Java JTextField with input hint

You could create your own:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.FocusEvent;
import java.awt.event.FocusListener;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Main {

  public static void main(String[] args) {

    final JFrame frame = new JFrame();

    frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());

    final JTextField textFieldA = new HintTextField("A hint here");
    final JTextField textFieldB = new HintTextField("Another hint here");

    frame.add(textFieldA, BorderLayout.NORTH);
    frame.add(textFieldB, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    JButton btnGetText = new JButton("Get text");

    btnGetText.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      @Override
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        String message = String.format("textFieldA='%s', textFieldB='%s'",
            textFieldA.getText(), textFieldB.getText());
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, message);
      }
    });

    frame.add(btnGetText, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    frame.setVisible(true);
    frame.pack();
  }
}

class HintTextField extends JTextField implements FocusListener {

  private final String hint;
  private boolean showingHint;

  public HintTextField(final String hint) {
    super(hint);
    this.hint = hint;
    this.showingHint = true;
    super.addFocusListener(this);
  }

  @Override
  public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
    if(this.getText().isEmpty()) {
      super.setText("");
      showingHint = false;
    }
  }
  @Override
  public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
    if(this.getText().isEmpty()) {
      super.setText(hint);
      showingHint = true;
    }
  }

  @Override
  public String getText() {
    return showingHint ? "" : super.getText();
  }
}

If you're still on Java 1.5, replace the this.getText().isEmpty() with this.getText().length() == 0.

Here is a single class copy/paste solution:

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.event.FocusEvent;
import java.awt.event.FocusListener;

import javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicTextFieldUI;
import javax.swing.text.JTextComponent;


public class HintTextFieldUI extends BasicTextFieldUI implements FocusListener {

    private String hint;
    private boolean hideOnFocus;
    private Color color;

    public Color getColor() {
        return color;
    }

    public void setColor(Color color) {
        this.color = color;
        repaint();
    }

    private void repaint() {
        if(getComponent() != null) {
            getComponent().repaint();           
        }
    }

    public boolean isHideOnFocus() {
        return hideOnFocus;
    }

    public void setHideOnFocus(boolean hideOnFocus) {
        this.hideOnFocus = hideOnFocus;
        repaint();
    }

    public String getHint() {
        return hint;
    }

    public void setHint(String hint) {
        this.hint = hint;
        repaint();
    }
    public HintTextFieldUI(String hint) {
        this(hint,false);
    }

    public HintTextFieldUI(String hint, boolean hideOnFocus) {
        this(hint,hideOnFocus, null);
    }

    public HintTextFieldUI(String hint, boolean hideOnFocus, Color color) {
        this.hint = hint;
        this.hideOnFocus = hideOnFocus;
        this.color = color;
    }

    @Override
    protected void paintSafely(Graphics g) {
        super.paintSafely(g);
        JTextComponent comp = getComponent();
        if(hint!=null && comp.getText().length() == 0 && (!(hideOnFocus && comp.hasFocus()))){
            if(color != null) {
                g.setColor(color);
            } else {
                g.setColor(comp.getForeground().brighter().brighter().brighter());              
            }
            int padding = (comp.getHeight() - comp.getFont().getSize())/2;
            g.drawString(hint, 2, comp.getHeight()-padding-1);          
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
        if(hideOnFocus) repaint();

    }

    @Override
    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
        if(hideOnFocus) repaint();
    }
    @Override
    protected void installListeners() {
        super.installListeners();
        getComponent().addFocusListener(this);
    }
    @Override
    protected void uninstallListeners() {
        super.uninstallListeners();
        getComponent().removeFocusListener(this);
    }
}

Use it like this:

TextField field = new JTextField();
field.setUI(new HintTextFieldUI("Search", true));

Note that it is happening in protected void paintSafely(Graphics g).

Here is a simple way that looks good in any L&F:

public class HintTextField extends JTextField {
    public HintTextField(String hint) {
        _hint = hint;
    }
    @Override
    public void paint(Graphics g) {
        super.paint(g);
        if (getText().length() == 0) {
            int h = getHeight();
            ((Graphics2D)g).setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_TEXT_ANTIALIASING,RenderingHints.VALUE_TEXT_ANTIALIAS_ON);
            Insets ins = getInsets();
            FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrics();
            int c0 = getBackground().getRGB();
            int c1 = getForeground().getRGB();
            int m = 0xfefefefe;
            int c2 = ((c0 & m) >>> 1) + ((c1 & m) >>> 1);
            g.setColor(new Color(c2, true));
            g.drawString(_hint, ins.left, h / 2 + fm.getAscent() / 2 - 2);
        }
    }
    private final String _hint;
}

Take a look at this one: http://code.google.com/p/xswingx/

It is not very difficult to implement it by yourself, btw. A couple of listeners and custom renderer and voila.