Help with ComboBox Selection Update

Question

Hello,
I am trying to make this application display all its labels in a different language depending on which locale the user picks from the ComboBox. The variables are being read from the ResourceBundles correctly (see command-line debugging statements) but I cannot get the pane to 'refresh' when the item is selected. I've tried everything I can think of! Please help! :)
(This assignment was to internationalize a program we wrote for a previous assignment, so this program wasn't originally written to do this. I am trying to add this functionality to my existing project, so it's not ideal).
Thank you for any advice, help or hints you can give!
Program(PrjGUI)
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ItemEvent;
import java.awt.event.ItemListener;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
import java.util.Locale;
import java.util.ResourceBundle;
import java.util.TimeZone;
public class PrjGUI extends JFrame
   //**** Instance Variables for both classes
   private JRadioButton optGram, optOz;
   private JTextField txtWeightEnter, txtResult, txtDateTime;
   private JButton cmdConvert;
   private JComboBox comboSelectLocale;
        //arrays--one for combo box list, and the other for values to use when a particular list item is selected
   private String[] localeList = {"English, USA", "Fran\u00E7ais, France", "Espag\u00F1ol, M\u00E9xico"};
   private Locale[] localeCode = {(new Locale("en", "US")), (new Locale("fr", "FR")), (new Locale("es", "MX"))};
   private JLabel lblChoose, lblWeightEnter;
   protected String titleTxt, enterTxt, btnTxt, gramTxt, ozTxt, resultDisplayTxt, localeTimeZone, dateFormat;
   protected ResourceBundle res;
   protected Locale currentLocale;
   //declare Handler Object
   private CmdConvertWeight convertWeight;
   //**************main method******************
   public static void main(String[] args)
      PrjGUI convertWeight1 = new PrjGUI();
   }//end of main******************************
   //constructor
   public PrjGUI()
      //create panel for components
      Container pane = getContentPane();
      //set the layout
      pane.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 1, 5, 5));
      //set the color
      pane.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
      //make a font to use in components
      Font font1 = new Font("SansSerif", Font.BOLD, 16);
      /**New calendar object to display the date and time*/
      GregorianCalendar calendar = new GregorianCalendar();
      DateFormat formatter = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL, Locale.US);
      /**currentLocale = localeCode[comboSelectLocale.getSelectedIndex()];
      DateFormat formatter = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL, currentLocale); //uses key for ResourceBundle*/
      TimeZone timeZone = TimeZone.getTimeZone("CST");
      //TimeZone timeZone = TimeZone.getTimeZone(localeTimeZone); //uses key for resourceBundle
      formatter.setTimeZone(timeZone);
      //***create UI objects***
      /**NEW OBJECTS FOR prjInternational:
       * a drop-down combobox, a label, and a txt field
      txtDateTime = new JTextField(formatter.format(calendar.getTime()));
      //txtDateTime = formatter.format(calendar.getTime());
      lblChoose = new JLabel("Please choose your language.");
      lblChoose.setFont(font1);
      lblChoose.setBackground(new Color(0, 212, 255)); //aqua blue
      comboSelectLocale = new JComboBox(localeList);
      comboSelectLocale.setFont(font1);
      comboSelectLocale.setBackground(new Color(0, 212, 255)); //aqua blue
      //comboSelectLocale.setSelectedIndex(0);
      //add a listener to the combo box to get the selected item
      /**default values for variables so I can debug--at the moment
       * I can't get the resouceBundle to work--it can't locate the
       * file.  So I will hard code these in for now.
      /*titleTxt="Food Weight Converter";
      enterTxt="Please enter the Weight you wish to convert.";
      btnTxt="Convert this weight!";
      gramTxt="grams";
      ozTxt="oz";
      resultDisplayTxt="Result will display here.";*/
      comboSelectLocale.addItemListener(new ItemListener()
           public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent e)
                res = setCurrentLocale(comboSelectLocale.getSelectedIndex());
                System.out.println(res.getString("enterTxt"));
                updateItems(res);
              //set variables from Resource Bundle
              /* titleTxt = res.getString("titleTxt");
               System.out.println(res.getString("enterTxt")); //debug
               enterTxt = res.getString("enterTxt");
               btnTxt = res.getString("enterTxt");
               gramTxt = res.getString("gramTxt");
               ozTxt = res.getString("ozTxt");
               resultDisplayTxt = res.getString("resultDisplayTxt");*/
      //2 radio buttons
      //optGram = new JRadioButton("grams", true);
      optGram = new JRadioButton(gramTxt, true);
      //optOz = new JRadioButton("oz.");
      optOz = new JRadioButton(ozTxt);
      optGram.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
      optGram.setFont(font1);
      optOz.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
      optOz.setFont(font1);
      //button group so only one can be chosen
      ButtonGroup weightUnit = new ButtonGroup();
      weightUnit.add(optGram);
      weightUnit.add(optOz);
      //label and text field for weight
      //JLabel lblWeightEnter = new JLabel("Please enter the weight you wish to convert:");
      JLabel lblWeightEnter = new JLabel(enterTxt);
      lblWeightEnter.setFont(font1);
      txtWeightEnter = new JTextField("20.05", 6);
      txtWeightEnter.setBackground(new Color(205, 255, 0)); //lime green
      txtWeightEnter.setFont(font1);
      //button to make conversion
      //cmdConvert = new JButton("Convert this weight!");
      cmdConvert = new JButton(btnTxt);
      cmdConvert.setFont(font1);
      //textfield to display result
      //txtResult = new JTextField("Result will display here");
      txtResult = new JTextField(resultDisplayTxt);
      txtResult.setBackground(new Color(205, 255, 0)); //lime green
      txtResult.setFont(font1);
      //register the handler
      convertWeight = new CmdConvertWeight();
      cmdConvert.addActionListener(convertWeight);
      //add content to pane
      pane.add(txtDateTime);
      pane.add(lblChoose);
      pane.add(comboSelectLocale);
      pane.add(lblWeightEnter);
      pane.add(txtWeightEnter);
      pane.add(optGram);
      pane.add(optOz);
      pane.add(cmdConvert);
      pane.add(txtResult);
      //create window for object
      setTitle(titleTxt);
      setSize(400, 300);
      setVisible(true);
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
   }//end of constructor
   /**  ACTION LISTENER CLASS TO RESPOND TO USER'S INPUT (EVENTS) **/
   private class CmdConvertWeight implements ActionListener
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
         //System.out.println("we made it to the Action Listener"); //debug
         //get info from fields
         double weight = Double.parseDouble(txtWeightEnter.getText());
         double weightConvert = 0;
         String weightConvertString;
         if (optGram.isSelected())//if user's weight is in grams, converting to oz
         weightConvert = weight/28.35;
         weightConvertString = Double.toString(weightConvert);
         txtResult.setText(txtWeightEnter.getText() + " grams is equal to " + weightConvertString + " oz.");
         }//end if gram select
         else if (optOz.isSelected())//if user's weight is in oz, converting to grams
         weightConvert = weight*28.35;
         weightConvertString = Double.toString(weightConvert);
         txtResult.setText(txtWeightEnter.getText() + " oz. is equal to " + weightConvertString + " grams.");
         }//end if oz select
     }//end actionPerformed
  }//end CmdConvertWeight
   /**setCurrentLocale method from combo box listener*/
   public ResourceBundle setCurrentLocale(int index)
        Locale currentLocale = localeCode[index];
        System.out.println(currentLocale); //debug
        System.out.println("MyResource_" + currentLocale); //debug
        ResourceBundle res = ResourceBundle.getBundle("MyResource_" + currentLocale);
        return res;
   }//end setCurrentLocale
   public void updateItems(ResourceBundle res)
        //convertWeight1.setTitle(res.getString(titleTxt));
        System.out.println(res.getString(btnTxt));//debug
        lblWeightEnter.setText(res.getString(enterTxt));
        optGram.setText(res.getString(gramTxt));
        optOz.setText(res.getString(ozTxt));
        cmdConvert.setText(res.getString(btnTxt));
        txtResult.setText(res.getString(resultDisplayTxt));
   }//end updateItems
}//end of class PrjGUIResourceBundles(each in a different file)
public class MyResource_fr_FR extends java.util.ListResourceBundle
     static final Object[][] contents =
          {"titleTxt", "Convertisseur de poids de nourriture"},
          {"enterTxt", "Veuillez \u00E9crire le poids que vous souhaitez convertir."},
          {"btnTxt", "Convertissez ce poids!"},
          {"gramTxt", "grammes"},
          {"ozTxt", "onces"},
          {"resultDisplayTxt", "Le r\u00E9sultat montrera ici."},
          {"localeTimeZone", "CET"},
          {"dateFormat", "Locale.FR"}
     public Object[][] getContents()
          return contents;
public class MyResource_es_MX extends java.util.ListResourceBundle
     static final Object[][] contents =
          {"titleTxt", "Convertidor del peso del alimento"},
          {"enterTxt", "Incorpore por favor el peso que usted desea convertir."},
          {"btnTxt", "\u00F1convierta este peso!"},
          {"gramTxt", "gramos"},
          {"ozTxt", "onzas"},
          {"resultDisplayTxt", "El resultado exhibir\u00E1 aqu\u00ED."},
          {"localeTimeZone", "CST"},
          {"dateFormat", "Locale.MX"}     
     public Object[][] getContents()
          return contents;
public class MyResource_en_US extends java.util.ListResourceBundle
     static final Object[][] contents =
          {"titleTxt", "Food Weight Converter"},
          {"enterTxt", "Please enter the weight you wish to convert."},
          {"btnTxt", "Convert this weight!"},
          {"gramTxt", "grams"},
          {"ozTxt", "oz"},
          {"resultDisplayTxt", "Result will display here."},
          {"localeTimeZone", "CST"},
          {"dateFormat", "Locale.US"}
     public Object[][] getContents()
          return contents;
}Edited by: JessePhoenix on Nov 2, 2008 8:30 PM

Answer 1

catman2u wrote:
does anyone from Lenovo actually read this forum?
From the Communiy Rules in the Welcome section....
 Objectives of Lenovo Discussion Forums
These communities have been created to provide a high quality atmosphere in which users of Lenovo products and services may share experiences and expertise. While members from Lenovo may participate at intervals to engage in the discussions and offer advice and suggestions, this forum is not designed as a dedicated and staffed support channel. This is an informal and public forum, and Lenovo does not guarantee the accuracy of information and advice posted here -- see important Warranty information below.
No amount of ranting is going to get you anything more than you will achieve with a clear exposition of your issue... so you might want to try doing that instead of ranting and assuming that everyone already knows what you know etc etc.
Cheers,
Bill
I don't work for Lenovo