Forcing applet to re-draw itself

Question

Hi,
I'm wondering if there is a way to force my applet to re-draw itself multiple times. Here is what I want to do:
I have, in my start method, a bunch of tasks. After each task is completed, I want to write a message to my applet window indicating that the task is complete. So, for exmaple, I'd write "task 1 complete," then "task 2 complete," etc.
How do I do this? I tried using this.add(), but if I do that, then all of my messages just appear at once at the end. I want them to appear one at a time, while I am in my start method. Is there a way to do this?

Answer 1

Hi,
I tried putting stuff into a thread, but it still isn't working. I must be doing something wrong.
Here is a really simple example of what I want to do:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class SwingTest extends JApplet{
public void init() {
     //Execute a job on the event-dispatching thread:
     //creating this applet's GUI.
     try {
     javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(new Runnable() {
          public void run() {
               createGUI();
     } catch (Exception e) {
     System.err.println("createGUI didn't successfully complete");
private void createGUI() {
     JLabel label = new JLabel(
                    "You are successfully running a Swing applet!");
     label.setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
     label.setBorder(BorderFactory.createMatteBorder(1,1,1,1,Color.black));
     getContentPane().add(label, BorderLayout.CENTER);
     JLabel label2 = new JLabel("testing 1 2 3");
     label2.setHorizontalAlignment(JLabel.CENTER);
     label2.setBorder(BorderFactory.createMatteBorder(1,1,1,1,Color.blue));
     try {
     Thread.sleep(6000);
     catch(Exception e) {
     System.out.println("interrupted!");
          getContentPane().add(label2, BorderLayout.CENTER);
What I'm hoping to see is the first message, "you are running a swing applet," and then, after some delay, the second message, "testing 1 2 3". Instead, I just see the second message. What am I missing here?