How do I handle events with a TextFlow control?

Question

I'm building a simple login registration form and I'm trying to use a text flow to switch the scene of the primary stage but for some reason, none of the event handlers I have attempted to use are working as intended

this is what i have tried so far

 TextFlow flow = new TextFlow(new Hyperlink("Dont have an account?"));
 flow.setOnMouseClicked(actionEvent -> primaryStage.setScene(scene2));
  

Answer 1

Most controls in JavaFX consume mouse events by default¹. That means when you click on the Hyperlink the event is consumed before it can bubble up to the TextFlow, thus your event handler is never invoked.

You should probably be setting the onAction property of the Hyperlink anyway, as that's not only more correct semantically but also allows reacting to keyboard input in addition to mouse input. For example:

Hyperlink link = new Hyperlink("Don't have an account?");
link.setOnAction(e -> primaryStage.setScene(scene2));

TextFlow flow = new TextFlow(link);
// do something with 'flow'...

As an aside: Do you need to use TextFlow here? If all you're doing is placing a Hyperlink within the TextFlow then you should probably just be using the Hyperlink directly instead.

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^{1. This is done by the javafx.scene.control.SkinBase class. See its #consumeMouseEvents(boolean) method.}