Don't understand private access error message.

Question

I am calling createAndShowGui from another file and am getting an error message from the compiler that says:
createAndShowGUI has private access in masterfilemaint.MasterFileMaint.
I don't understand because the method is public. Here is the call.
thanks.
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        if ("Fil".equals(e.getActionCommand())) {   ///  The Call......
               callItemMaint.createAndShowGUI();
            if ("Tab".equals(e.getActionCommand()))  {
               callSimpleTableDemo.createAndShowGUI();   
            if ("Quit".equals(e.getActionCommand())) {
               quit();
            /*else {
              quit();
    }       ..............And here is the method.
       public void createAndShowGUI() {// was static
        // set decor
        JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
        // create/set-up window
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("Guide");
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        // set up content pane.
        addComponentsToPane(frame.getContentPane());
        // Display window
        frame.pack();
        frame.setVisible(true);
}

Answer 1

Is the createAndShowGUI in a public class?
Yes here is the first few lines of the class:
package masterfilemaint;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
public class MasterFileMaint {                //   Class is public .........
    final static boolean shouldFill = true;
    final static boolean shouldWeightX = true;
    final static boolean RIGHT_TO_LEFT = false;
    final static boolean DEBUG = false;
    public JTextField textFieldOne, textFieldTwo,
                         textFieldThree, textFieldFour, textFieldFive;
    public JLabel label;
    public JButton button;
    public String one, two, three, four, five, six;
    Is callItemMaint an instance of that class or an instance of a base class or interface?
callitemMaint is an instance of MasterFileMaint instantiated in the calling class. Here is the first few lines of MaterFileMaint.
package probuyermain;
import CalculatorOne.*;
import simpletabledemo.*;
import masterfilemaint.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.JMenu;
import javax.swing.JMenuItem;
import javax.swing.JCheckBoxMenuItem;
import javax.swing.JRadioButtonMenuItem;
import javax.swing.ButtonGroup;
import javax.swing.JMenuBar;
import javax.swing.KeyStroke;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class ProBuyerMain implements ActionListener {
    JTextArea output;
    JScrollPane scrollPane;
    MasterFileMaint callItemMaint = new MasterFileMaint();        // The instance
    CalculatorOne callCalculator = new CalculatorOne();
    SimpleTableDemo callSimpleTableDemo = new SimpleTableDemo();
    public JMenuBar createMenuBar() {
        JMenuBar menuBar;
        JMenu fileMenu, submenu;
        JMenuItem menuItemOne, menuItemTwo,
                    menuItemThree, menuItemFour, menuItemFive;
        //Create the menu bar.
        menuBar = new JMenuBar();