Class Alert

java.lang.Object
javafx.scene.control.Dialog<ButtonType>
javafx.scene.control.Alert
All Implemented Interfaces:
EventTarget
public class Alert extends Dialog<ButtonType>
The Alert class subclasses the Dialog class, and provides support for a number of pre-built dialog types that can be easily shown to users to prompt for a response. Therefore, for many users, the Alert class is the most suited class for their needs (as opposed to using Dialog directly). Alternatively, users who want to prompt a user for text input or to make a choice from a list of options would be better served by using TextInputDialog and ChoiceDialog, respectively.

When creating an Alert instance, users must pass in an Alert.AlertType enumeration value. It is by passing in this value that the Alert instance will configure itself appropriately (by setting default values for many of the Dialog properties, including title, header, and graphic, as well as the default buttons that are expected in a dialog of the given type.

To instantiate (but not yet show) an Alert, simply use code such as the following: 

Alert alert = new Alert(AlertType.CONFIRMATION, "Are you sure you want to format your system?");
Image of the Alert control

Once an Alert is instantiated, we must show it. More often than not, alerts (and dialogs in general) are shown in a modal and blocking fashion. 'Modal' means that the dialog prevents user interaction with the owning application whilst it is showing, and 'blocking' means that code execution stops at the point in which the dialog is shown. This means that you can show a dialog, await the user response, and then continue running the code that directly follows the show call, giving developers the ability to immediately deal with the user input from the dialog (if relevant).

JavaFX dialogs are modal by default (you can change this via the Dialog.initModality(javafx.stage.Modality) API). To specify whether you want blocking or non-blocking dialogs, developers simply choose to call Dialog.showAndWait() or Dialog.show() (respectively). By default most developers should choose to use Dialog.showAndWait(), given the ease of coding in these situations. Shown below is three code snippets, showing three equally valid ways of showing the Alert dialog that was specified above:

Option 1: The 'traditional' approach 

Optional<ButtonType> result = alert.showAndWait();
if (result.isPresent() && result.get() == ButtonType.OK) {
    formatSystem();
}

Option 2: The traditional + Optional approach 

alert.showAndWait().ifPresent(response -> {
    if (response == ButtonType.OK) {
        formatSystem();
    }
});

Option 3: The fully lambda approach 

alert.showAndWait()
     .filter(response -> response == ButtonType.OK)
     .ifPresent(response -> formatSystem());

There is no better or worse option of the three listed above, so developers are encouraged to work to their own style preferences. The purpose of showing the above is to help introduce developers to the Optional API, which is new in Java 8 and may be foreign to many developers.

Since:
JavaFX 8u40
See Also:

  • Property Details

  • Constructor Details

    • Alert

      public Alert(Alert.AlertType alertType)
      Creates an alert with the given AlertType (refer to the Alert.AlertType documentation for clarification over which one is most appropriate).

      By passing in an AlertType, default values for the title, headerText, and graphic properties are set, as well as the relevant buttons being installed. Once the Alert is instantiated, developers are able to modify the values of the alert as desired.

      It is important to note that the one property that does not have a default value set, and which therefore the developer must set, is the content text property (or alternatively, the developer may call alert.getDialogPane().setContent(Node) if they want a more complex alert). If the contentText (or content) properties are not set, there is no useful information presented to end users.

      Parameters:
      alertType - an alert with the given AlertType

    • Alert

      public Alert(Alert.AlertType alertType, String contentText, ButtonType... buttons)
      Creates an alert with the given contentText, ButtonTypes, and AlertType (refer to the Alert.AlertType documentation for clarification over which one is most appropriate).

      By passing in a variable number of ButtonType arguments, the developer is directly overriding the default buttons that will be displayed in the dialog, replacing the pre-defined buttons with whatever is specified in the varargs array.

      By passing in an AlertType, default values for the title, headerText, and graphic properties are set. Once the Alert is instantiated, developers are able to modify the values of the alert as desired.

      Parameters:
      alertType - the alert type
      contentText - the content text
      buttons - the button types

  • Method Details