vaadin-framework/documentation/articles/CreatingATextFieldForIntegerOnlyInputWhenNotUsingADataSource.asciidoc

---
title: Creating A Text Field For Integer Only Input When Not Using A Data Source
order: 23
layout: page
---

[[creating-a-textfield-for-integer-only-input-when-not-using-a-data-source]]
= Creating a TextField for integer only input when not using a data source

A `TextField` is a component that always has a value of type `String`. By
adding a converter to a field, the field will automatically validate
that the entered value can be converted and it will provide the
converted value using the `getConvertedValue()` method.

[source,java]
....
final TextField textField = new TextField("Text field");
textField.setConverter(Integer.class);

Button submitButton = new Button("Submit value", new ClickListener() {
  public void buttonClick(ClickEvent event) {
    String uiValue = textField.getValue();
    try {
      Integer convertedValue = (Integer) textField
          .getConvertedValue();
      Notification.show(
          "UI value (String): " + uiValue
          + "<br />Converted value (Integer): "
          + convertedValue);
    } catch (ConversionException e) {
      Notification.show(
          "Could not convert value: " + uiValue);
    }
  }
});

addComponent(new Label("Text field type: " + textField.getType()));
addComponent(new Label("Converted text field type: "
    + textField.getConverter().getModelType()));
addComponent(textField);
addComponent(submitButton);
....

With this example, entering a number and pressing the button causes the
value of the `TextField` to be a `String` while the converted value will be
an `Integer` representing the same value. If e.g. a letter is entered to
the field and the button is pressed, the validation will fail. This
causes a notice to be displayed for the field and an exception to be
thrown from `getConvertedValue()`.