swing - java action listener on menu, and not on menu item

Question

I need enlightenment.

how to add action actionListener event bind to the menu, and not bind to the menu ITEM here is the demo code, that works(on menuITEM)..

menuFileItem.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener(){
                public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
                {
                    System.out.println("It works");
                }
            }
        );

but when i try the same , but just on the MENU itself it doesn't work!

menuFile.addActionListener(
            new ActionListener(){
                public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
                {
                    System.out.println("Plz work... :( ");
                }
            }
        );

is it possible to add listener to menu? i taught listener could be added to everything.

Answer 1

You can add an ActionListener to a JMenu as this method is inherited from AbstractButton. (JMenu Documentation)

JMenu menu = new JMenu("MyMenu");
menu.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){...});

But, it is not intended to be used this way: JMenu ignores ActionEvent. You should use MenuEvent and MenuListener instead.

JMenu menu = new JMenu("MyMenu");
menu.addMenuListener(new MenuListener() {

        @Override
        public void menuSelected(MenuEvent e) {
            System.out.println("menuSelected");

        }

        @Override
        public void menuDeselected(MenuEvent e) {
            System.out.println("menuDeselected");

        }

        @Override
        public void menuCanceled(MenuEvent e) {
            System.out.println("menuCanceled");

        }
    });