How to get selected TableCell in JavaFX TableView - javafx

Question

I am looking for a way to get the selected cell of a TableView control. Note that I don't just want the cell value, I want an actual TableCell object. One would expect that the method:
tableView.getSelectionModel().getSelectedCells().get(0)
does just that, but it returns a TablePosition object, which gives you row and column information, but I don't see a way to get TableCell object from that.
The reason I need this is because I want to respond to a key press, but attaching an event filter to TableCell does not work (probably because it is not editable). So I attach it to TableView, but then I need to get the currently selected cell.
EDIT: For future readers: DO NOT mess with TableCell objects, except in cell factory. Use the TableView the way designers intended, or you will be in lot of trouble. If you need data from multiple sources in single table, it is better to make a new class that aggregates all the data and use that as a TableView source.

Answer 1

I just posted an answer that uses this code to edit a Cell. I don't think you can get a reference to the actual table cell as that's internal to the table view.
tp = tv.getFocusModel().getFocusedCell();
tv.edit(tp.getRow(), tp.getTableColumn());
Your method also returns a TablePosition so you can use that as well.
Here's the link https://stackoverflow.com/a/21988562/2855515

Answer 2

This will probably get downvoted because the OP asked about returning the cell itself, rather than what I'll describe, but a Google search led me here for my issue.
I personally ran into issues trying to retrieve data from an individual cell.
java.is.for.desktop offered buggy code related to this matter, that throws an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException, but is on the right track. My goal is to offer a better example of that using a lambda.
To access data from a single TableCell:
tableView.getFocusModel().focusedCellProperty().addListener((ObservableValue<? extends TablePosition> observable, TablePosition oldPos, TablePosition pos) -> {
int row = pos.getRow();
int column = pos.getColumn();
String selectedValue = "";
/* pos.getColumn() can return -1 if the TableView or
* TableColumn instances are null. The JavaDocs state
* this clearly. Failing to check will produce an
* ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException when underlying data is changed.
*/
if ((pos.getRow() != -1) && (pos.getColumn() != -1))
{
selectedValue = tableView.getItems()
.get(row)
.get(column);
if ((selectedValue != null) && (!selectedValue.isEmpty()))
{
// handling if contains data
}
else
{
// handling if doesn't contain data
}
}
});
Edit:
I meant to say ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException, rather than NullPointerException, I updated this answer to reflect that. I also cleaned up spelling and grammar.

Answer 3

You want to respond to key press? Better don't.
Instead, you could register a listener for focusing of table cells, which would work with arrow keys and mouse clicks on table cells (and even with touch events, oh my, the future is already there).
table.getFocusModel().focusedCellProperty().addListener(
new ChangeListener<TablePosition>() {
#Override
public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends TablePosition> observable,
TablePosition oldPos, TablePosition pos) {
int row = pos.getRow();
int column = pos.getColumn();
String selectedValue = "";
if (table.getItems().size() > row
&& table.getItems().get(row).size() > column) {
selectedValue = table.getItems().get(row).get(column);
}
label.setText(selectedValue);
}
});
In this example, I am using a "classic" TableView with List<String> as column model. (So, your data type could be different than String.) And, of course, that label is just an example from my code.