The Clipboard class is a repository
for a Transferable object and
can be used for cut, copy, and paste operations. You can work with a private
clipboard by creating your own instance of Clipboard,
or you can work with the system clipboard by asking the Toolkit
for it:
Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getSystemClipboard()
When working with the system clipboard, native applications have access
to information created within Java programs and vice
versa. Access to the system clipboard
is controlled by the SecurityManager
and is restricted within applets.
Variables
- protected ClipboardOwner owner
-
The owner instance variable
represents the current owner of contents.
When something new is placed on the clipboard, the previous owner is notified
by a call to the lostOwnership()
method. The owner usually ignores this notification. However, the clipboard's
contents are passed back to
owner in case some special
processing or comparison needs to be done.
- protected Transferable contents
-
The contents instance variable
is the object currently on the clipboard; it was placed on the clipboard
by owner. To retrieve the current
contents, use the getContents()
method.
Constructors
- public Clipboard(String name)
-
The constructor for Clipboard
allows you to create a private clipboard named name.
This clipboard is not accessible outside of your program and has no security
constraints placed upon it.
Miscellaneous methods
- public String getName()
-
The getName() method fetches
the clipboard's name. For private clipboards, this is the name given
in the constructor. The name of the system clipboard is "System".
- public synchronized Transferable getContents(Object requester)
-
The getContents() method allows
you to retrieve the current contents of the clipboard. This is the method
you would call when the user selects Paste from a menu.
Once you have the Transferable
data, you try to get the data in whatever flavor you want by calling the
Transferable.getTransferData()
method, possibly after calling Transferable.isDataFlavorSupported().
The requester represents the
object that is requesting the clipboard's contents; it is usually
just this, since the current
object is making the request.
- public synchronized void setContents(Transferable contents, ClipboardOwner
owner)
-
The setContents() method changes
the contents of the clipboard to contents
and changes the clipboard's owner to owner.
You would call this method when the user selects Cut or Copy from a menu. The owner parameter
represents the object that owns contents.
This object must implement the ClipboardOwner
interface; it will be notified by a call to lostOwnership()
when something else is placed on the clipboard.