TextArea

Since 2.2.1

TextArea is a multi-line text editor. Its value is a String[] — one element per line. It has built-in horizontal and vertical scrollers, a text validator for error highlighting, and full keyboard support (arrows, Home/End, PageUp/PageDown, Ctrl+←/→ word navigation, selection, copy/cut/paste, undo/redo).

The editor becomes editable when focused (clicked). Double-click to select a word.

Everything documented on UIElement (layout, styles, events, data bindings, etc.) applies here too.

Usage

JavaKotlinKubeJS

var area = new TextArea();
area.setValue(new String[] { "Line 1", "Line 2", "Line 3" });
area.setLinesResponder(lines -> {
    // called on each valid edit
    System.out.println("Lines: " + Arrays.toString(lines));
});
parent.addChild(area);

textArea({
    layout { width(200).height(80) }
}) {
    api {
        setValue(arrayOf("Line 1", "Line 2"))
        setLinesResponder { lines -> println(lines.joinToString("\n")) }
    }
}

let area = new TextArea();
area.setValue(["Line 1", "Line 2"]);
area.setLinesResponder(lines => { /* ... */ });
parent.addChild(area);

XML

<!-- Pre-populated text (lines split by \n in source) -->
<text-area>Line 1
Line 2
Line 3</text-area>

TextArea cannot have layout children added in XML — only text content.

Internal Structure

CSS class	Description
`.__text-area_content-view__`	The main editing surface.
`.__text-area_vertical-scroller__`	The vertical scroll bar (right side).
`.__text-area_horizontal-scroller__`	The horizontal scroll bar (bottom).

Text Area Style

focus-overlay

Texture drawn over the content view when it is hovered or focused.

Default: Sprites.RECT_RD_T_SOLID

JavaLSS

area.textAreaStyle(style -> style.focusOverlay(myHighlight));

text-area {
    focus-overlay: rect(#FFFFFF22, 2);
}

font / font-size

Font and size used for all lines.

Defaults: vanilla default font / 9

LSS

text-area {
    font: "minecraft:uniform";
    font-size: 9;
}

text-color / error-color

Text color when valid / when the validator rejects the content.

Defaults: 0xFFFFFF / 0xFF0000

LSS

text-area {
    text-color: #EEEEEE;
    error-color: #FF4444;
}

cursor-color

Color of the blinking caret.

Default: 0xEEEEEE

LSS

text-area {
    cursor-color: #FFFFFF;
}

text-shadow

Whether to draw text with a drop shadow.

Default: true

LSS

text-area {
    text-shadow: false;
}

placeholder

Ghost text shown when all lines are empty.

Default: translatable key text_field.empty

Java

area.textAreaStyle(style -> style
    .placeholder(Component.literal("Enter code…"))
);

line-spacing

Extra pixels added between lines.

Default: 1

LSS

text-area {
    line-spacing: 2;
}

scroller-view-mode

Which scroll axes are enabled. Values: HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, BOTH.

Default: BOTH

JavaLSS

area.textAreaStyle(style -> style.viewMode(ScrollerMode.VERTICAL));

text-area {
    scroller-view-mode: VERTICAL;
}

scroller-vertical-display / scroller-horizontal-display

Visibility policy for each scroll bar. Values: AUTO (show only when content overflows), ALWAYS, NEVER.

Default: AUTO

JavaLSS

area.textAreaStyle(style -> style
    .verticalScrollDisplay(ScrollDisplay.ALWAYS)
    .horizontalScrollDisplay(ScrollDisplay.NEVER)
);

text-area {
    scroller-vertical-display: ALWAYS;
    scroller-horizontal-display: NEVER;
}

scroller-view-margin

Right margin of the horizontal scroller when the vertical scroller is visible.

Default: 5

LSS

text-area {
    scroller-view-margin: 5;
}

Value Binding

TextArea extends BindableUIElement<String[]>, so it integrates with the data-binding system:

Java

area.bind(DataBindingBuilder.create(
    () -> config.getLines(),
    lines -> config.setLines(lines)
).build());

See Data Bindings for full details.

Fields

Name	Type	Access	Description
`horizontalScroller`	`Scroller.Horizontal`	`public final`	The horizontal scroll bar.
`verticalScroller`	`Scroller.Vertical`	`public final`	The vertical scroll bar.
`contentView`	`UIElement`	`public final`	The visible editing surface.
`textAreaStyle`	`TextAreaStyle`	`private` (getter)	Current style instance.
`isError`	`boolean`	`private` (getter)	`true` when current lines fail the validator.
`cursorLine`	`int`	`private` (getter)	Row of the cursor (0-indexed).
`cursorCol`	`int`	`private` (getter)	Column of the cursor (0-indexed).

Methods

Method	Returns	Description
`setValue(String[])`	`TextArea`	Sets all lines and notifies listeners.
`setValue(String[], boolean)`	`TextArea`	Sets all lines; second param controls notification.
`setLines(List<String>)`	`TextArea`	Convenience for `setValue(list.toArray(...))`.
`setLinesResponder(Consumer<String[]>)`	`TextArea`	Registers a listener called on each valid edit.
`setTextValidator(Predicate<String[]>)`	`TextArea`	Custom validator; invalid content is shown in `error-color`.
`setCharValidator(Predicate<Character>)`	`TextArea`	Filters characters before they are inserted.
`textAreaStyle(Consumer<TextAreaStyle>)`	`TextArea`	Configures style fluently.
`getValue()`	`String[]`	Returns the last validated line array.
`isEditable()`	`boolean`	`true` when focused, active, visible and displayed.
`hasSelection()`	`boolean`	`true` if there is an active text selection.
`setCursor(int, int)`	`void`	Moves the cursor to a specific `(line, col)`.