Event handling across classes

Question

I have a (newbie?) question regarding event handling:
I have a database class which has an update method and invokes a databaseGUI class to display the data:
/// databaseClass instantiated as DatabaseClass dataConn = new DatabaseClass()
public class DatabaseClass {
     Public void updateData {
     // write values to database
     Public void showData {
        thisDBGUI = new databaseGUI();
        // populate screen with data from database through database GUI class
        // add a button to the interface via addUpdateButton method of databaseGUI class
        thisDBGUI.addUpdateButton();
/// databaseGUI class
public class databaseGUI extends JFrame implements ActionListener {
     public void addUpdateButton() {
        buttonPanel = new JPanel();
        updateButton = new JButton ("Udpate Record");
        updateButton.addActionListener(this);
        buttonPanel.add(okUpdate);
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
         // need to call dataConn.updateData method
}Please forgive the incomplete snippets; everything displays perfectly and the code executes fine EXCEPT I do not know to use the actionPerformed method to execute the updateDatabase method on the dataConn instance. Any help is greatly appreciated!
David Erickson

Answer 1

Personally, I would move the actionlistener into the DatabaseClass.I agree, but I would do it a different way (just due to personal preference):
public class databaseGUI extends JFrame {   
     public void addUpdateButton(DatabaseClass dbc) {
          buttonPanel = new JPanel();
          updateButton = new JButton ("Udpate Record");
          updateButton.addActionListener(dbc);
          buttonPanel.add(okUpdate);    
     }Then, just pass a reference to "this" when you call databaseGUI's constructor.
I just like this method better because the GUI object is still setting up the entire GUI on its own. Personal preference, no more.