Having probelm with JLabel and setText

Question

I posted a message in Java Programming but I think it will be more appropriate here. I am trying to create a calculator so I want my JLabel(output) to display the number of the button that is clicked on. I used output.setText("7") but I get an error when compiling saying <identifier> expected. Any advice would be great. Also, is there a getText method in JLabel? I need to concatenate the current contents of JLabel and the value of the button pushed. For example:
output.setText( output.getText() + "7" );
Anyways, here is my code. I tried to make it indent so it is easier to read but it doesn't show up once I post it.
Thanks for you help.
* Write a description of class calculator here.
* @author (Jeremy Kruer)
* @version (11/19/02)
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class calculator extends JFrame
private JButton one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, zero, dec, eq, plus, minus, mult, div;
private JLabel output;
private Container container;
//set up GUI
public calculator()
//Create Title
super("Calculator");
//Set size and make visible
setSize( 400, 400 );
setVisible( true );
container = getContentPane();
container.setLayout( new FlowLayout() );
//set up output
output = new JLabel();
container.add( output );
//set up seven and register its event handler
seven = new JButton( " 7 " );
seven.addActionListener(
//anonymouse inner class
new ActionListener()
//add a seven to the output diplay when clicked
output.setText( "7" );
}//end anonymouse inner class
); //end call to addActionListener
container.add( seven );
//set up eight
eight = new JButton( " 8 " );
container.add( eight );
//set up nine
nine = new JButton( " 9 " );
container.add( nine );
//set up div
div = new JButton( " / " );
container.add( div );
//set up four
four = new JButton( " 4 " );
container.add( four );
//set up five
five = new JButton( " 5 " );
container.add( five );
//set up six
six = new JButton( " 6 " );
container.add( six );
//set up mult
mult = new JButton( " * " );
container.add( mult );
//set up one
one = new JButton( " 1 " );
container.add( one );
//set up two
two = new JButton( " 2 " );
container.add( two );
//set up three
three = new JButton( " 3 " );
container.add( three );
//set up minus
minus = new JButton( " - " );
container.add( minus );
//set up zero
zero = new JButton( " 0 " );
container.add( zero );
//set up dec
dec = new JButton( " . " );
container.add( dec );
//set up eq
eq = new JButton( " = " );
container.add( eq );
//set up plus
plus = new JButton( " +" );
container.add( plus );
//Set size and make visible
setSize( 220, 250 );
setVisible( true );
//execute application
public static void main( String args[] )
calculator application = new calculator();
application.setDefaultCloseOperation( JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE );

Answer 1

// not tested but try it ...
1. put an empty string into the JLabel
declare
String labString = "";
(and declare the JLabel too)
2. initialise label - init() {
myLabel = new JLabel(labString)
3. activate
actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
if (evt.getSource()==button#7) {
labString = getActionCommand();
myLabel.setText(labString);
validate();
Something like that anyway - it should work + if you 'play' with it, you can probably make it a bit more efficiently than the methods I've outlined here.