JavaFX 27 · javafx.scene.control.Menu · APIdia, the JavaDoc alternative

A popup menu of actionable items which is displayed to the user only upon request. When a menu is visible, in most use cases, the user can select one menu item before the menu goes back to its hidden state. This means the menu is a good place to put important functionality that does not necessarily need to be visible at all times to the user.

Menus are typically placed in a MenuBar, or as a submenu of another Menu. If the intention is to offer a context menu when the user right-clicks in a certain area of their user interface, then this is the wrong control to use. This is because when Menu is added to the scenegraph, it has a visual representation that will result in it appearing on screen. Instead, ContextMenu should be used in this circumstance.

Creating a Menu and inserting it into a MenuBar is easy, as shown below:

 Menu menu1 = new Menu("File");
MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar(menu1);

A Menu is a subclass of MenuItem which means that it can be inserted into a Menu's items ObservableList, resulting in a submenu being created:

 MenuItem menu12 = new MenuItem("Open");
menu1.getItems().add(menu12);

The items ObservableList allows for any MenuItem type to be inserted, including its subclasses Menu, MenuItem, RadioMenuItem, CheckMenuItem, CustomMenuItem and SeparatorMenuItem. In order to insert an arbitrary Node to a Menu, a CustomMenuItem can be used. One exception to this general rule is that SeparatorMenuItem could be used for inserting a separator.

Field Summary

Modifier and Type	Field and Description
private static final String	DEFAULT_STYLE_CLASS Hides javafx.scene.control.MenuItem.DEFAULT_STYLE_CLASS.
private final ObservableList<MenuItem>	items
public static final EventType<Event>	ON_HIDDEN Called when the contextMenu for this menu is hidden.
public static final EventType<Event>	ON_HIDING Called when the contextMenu for this menu will be hidden.
public static final EventType<Event>	ON_SHOWING Called when the contextMenu for this menu will be shown.
public static final EventType<Event>	ON_SHOWN Called when the contextMenu for this menu shows.
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	onHidden
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	onHiding
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	onShowing
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	onShown
private ReadOnlyBooleanWrapper	showing Indicates whether the `ContextMenu` is currently visible.
private static final String	STYLE_CLASS_SHOWING

Inherited from javafx.scene.control.MenuItem:: eventHandlerManager MENU_VALIDATION_EVENT

Constructor Summary

Access	Constructor and Description
public	Menu() Constructs a Menu with an empty string for its display text.
public	Menu(String the text to display on the menu button text) Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text.
public	Menu(String the text to display on the menu button text, Node the graphic to display on the menu button graphic) Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text and sets the graphic `Node` to the given node.
public	Menu(String the text to display on the menu button text, Node the graphic to display on the menu button graphic, MenuItem... The items to display in the popup menu. items) Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text, the graphic `Node` to the given node, and inserts the given items into the `items` list.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
public EventDispatchChain	buildEventDispatchChain(EventDispatchChain tail) Overrides javafx.scene.control.MenuItem.buildEventDispatchChain. Implements javafx.event.EventTarget.buildEventDispatchChain. Construct an event dispatch chain for this target.
public final ObservableList<MenuItem>	Returns: the list of items getItems() The items to show within this menu.
public final EventHandler<Event>	getOnHidden()
public final EventHandler<Event>	getOnHiding()
public final EventHandler<Event>	getOnShowing()
public final EventHandler<Event>	getOnShown()
public void	hide() Hides the `ContextMenu` if it was previously showing, and any showing submenus.
public final boolean	isShowing()
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	Returns: the on hidden property onHiddenProperty() Called just after the `ContextMenu` has been hidden.
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	Returns: the on hiding property onHidingProperty() Called just prior to the `ContextMenu` being hidden.
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	Returns: the on showing property onShowingProperty() Called just prior to the `ContextMenu` being shown, even if the menu has no items to show.
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>	Returns: the on shown property onShownProperty() Called just after the `ContextMenu` is shown.
public final void	setOnHidden(EventHandler<Event> value)
public final void	setOnHiding(EventHandler<Event> value)
public final void	setOnShowing(EventHandler<Event> value)
public final void	setOnShown(EventHandler<Event> value)
private void	setShowing(boolean value)
public void	show() If the Menu is not disabled and the `ContextMenu` is not already showing, then this will cause the `ContextMenu` to be shown.
public final ReadOnlyBooleanProperty	showingProperty()
private ReadOnlyBooleanWrapper	showingPropertyImpl()

Field Detail

DEFAULT_STYLE_CLASS	back to summary
private static final String DEFAULT_STYLE_CLASS Hides javafx.scene.control.MenuItem.DEFAULT_STYLE_CLASS.

items	back to summary
private final ObservableList<MenuItem> items

ON_HIDDEN	back to summary
public static final EventType<Event> ON_HIDDEN Called when the contextMenu for this menu is hidden. However if the contextMenu is empty then this will not be called.

ON_HIDING	back to summary
public static final EventType<Event> ON_HIDING Called when the contextMenu for this menu will be hidden. However if the contextMenu is empty then this will not be called.

ON_SHOWING	back to summary
public static final EventType<Event> ON_SHOWING Called when the contextMenu for this menu will be shown. However if the contextMenu is empty then this will not be called.

ON_SHOWN	back to summary
public static final EventType<Event> ON_SHOWN Called when the contextMenu for this menu shows. However if the contextMenu is empty then this will not be called.

onHidden	back to summary
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onHidden

onHiding	back to summary
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onHiding

onShowing	back to summary
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onShowing

onShown	back to summary
private ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onShown

showing back to summary

showing	back to summary
private ReadOnlyBooleanWrapper showing Indicates whether the `ContextMenu` is currently visible. Default Value false

private ReadOnlyBooleanWrapper showing

Indicates whether the ContextMenu is currently visible.

Default Value: false

STYLE_CLASS_SHOWING	back to summary
private static final String STYLE_CLASS_SHOWING

Constructor Detail

Menu	back to summary
public Menu() Constructs a Menu with an empty string for its display text. Since JavaFX 2.2

Menu	back to summary
public Menu(String text) Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text. Parameters text:String the text to display on the menu button

Menu back to summary

Menu	back to summary
public Menu(String text, Node graphic) Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text and sets the graphic `Node` to the given node. Parameters text:String the text to display on the menu button graphic:Node the graphic to display on the menu button

public Menu(String text, Node graphic)

Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text and sets the graphic Node to the given node.

Parameters

text:String: the text to display on the menu button
graphic:Node: the graphic to display on the menu button

Menu back to summary

Menu	back to summary
public Menu(String text, Node graphic, MenuItem... items) Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text, the graphic `Node` to the given node, and inserts the given items into the `items` list. Parameters text:String the text to display on the menu button graphic:Node the graphic to display on the menu button items:MenuItem[] The items to display in the popup menu. Since JavaFX 8u40

public Menu(String text, Node graphic, MenuItem... items)

Constructs a Menu and sets the display text with the specified text, the graphic Node to the given node, and inserts the given items into the items list.

Parameters

text:String: the text to display on the menu button
graphic:Node: the graphic to display on the menu button
items:MenuItem[]: The items to display in the popup menu.

Since

JavaFX 8u40

Method Detail

buildEventDispatchChain back to summary

buildEventDispatchChain	back to summary
public EventDispatchChain buildEventDispatchChain(EventDispatchChain tail) Overrides javafx.scene.control.MenuItem.buildEventDispatchChain. Implements javafx.event.EventTarget.buildEventDispatchChain. Doc from javafx.event.EventTarget.buildEventDispatchChain. Construct an event dispatch chain for this target. The event dispatch chain contains event dispatchers which might be interested in processing of events targeted at this `EventTarget`. This event target is not automatically added to the chain, so if it wants to process events, it needs to add an `EventDispatcher` for itself to the chain. In the case the event target is part of some hierarchy, the chain for it is usually built from event dispatchers collected from the root of the hierarchy to the event target. The event dispatch chain is constructed by modifications to the provided initial event dispatch chain. The returned chain should have the initial chain at its end so the dispatchers should be prepended to the initial chain. The caller shouldn't assume that the initial chain remains unchanged nor that the returned value will reference a different chain. Annotations @Override

public EventDispatchChain buildEventDispatchChain(EventDispatchChain tail)

Overrides javafx.scene.control.MenuItem.buildEventDispatchChain.

Implements javafx.event.EventTarget.buildEventDispatchChain.

Doc from javafx.event.EventTarget.buildEventDispatchChain.

Construct an event dispatch chain for this target. The event dispatch chain contains event dispatchers which might be interested in processing of events targeted at this EventTarget. This event target is not automatically added to the chain, so if it wants to process events, it needs to add an EventDispatcher for itself to the chain.

In the case the event target is part of some hierarchy, the chain for it is usually built from event dispatchers collected from the root of the hierarchy to the event target.

The event dispatch chain is constructed by modifications to the provided initial event dispatch chain. The returned chain should have the initial chain at its end so the dispatchers should be prepended to the initial chain.

The caller shouldn't assume that the initial chain remains unchanged nor that the returned value will reference a different chain.

Annotations

@Override

getItems	back to summary
public final ObservableList<MenuItem> getItems() The items to show within this menu. If this ObservableList is modified at runtime, the Menu will update as expected. Returns:ObservableList<MenuItem> the list of items

getItems

back to summary

public final ObservableList<MenuItem> getItems()

The items to show within this menu. If this ObservableList is modified at runtime, the Menu will update as expected.

Returns:ObservableList<MenuItem>: the list of items

getOnHidden	back to summary
public final EventHandler<Event> getOnHidden()

getOnHiding	back to summary
public final EventHandler<Event> getOnHiding()

getOnShowing	back to summary
public final EventHandler<Event> getOnShowing()

getOnShown	back to summary
public final EventHandler<Event> getOnShown()

hide back to summary

hide	back to summary
public void hide() Hides the `ContextMenu` if it was previously showing, and any showing submenus. If this menu is not showing, then invoking this function has no effect. Exceptions IllegalStateException: if this method is called on a thread other than the JavaFX Application Thread.

public void hide()

Hides the ContextMenu if it was previously showing, and any showing submenus. If this menu is not showing, then invoking this function has no effect.

Exceptions

IllegalStateException:: if this method is called on a thread other than the JavaFX Application Thread.

isShowing	back to summary
public final boolean isShowing()

onHiddenProperty back to summary

onHiddenProperty	back to summary
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onHiddenProperty() Called just after the `ContextMenu` has been hidden. Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> the on hidden property

public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onHiddenProperty()

Called just after the ContextMenu has been hidden.

Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>: the on hidden property

onHidingProperty back to summary

onHidingProperty	back to summary
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onHidingProperty() Called just prior to the `ContextMenu` being hidden. Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> the on hiding property

public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onHidingProperty()

Called just prior to the ContextMenu being hidden.

Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>: the on hiding property

onShowingProperty back to summary

onShowingProperty	back to summary
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onShowingProperty() Called just prior to the `ContextMenu` being shown, even if the menu has no items to show. Note however that this won't be called if the menu does not have a valid anchor node. Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> the on showing property

public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onShowingProperty()

Called just prior to the ContextMenu being shown, even if the menu has no items to show. Note however that this won't be called if the menu does not have a valid anchor node.

Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>: the on showing property

onShownProperty back to summary

onShownProperty	back to summary
public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onShownProperty() Called just after the `ContextMenu` is shown. Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> the on shown property

public final ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>> onShownProperty()

Called just after the ContextMenu is shown.

Returns:ObjectProperty<EventHandler<Event>>: the on shown property

setOnHidden	back to summary
public final void setOnHidden(EventHandler<Event> value)

setOnHiding	back to summary
public final void setOnHiding(EventHandler<Event> value)

setOnShowing	back to summary
public final void setOnShowing(EventHandler<Event> value)

setOnShown	back to summary
public final void setOnShown(EventHandler<Event> value)

setShowing	back to summary
private void setShowing(boolean value)

show back to summary

show	back to summary
public void show() If the Menu is not disabled and the `ContextMenu` is not already showing, then this will cause the `ContextMenu` to be shown. Exceptions IllegalStateException: if this method is called on a thread other than the JavaFX Application Thread.

public void show()

If the Menu is not disabled and the ContextMenu is not already showing, then this will cause the ContextMenu to be shown.