How to format text in JTextArea… here is a solution to the problem.
How to format text in JTextArea
I’m trying to output multiple lines of text to create ASCII art. But when I use JFrame and JTextArea, it doesn’t line up correctly. I’m trying to print out Merry Christmas in ASCII art, but when I print it out in a new window, The characters do not line up to form the words This is my current code (there will be some useless characters in ASCII art):
public class LanguageChristmas {
public static void main(String args[]) {
UIManager.put("swing.boldMetal", Boolean.FALSE);
JFrame f = new JFrame("Merry Christmas");
f.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {System.exit(0); }
});
JTextArea text = new JTextArea(100,50);
{
text.append(" _____ _________ .__ .__ __ "+ "\n");
text.append(" / \\ __________________ ___.__. \\_ ___ \\| |_________|__| _______/ |_ _____ _____ ______ / \\ " + "\n");
text.append(" / \\ / \\_/ __ \\_ __ \\_ __ < | | / \\ \\/| | \\_ __ \\ |/ ___/\\ __\\/ \\\\__ \\ / ___/ / \\ / " + "\n");
text.append("/ Y \\ ___/| | \\/| | \\/\\___ | \\ \\___| Y \\ | \\/ |\\___ \\ | | | Y Y \\/ __ \\_\\___ \\ / Y " + "\n");
text.append("\\____|__ /\\___ >__| |__| / ____| \\______ /___| /__| |__/____ > |__| |__|_| (____ /____ > " + "\n");
text.append(" \\/ \\/ \\/ \\/ \\/ \\/ \\/ \\/ \\/ " + "\n");
}
JScrollPane pane = new JScrollPane(text);
pane.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(500,400));
f.add("Center", pane);
f.pack();
f.setVisible(true);
}
}`
I looked around and couldn’t find a solution to this problem. Any help is useful.
Solution
The problem is that, by default, text areas use variable-width fonts. Changing the font to a monospace font will solve the problem, eg
text.setFont(new Font(Font.MONOSPACED, Font.PLAIN, 12));