Numeric TextField for Integers in JavaFX 8 with TextFormatter and/or UnaryOperator

The converter is different to the filter: the converter specifies how to convert the text to a value, and the filter filters changes the user may make. It sounds like here you want both, but you want the filter to more accurately filter the changes that are allowed.

I usually find it easiest to check the new value of the text if the change were accepted. You want to optionally have a -, followed by 1-9 with any number of digits after it. It’s important to allow an empty string, else the user won’t be able to delete everything.

So you probably need something like

UnaryOperator<Change> integerFilter = change -> {
    String newText = change.getControlNewText();
    if (newText.matches("-?([1-9][0-9]*)?")) { 
        return change;
    }
    return null;
};

myNumericField.setTextFormatter(
    new TextFormatter<Integer>(new IntegerStringConverter(), 0, integerFilter));

You can even add more functionality to the filter to let it process - in a smarter way, e.g.

UnaryOperator<Change> integerFilter = change -> {
    String newText = change.getControlNewText();
    // if proposed change results in a valid value, return change as-is:
    if (newText.matches("-?([1-9][0-9]*)?")) { 
        return change;
    } else if ("-".equals(change.getText()) ) {

        // if user types or pastes a "-" in middle of current text,
        // toggle sign of value:

        if (change.getControlText().startsWith("-")) {
            // if we currently start with a "-", remove first character:
            change.setText("");
            change.setRange(0, 1);
            // since we're deleting a character instead of adding one,
            // the caret position needs to move back one, instead of 
            // moving forward one, so we modify the proposed change to
            // move the caret two places earlier than the proposed change:
            change.setCaretPosition(change.getCaretPosition()-2);
            change.setAnchor(change.getAnchor()-2);
        } else {
            // otherwise just insert at the beginning of the text:
            change.setRange(0, 0);
        }
        return change ;
    }
    // invalid change, veto it by returning null:
    return null;
};

This will let the user press - at any point and it will toggle the sign of the integer.

SSCCE:

import java.util.function.UnaryOperator;

import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.geometry.Pos;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.control.TextField;
import javafx.scene.control.TextFormatter;
import javafx.scene.control.TextFormatter.Change;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
import javafx.util.StringConverter;
import javafx.util.converter.IntegerStringConverter;

public class IntegerFieldExample extends Application {

    @Override
    public void start(Stage primaryStage) {
        TextField integerField = new TextField();
        UnaryOperator<Change> integerFilter = change -> {
            String newText = change.getControlNewText();
            if (newText.matches("-?([1-9][0-9]*)?")) { 
                return change;
            } else if ("-".equals(change.getText()) ) {
                if (change.getControlText().startsWith("-")) {
                    change.setText("");
                    change.setRange(0, 1);
                    change.setCaretPosition(change.getCaretPosition()-2);
                    change.setAnchor(change.getAnchor()-2);
                    return change ;
                } else {
                    change.setRange(0, 0);
                    return change ;
                }
            }
            return null;
        };

        // modified version of standard converter that evaluates an empty string 
        // as zero instead of null:
        StringConverter<Integer> converter = new IntegerStringConverter() {
            @Override
            public Integer fromString(String s) {
                if (s.isEmpty()) return 0 ;
                return super.fromString(s);
            }
        };

        TextFormatter<Integer> textFormatter = 
                new TextFormatter<Integer>(converter, 0, integerFilter);
        integerField.setTextFormatter(textFormatter);

        // demo listener:
        textFormatter.valueProperty().addListener((obs, oldValue, newValue) -> System.out.println(newValue));

        VBox root = new VBox(5, integerField, new Button("Click Me"));
        root.setAlignment(Pos.CENTER);
        Scene scene = new Scene(root, 300, 120);
        primaryStage.setScene(scene);
        primaryStage.show();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        launch(args);
    }
}