Java tutorial
import java.awt.BorderLayout; import javax.swing.JFrame; import javax.swing.JScrollPane; import javax.swing.JTextArea; import javax.swing.text.DefaultHighlighter; import javax.swing.text.Highlighter; public class Main { public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception { JFrame frame = new JFrame("MultiHighlight"); frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); JTextArea comp = new JTextArea(5, 20); comp.setText("this is a test"); frame.getContentPane().add(new JScrollPane(comp), BorderLayout.CENTER); String charsToHighlight = "a"; Highlighter h = comp.getHighlighter(); h.removeAllHighlights(); String text = comp.getText().toUpperCase(); for (int j = 0; j < text.length(); j += 1) { char ch = text.charAt(j); if (charsToHighlight.indexOf(ch) >= 0) h.addHighlight(j, j + 1, DefaultHighlighter.DefaultPainter); } frame.pack(); frame.setVisible(true); } }