How do I write a simple key listener in Java that will save the input to a .txt file?

Question

I'm fairly inexperienced with Java and I was curious if there was a simple/easy way to write a .java that would log keyboard input from all locations in the OS and save them to a .txt (or similar) file (or even just a java panel). I've seen mention of methods like keyPressed, keyReleased, and KeyTyped but I don't know how to properly implement those. If someone could explain that would be great.

TIA

Answer 1

What you're talking about is to use Java to create a key-logger, and you will find that this is something that cannot be done with core Java. Java was created to be as operating system agnostic as possible, and what you are trying to do requires a closer association with the operating system than can be achieved with core Java.

Solutions can be achieved but they require meshing Java with native code using JNI, JNA or similar libraries or by meshing Java with os-specific utilities, but these of necessitate your creating non-portable solutions.