Help with adding a JPanel with multiple images to a JFrame

Question

I'm trying to make a program that reads a "maze" and displays a series of graphics depending on the character readed. The input is made from a file and the output must be placed in a JFrame from another class, but i can't get anything displayed. I have tried a lot of things, and i am a bit lost now, so i would thank any help. The input is something like this:
20
SXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
X XXXXX
X X XX XXXXXXXXXXXX
X XXXXXXXXX XXX
X X XXXXXXXXX XXXXX
X XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
XX XXXXX XX XXXX
XX XXXXX XXXXXXXX
XX XX XXXX XXXXXXXX
XX XX XXXXXXXX
XX XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX
X XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XX XXXXXXX !
XX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
XX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
XX XXXXXXXX
XX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
XX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Generated by the Random Maze Generator
And the code for the "translator" is this:
package project;
import java.io.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Translator extends JFrame {
   private FileReader Reader;
   private int size;
   Image wall,blank,exit,start,step1,step2;
  public Translator(){}
  public Translator(File F){
  try {
       Reader=new FileReader(F);}
  catch (IOException e){
       JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Error Opening File","Error",JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);}
  try {
  size=Reader.read();
  System.out.write(size);}
  catch (IOException e){
       JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Error Opening File","Error",JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);}
  Toolkit theKit=Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit();
  wall=theKit.getImage("wall.gif");
  blank=theKit.getImage("blanktile.jpg");
  exit=theKit.getImage("exit.jpg");
  start=theKit.getImage("start.jpg");
  step1=theKit.getImage("start.jpg");
  step2=theKit.getImage("step1.jpg");
  JPanel panel=new JPanel(){
  public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
  super.paintComponents(g);
  int ch=0;
  System.out.print("a1 ");
  int currentx=0;
  int currenty=0;
  try {ch=Reader.read();
      System.out.write(ch);}
  catch (IOException e){}
  System.out.print("b1 ");
  while(ch!=-1){
    try {ch=Reader.read();}
    catch (IOException e){}
    System.out.write(ch);
    switch (ch){
        case '\n':{currenty++;
                  break;}
        case 'X':{System.out.print(">x<");
                 g.drawImage(wall,(currentx++)*20,currenty*20,this);
                 break;}
       case ' ':{
                 g.drawImage(blank,(currentx++)*20,currenty*20,this);
                 break;}
        case '!':{
                 g.drawImage(exit,(currentx++)*20,currenty*20,this);
                  break;}
        case 'S':{
                 g.drawImage(start,(currentx++)*20,currenty*20,this);
                  break;}
        case '-':{
                 g.drawImage(step1,(currentx++)*20,currenty*20,this);
                  break;}
        case 'o':{
                  g.drawImage(step2,(currentx++)*20,currenty*20,this);
                  break;}
        case 'G':{ch=-1;
                  break;}
              }//Swith
      }//While
  }//paintComponent
};//Panel
panel.setOpaque(true);
setContentPane(panel);
}//Constructor
}//Classforget all those systems.out and that stuff, that is just for the testing
i call it in another class in this way:
public Maze(){
    firstFrame=new JFrame("Random Maze Generator");
    firstFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
    Container c = getContentPane();
    c.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
    (...)//more constructor code here
    Translator T=new Translator(savefile);
    firstFrame.add(T);
    firstFrame.getContentPane().add(c);
    firstFrame.setBounds(d.width/3,d.height/3,d.width/2,d.height/4);
    firstFrame.setVisible(true);
    c.setSize(d.width/2,d.height/4);
    c.show();
    }i know it may be a very basic or concept problem, but i can't get it solved
thanks for any help

Answer 1

Try this. It's trivial to convert it to use your images.
If you insist on storing the maze in a file, just read one line at a
time into an ArrayList than convert to an array and pass that to the
MazePanel constructor.
Any questions, just ask.
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class CFreman1
     static class MazePanel
          extends JPanel
          private final static int DIM= 20;
          private String[] mMaze;
          public MazePanel(String[] maze) { mMaze= maze; }
          public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
               return new Dimension(mMaze[0].length()*DIM, mMaze.length*DIM);
          public void paint(Graphics g)
               g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
               g.fillRect(0, 0, getSize().width, getSize().height);
               for (int y= 0; y< mMaze.length; y++) {
                    String row= mMaze[y];
                    for (int  x= 0; x< row.length(); x++) {
                         Color color= null;
                         switch (row.charAt(x)) {
                              case 'S':
                                   color= Color.YELLOW;
                                   break;
                              case 'X':
                                   color= Color.BLUE;
                                   break;
                              case '!':
                                   color= Color.RED;
                                   break;
                         if (color != null) {
                              g.setColor(color);
                              g.fillOval(x*DIM, y*DIM, DIM, DIM);
     public static void main(String[] argv)
          String[] maze= {
               "SXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
               "    XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX",
               "X              XXXXX",
               "X  X XX XXXXXXXXXXXX",
               "X    XXXXXXXXX   XXX",
               "X  X XXXXXXXXX XXXXX",
               "X  XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX",
               "XX XXXXX XX     XXXX",
               "XX XXXXX    XXXXXXXX",
               "XX  XX XXXX XXXXXXXX",
               "XX  XX      XXXXXXXX",
               "XX XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX",
               "X      XXXXXXXXXXXXX",
               "XX XXXXXXX         !",
               "XX  XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX",
               "XX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX",
               "XX          XXXXXXXX",
               "XX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX",
               "XX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX",
               "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
          JFrame frame= new JFrame("CFreman1");
          frame.getContentPane().add(new MazePanel(maze));
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
          frame.pack();
          frame.setResizable(false);
          frame.setVisible(true);
}