Get user input from textfield to load website of their choice

Question

I'm making a web browser using JavaFX and currently running into an issue. The function that have to allow the user to visit any site they want doesn't work. What I tried to do is use the getText() method to obtain the url that the use entered in the textfield, then it will use webEngine.load() and add http:// before the input. Afterwards it will be put inside parethesis of WebEngine.load to load the website of the user's choice.

However this does not work. What I have tried to get to the root of the problem is I made a button just for the function to go to a specific site. That worked perfectly. I have also tried to create a new webView setup just so I can get the browser to essentially "start fresh" but with the website that the user entered. But that didn't work either.

This is my code for reference:

package application;

import java.net.URL;
import java.util.ResourceBundle;
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.collections.ObservableList;
import javafx.event.ActionEvent;
import javafx.event.EventHandler;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.control.TextField;
import javafx.scene.layout.BorderPane;
import javafx.scene.layout.HBox;
import javafx.scene.text.Text;
import javafx.scene.web.WebEngine;
import javafx.scene.web.WebHistory;
import javafx.scene.web.WebView;

public class Main extends Application {
    private BorderPane root;
    private WebView webView;
    private WebEngine webEngine;
    private HBox addressBar;
    private HBox statusBar;
    private Text domain;
    private WebHistory history;
    
    private final String homePage = "https://google.ca";
    
    private void setupAddressBar() {
        addressBar = new HBox();
        Button home = new Button("Home");
        Button back = new Button("<--");
        Button forward = new Button("-->");
        Button refresh = new Button("Refresh");
        
        Button load = new Button("Load");
        
        TextField url = new TextField();
        addressBar.getChildren().addAll(home,back,forward,refresh,url, load);
        
        class HomeButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent>{
            @Override
            public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
                homePage();
            }
        }
        
        class BackButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent>{
            @Override
            public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
                back();
            }
        }
        
        class ForwardButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent>{
            @Override
            public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
                forward();
            }
        }
        
        class RefreshButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent>{
            @Override
            public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
                refreshPage();
            }
        }
        
        class DomainBar implements EventHandler<ActionEvent>{
            @Override
            public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
                loadPage();
            }
        }
        
        class LoadPage implements EventHandler<ActionEvent>{
            @Override
            public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
                loadPage();
            }
        }
        
        /*
         class KeyboardPressedHandler implements EventHandler<KeyEvent>{
                @Override
                public void handle(KeyEvent event) {
                    KeyCode key = event.getCode();
                    
                    if(key == KeyCode.ENTER ) {
                        loadPage();
                    }
                }
            };
        */  

        HomeButton homeButton = new HomeButton();
        home.setOnAction(homeButton);
        
        BackButton backButton = new BackButton();
        back.setOnAction(backButton);
        
        ForwardButton forwardButton = new ForwardButton();
        forward.setOnAction(forwardButton);
        
        RefreshButton refreshButton = new RefreshButton();
        refresh.setOnAction(refreshButton);
        
        DomainBar domainBar =  new DomainBar();
        url.setOnAction(domainBar);
        
        LoadPage loadPage = new LoadPage();
        load.setOnAction(loadPage);
    }
        
    private void setupStatusBar() {
        statusBar = new HBox();
            domain = new Text("google.ca");
            Text separator = new Text("|");
            Text copyright = new Text("JavaFX -- All Rights Reserved.");
            
            statusBar.getChildren().addAll(domain, separator, copyright);
    }
    
    public void setupWebView() {
        webView = new WebView();
        webEngine = webView.getEngine();
        webEngine.load(homePage);
    }
    
    public void initialize(URL arg0, ResourceBundle arg1) {
        webEngine = webView.getEngine();
        loadPage();
    }
    
    public void loadPage() {
        webEngine.load("http://" + domain.getText());
    }
    
    public void homePage() {
        webEngine.load("http://google.ca");
    }
    
    public void refreshPage() {
        webEngine.reload();
    }
    
    public void forward() {
        history = webEngine.getHistory();
        ObservableList<WebHistory.Entry> entries = history.getEntries();
        history.go(1);
        domain.setText(entries.get(history.getCurrentIndex()).getUrl());
    }
    
    public void back() {
        history = webEngine.getHistory();
        ObservableList<WebHistory.Entry> entries = history.getEntries();
        history.go(-1);
        domain.setText(entries.get(history.getCurrentIndex()).getUrl());
    }
    
    public void start(Stage stage) {
        root = new BorderPane();

        this.setupAddressBar();
        this.setupWebView();
        this.setupStatusBar();

        root.setTop(addressBar);
        root.setBottom(statusBar);
        root.setCenter(webView);
        
        Scene scene = new Scene(root);
        stage.setScene(scene);
        //stage.getFullScreen(true);
        stage.setWidth(1200);
        stage.setHeight(1000);
        stage.setResizable(false);
        stage.setTitle("JavaFX Browser");
        stage.show();
    }
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        launch(args);
    }
}

Answer 1

The only problem here is that you're using the value of you're Text domain node instead of the one from TextField url, that you should declare as a field of your class.

It looks puzzling because you don't show any signal informing you that the page is being loaded or has an error. Putting a few logs here and there and using a debugger would help a lot.

Also, just a side remark: waiting for you Stage to be shown before loading your home page makes more sense and might keep you out of some trouble.

Here's a barely edited version that works:

package com.ahpcservices.test.SoWebview;

import java.net.URL;
import java.util.ResourceBundle;
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.collections.ObservableList;
import javafx.event.ActionEvent;
import javafx.event.EventHandler;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.control.TextField;
import javafx.scene.layout.BorderPane;
import javafx.scene.layout.HBox;
import javafx.scene.text.Text;
import javafx.scene.web.WebEngine;
import javafx.scene.web.WebHistory;
import javafx.scene.web.WebView;

public class Main extends Application {
  private BorderPane root;
  private WebView webView;
  private WebEngine webEngine;
  private HBox addressBar;
  private HBox statusBar;
  private Text domain;
  private TextField url;
  private WebHistory history;

  private final String homePage = "https://google.ca";

  // ------------------------------------------------------

  private void setupAddressBar() {
    addressBar = new HBox();
    Button home = new Button("Home");
    Button back = new Button("<--");
    Button forward = new Button("-->");
    Button refresh = new Button("Refresh");

    Button load = new Button("Load");

    url = new TextField();
    addressBar.getChildren().addAll(home, back, forward, refresh, url, load);

    class HomeButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent> {

      @Override
      public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
        homePage();

      }
    }

    class BackButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent> {

      @Override
      public void handle(ActionEvent e) {

        back();

      }
    }

    class ForwardButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent> {

      @Override
      public void handle(ActionEvent e) {

        forward();

      }
    }

    class RefreshButton implements EventHandler<ActionEvent> {

      @Override
      public void handle(ActionEvent e) {

        refreshPage();
      }
    }

    class DomainBar implements EventHandler<ActionEvent> {

      @Override
      public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
        loadPage();
      }
    }

    class LoadPage implements EventHandler<ActionEvent> {

      @Override
      public void handle(ActionEvent e) {
        loadPage();
      }
    }

    /*
     * class KeyboardPressedHandler implements EventHandler<KeyEvent>{
     * 
     * @Override public void handle(KeyEvent event) {
     * 
     * KeyCode key = event.getCode();
     * 
     * if(key == KeyCode.ENTER ) { loadPage();
     * 
     * } } };
     */

    HomeButton homeButton = new HomeButton();
    home.setOnAction(homeButton);

    BackButton backButton = new BackButton();
    back.setOnAction(backButton);

    ForwardButton forwardButton = new ForwardButton();
    forward.setOnAction(forwardButton);

    RefreshButton refreshButton = new RefreshButton();
    refresh.setOnAction(refreshButton);

    DomainBar domainBar = new DomainBar();
    url.setOnAction(domainBar);

    LoadPage loadPage = new LoadPage();
    load.setOnAction(loadPage);

  }

  // ----------------------------------------------------
  private void setupStatusBar() {
    statusBar = new HBox();
    domain = new Text("google.ca");
    Text separator = new Text("|");
    Text copyright = new Text("JavaFX -- All Rights Reserved.");

    statusBar.getChildren().addAll(domain, separator, copyright);

  }

  // -------------------------------------------------
  public void setupWebView() {
    webView = new WebView();
    webEngine = webView.getEngine();
  }

  public void initialize(URL arg0, ResourceBundle arg1) {
    webEngine = webView.getEngine();
    loadPage();

  }

  public void loadPage() {

    webEngine.load("http://" + url.getText());
  }

  public void homePage() {
    webEngine.load("http://google.ca");
  }

  public void refreshPage() {
    webEngine.reload();
  }

  public void forward() {
    history = webEngine.getHistory();
    ObservableList<WebHistory.Entry> entries = history.getEntries();
    history.go(1);
    domain.setText(entries.get(history.getCurrentIndex()).getUrl());
  }

  public void back() {
    history = webEngine.getHistory();
    ObservableList<WebHistory.Entry> entries = history.getEntries();
    history.go(-1);
    domain.setText(entries.get(history.getCurrentIndex()).getUrl());
  }

  public void start(Stage stage) {
    root = new BorderPane();
    // ---------------------------------
    this.setupAddressBar();
    this.setupWebView();
    this.setupStatusBar();
    // ----------------------------------
    root.setTop(addressBar);
    root.setBottom(statusBar);
    root.setCenter(webView);

    // ----------------------------------

    Scene scene = new Scene(root);
    stage.setScene(scene);
    // stage.getFullScreen(true);
    stage.setWidth(1200);
    stage.setHeight(1000);
    stage.setResizable(false);
    stage.setTitle("JavaFX Browser");
    stage.setOnShown(e -> {
      webEngine.load(homePage);
    });
    stage.show();
    ;
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    launch(args);
  }
}