JTextArea update, URGENT HELP PLS

[Araad Izadkhah]

hi,
I have a frame with 2 JTextAreas one on the left and one on the right.
they both get initialized in the constructor of the JFrame. I am trying to load a txt file into the left side, but everytime it only works for the first load and after that i get a blank screen. is there like an update or repaint i should use? thx in advance.

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)

{

String eventStr = event.getActionCommand();
JComponent c = (JComponent) event.getSource ();

if(eventStr.equals("Open"))
{

FileDialog fd = new FileDialog(Display.this);
int status = chooser.showOpenDialog(Display.this);

if(status == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
{
File f = chooser.getSelectedFile();
//System.out.println(getContents(f));
left.setText(getContents(f));
//more stuff .....

}
}

[Al Hollis]

at a guess. ( Im still a novice ) I would imagine you need to call the revalidate() or validate() method for that panel. Ive never had a problem with setText not updating on the fly.
[ May 14, 2006: Message edited by: Al Hollis ]

[Michael Dunn]

> is there like an update or repaint i should use?

a call to setText(...) will automatically trigger a repaint().

when you say it works on the first load, then not after that, is the first
load in the constructor?

if it is, you may have duplicate declarations of your textArea
e.g.

    
class XYZ
{
  JTextArea ta = new JTextArea(...);
  public XYZ()
  {
    JTextArea ta = new JTextArea(...);
    ta added to gui
    first load sets text
    gui displays, showing text
  }
  actionPerformed()
  {
    ta.setText(...);
  }
}

in the above, the textArea in the constructor is a local variable - it is
the one added to the gui and the one you see on the screen.

the other one is what actionPerformed is working with - it is not visible anywhere.

to fix, either remove the textArea line from the constructor, or
change (in the constructor)
JTextArea ta = new JTextArea(...);
to
ta = new JTextArea(...);