Setting font to the text 
      text3.setFont(new Font(15)); 
      
      //Setting color to the text 
      text3.setFill(Color.DARKGRAY); 
       
      Text text4 = new Text("We believe in easy learning"); 
      
      //Setting font to the text 
      text4.setFont(new Font(15)); 
      text4.setFill(Color.MEDIUMVIOLETRED); 
       
      //Creating the text flow plane 
      TextFlow textFlowPane = new TextFlow(); 
       
      //Setting the line spacing between the text objects 
      textFlowPane.setTextAlignment(TextAlignment.JUSTIFY); 
       
      //Setting the width  
      textFlowPane.setPrefSize(600, 300); 
       
      //Setting the line spacing  
      textFlowPane.setLineSpacing(5.0); 
      
      //Adding cylinder to the pane  
      textFlowPane.getChildren().addAll(text1, text2, text3, text4);        
         
      //Creating a scene object 
      Scene scene = new Scene(textFlowPane, 400, 300);  
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Textflow Layout in JavaFX");
      
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene); 
         
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show();         
   } 
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
}

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls TextFlowExample.java 
java --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls TextflowExample

Output

On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window as shown below.

Adding Images to the TextFlow

It is also possible to embed image within the TextFlow. This is achieved by using the Image and ImageView class of the JavaFX. We simply need to instantiate these classes and pass the ImageView object to the constructor of TextFlow class as shown in the below example. Save this code in a Java file with the name JavafxTextflow.java.

Example

import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.image.Image;
import javafx.scene.image.ImageView;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.scene.paint.Color;
import javafx.scene.text.Font;
import javafx.scene.text.FontPosture;
import javafx.scene.text.FontWeight;
import javafx.scene.text.Text;
import javafx.scene.text.TextAlignment;
import javafx.scene.text.TextFlow;
import javafx.stage.Stage;

public class JavafxTextflow extends Application {
   @Override
   public void start(Stage stage) {
      // Create some text nodes with different styles
      Text text1 = new Text("Hello");
      text1.setFill(Color.RED);
      text1.setFont(Font.font("Arial", FontWeight.BOLD, 20));

      Text text2 = new Text("JavaFX");
      text2.setFill(Color.BLUE);
      text2.setFont(Font.font("Arial", FontPosture.ITALIC, 20));

      Text text3 = new Text("nThis is a ");
      text3.setFill(Color.BLACK);
      text3.setFont(Font.font("Arial", 16));

      Text text4 = new Text("TextFlow");
      text4.setFill(Color.GREEN);
      text4.setFont(Font.font("Arial", FontWeight.BOLD, FontPosture.ITALIC, 16));

      Text text5 = new Text(" example.");
      text5.setFill(Color.BLACK);
      text5.setFont(Font.font("Arial", 16));

      // Create an image node
      Image image = new Image("faviconTP.png");
      ImageView imageView = new ImageView(image);
      imageView.setFitWidth(100);
      imageView.setPreserveRatio(true);

      // Create a text flow with the text nodes and the image node
      TextFlow textFlow = new TextFlow(text1, text2, text3, text4, text5, imageView);

      // Set some properties of the text flow
      textFlow.setLineSpacing(10);
      textFlow.setTextAlignment(TextAlignment.CENTER);
      textFlow.setPrefWidth(300);

      // Create a scene and a stage
      Scene scene = new Scene(textFlow, 400, 300);
      stage.setTitle("TextFlow Example");
      stage.setScene(scene);
      stage.show();
   }
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      launch(args);
   }
}

To compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt, use the following commands.

javac --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls JavafxTextflow.java 
java --module-path %PATH_TO_FX% --add-modules javafx.controls JavafxTextflow

Output

On executing the above Java code, it will generate a JavaFX window as shown below.