getSelectedItem() - Selected Item of Combo Box

Java Swing Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

∟getSelectedItem() - Selected Item of Combo Box

This section provides a tutorial example on how to use the getSelectedItem() method to know which option is selected from a combo box.

If you are using a combo box with multiple options, you can use the getSelectedItem() method to find out which option is selected. Here is a sample program:

/* JComboBoxAction.java
 * Copyright (c) 1997-2024 HerongYang.com. All Rights Reserved.
 */
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class JComboBoxAction implements ActionListener {
   JComboBox<String> combo;
   JLabel myLabel = null;
   public static void main(String[] a) {
      JComboBoxAction myTest = new JComboBoxAction();
      myTest.createFrame();
   }
   public void createFrame() {
    JFrame f = new JFrame("My Combo Box");
      f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      Container c = f.getContentPane();
      c.setLayout(new BoxLayout(c,BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
    
      JLabel color = new JLabel("Colors:");
      c.add(color);

      String[] options = {"Red", "Green", "Blue"};
      combo = new JComboBox<String>(options);
    combo.setSelectedIndex(-1);
      c.add(combo);
    
      JButton b = new JButton("Done");
      b.addActionListener(this);
      c.add(b);
    
      myLabel = new JLabel("Please select");
      c.add(myLabel);
      f.pack();
      f.setVisible(true);
   }
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
    String t = (String) combo.getSelectedItem();
    if (t == null) t = "Nothing selected";
      myLabel.setText(t);
   }
}

If you run this program, you will see none of the options is selected initially. If you click "Done", you will get the "Nothing selected" message. If you select an option then click "Done", you will get the selected color: