How can I draw a bar graph using netbeans?

Question

Hello, I am quite new to java and netbeans. I have got the hang of placing controls on the forms and getting them to function.. Now I want to be able to draw a graph. Is there a way I can do this is net beans? Or is there a control that lets me draw lines into it, like the PictureBox in Visual Basic?
Thanks

Answer 1

Speedster239 wrote:
You need to get the grapics of the frame component in order to draw on it with java.awt.Graphics.
Use something like:
Graphics g = frame.getGraphics();
This is wrong. See the comment about subclassing JPanel. Demo:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class ExamplePanel extends JPanel implements ActionListener {
    private java.util.List<Shape> shapes = new ArrayList<Shape>();
    private Random rnd = new Random();
    public ExamplePanel() {
        new javax.swing.Timer(500, this).start();
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
        int x = rnd.nextInt(getWidth());
        int y = rnd.nextInt(getHeight());
        shapes.add(new Rectangle(x-5, y-5, 10, 10));
        repaint();
    protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        super.paintComponent(g);
        Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g;
        for(Shape shape : shapes) {
            g2.draw(shape);
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
            public void run() {
                ExamplePanel comp = new ExamplePanel();
                comp.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 300));
                JFrame f = new JFrame();
                f.getContentPane().add(comp);
                f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
                f.pack();
                f.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
                f.setVisible(true);
}