// 1. inits searchField with selected text // 2. adds focus listener so that textselection gets painted // even if the textcomponent has no focus protected void initSearch(ActionEvent ae) { super.initSearch(ae); JTextComponent textComp = (JTextComponent) ae.getSource(); String selectedText = textComp.getSelectedText(); if (selectedText != null) searchField.setText(selectedText); searchField.removeFocusListener(this); searchField.addFocusListener(this); }