Java SE (Java Platform, Standard Edition)

In JDK1.4.2 it only supports insert mode.

Is there a new feature in 1.5?

I don't know about JTextPane in JDK1.5.
And I agree with you that JTextPane supports insert mode only in JDK1.4.2 but I need to have overwrite mode too in my JTextPane.
What should I do?

An idea:
Override insertString() and do continuously remove/replace pre-exixting characters.

Then why didn't you state that in your original question?

Here is my version that allows you to toggle between both modes:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import javax.swing.plaf.*;

public class OvertypeTextArea extends JTextArea
{
	private static Toolkit toolkit = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit();
	private static boolean isOvertypeMode;

	private Caret defaultCaret;
	private Caret overtypeCaret;

	public OvertypeTextArea(int row, int column)
	{
		super(row, column);
		setCaretColor( Color.red );
		defaultCaret = getCaret();
		overtypeCaret = new OvertypeCaret();
		overtypeCaret.setBlinkRate( defaultCaret.getBlinkRate() );
		setOvertypeMode( true );
	}

	/*
	 *	Return the overtype/insert mode
	 */
	public boolean isOvertypeMode()
	{
		return isOvertypeMode;
	}

	/*
	 *	Set the caret to use depending on overtype/insert mode
	 */
	public void setOvertypeMode(boolean isOvertypeMode)
	{
		this.isOvertypeMode = isOvertypeMode;
		int pos = getCaretPosition();

		if ( isOvertypeMode() )
		{
			setCaret( overtypeCaret );
		}
		else
		{
			setCaret( defaultCaret );
		}

		setCaretPosition( pos );
	}

	/*
	 *  Override method from JComponent
	 */
	public void replaceSelection(String text)
	{
		//  Implement overtype mode by selecting the character at the current
		//  caret position

		if ( isOvertypeMode() )
		{
			int pos = getCaretPosition();

			if (getSelectedText() == null
			&&  pos < getDocument().getLength())
			{
				moveCaretPosition( pos + 1);
			}
		}

		super.replaceSelection(text);
	}

	/*
	 *  Override method from JComponent
	 */
	protected void processKeyEvent(KeyEvent e)
	{
		super.processKeyEvent(e);

	 	//  Handle release of Insert key to toggle overtype/insert mode

	 	if (e.getID() == KeyEvent.KEY_RELEASED
	 	&&  e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_INSERT)
	 	{
			setOvertypeMode( ! isOvertypeMode() );
	 	}
	}

	/*
	 *  Paint a horizontal line the width of a column and 1 pixel high
	 */
	class OvertypeCaret extends DefaultCaret
	{
		/*
		 *  The overtype caret will simply be a horizontal line one pixel high
		 *  (once we determine where to paint it)
		 */
		public void paint(Graphics g)
		{
			if (isVisible())
			{
				try
				{
					JTextComponent component = getComponent();
					TextUI mapper = component.getUI();
					Rectangle r = mapper.modelToView(component, getDot());
					g.setColor(component.getCaretColor());
					int width = g.getFontMetrics().charWidth( 'w' );
					int y = r.y + r.height - 2;
					g.drawLine(r.x, y, r.x + width - 2, y);
				}
				catch (BadLocationException e) {}
			}
		}

		/*
		 *  Damage must be overridden whenever the paint method is overridden
		 *  (The damaged area is the area the caret is painted in. We must
		 *  consider the area for the default caret and this caret)
		 */
		protected synchronized void damage(Rectangle r)
		{
			if (r != null)
			{
				JTextComponent component = getComponent();
				x = r.x;
				y = r.y;
				width = component.getFontMetrics( component.getFont() ).charWidth( 'w' );
				height = r.height;
				repaint();
			}
		}
	}

	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
		JFrame frame = new JFrame();
		frame.setDefaultCloseOperation( JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE );
		OvertypeTextArea textArea	= new OvertypeTextArea(5,20);
		textArea.setFont( new Font("monospaced", Font.PLAIN, 12) );
		textArea.setText("abcdefg");
		frame.getContentPane().add( textArea );
		frame.pack();
		frame.setVisible(true);
	}
}

thanks camickr your code worked great.

Glad you found the code helpfull.