How to pass/share components between different JPanels/Container

Question

Dear Friends,
I know here a lot Java Guru, I met a problem below.
How can I pass components between different JPanels??
here, ListPanelMain.java is main,
When I click a tree node in splitPane, I can see all its children on the right splitpane, but I hope they can be seen on another Panel called "ListRightPane.java"
How to do it??
Why cannot pass??
[1]. main Program:
package swing.com.test.test;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JSplitPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import java.io.Serializable;
import swing.com.test.test.ListPanel;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
public class ListPanelMain implements java.io.Serializable{
     private JFrame frame;
     * Launch the application
     * @param args
     public static void main(String args[]) {
          try {
               ListPanelMain window = new ListPanelMain();
               window.frame.setVisible(true);
          } catch (Exception e) {
               e.printStackTrace();
     * Create the application
     public ListPanelMain() {
          initialize();
     * Initialize the contents of the frame
     private void initialize() {
          frame = new JFrame("FileTreePanelMain");
          frame.setBounds(100, 100, 900, 675);
     //     FieTreePanelComm      ftreecomm                = new      FieTreePanelComm();
          ListPanel                ftree                     = new      ListPanel("C:\\");
//          ListAllFile           ftree                     = new      ListAllFile("C:\\");
     //     FileTreePanelText      fileTreePanelText      = new      FileTreePanelText(ftreecomm);
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
          final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
          panel.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 2));
          frame.getContentPane().add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
     //     final JSplitPane splitPane = new JSplitPane();
     //     frame.getContentPane().add(splitPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
     //     splitPane.setLeftComponent(ftree);
          panel.add(ftree);
          final ListRightPanel listRightPanel = new ListRightPanel(ftree);
          //splitPane.setRightComponent(listRightPanel);
          panel.add(listRightPanel);
     frame.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
     public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
     System.exit(0);
     frame.pack();
     frame.setVisible(true);
[2]. Program 2:
package swing.com.test.test;
//File System Tree
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Vector;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JSplitPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTree;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelListener;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionListener;
import javax.swing.tree.TreeModel;
import javax.swing.tree.TreePath;
import java.io.Serializable;
public class ListPanel extends JPanel implements Serializable{
protected JTree fileTree;
private FileSystemModel fileSystemModel;
private JTextArea ltextArea = new JTextArea();
protected JTextArea fileDetailsTextArea = new JTextArea();
private String str = "";
     public String getlTextArea() {
               //textArea.getText();
               return str;
     public String setlTextArea(String ta) {
               ltextArea.setText(ta);
               str = ta;
               return str;
public ListPanel(String directory) {
//super("JTree FileSystem Viewer");
               setLayout(new BorderLayout());
               final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
               panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
          add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
fileDetailsTextArea.setEditable(false);
fileSystemModel = new FileSystemModel(new File(directory));
fileTree = new JTree(fileSystemModel);
fileTree.setEditable(true);
fileTree.addTreeSelectionListener(new TreeSelectionListener() {
public void valueChanged(TreeSelectionEvent event) {
System.out.println("1. What we save is: getlTextArea() =" + getlTextArea() );
File file = (File) fileTree.getLastSelectedPathComponent();
fileDetailsTextArea.setText(getFileDetails(file));
final ListRightPanel lrp = new ListRightPanel(this);
lrp.textArea.setText(getFileDetails(file));
setlTextArea(getFileDetails(file));
System.out.println("2. What we save is: getlTextArea() =" + getlTextArea() );
          final JSplitPane splitPane = new JSplitPane();
          panel.add(splitPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
          final JPanel panel_1 = new JPanel();
          splitPane.setLeftComponent(panel_1);
          panel_1.add(new JScrollPane(fileTree));
          final JPanel panel_2 = new JPanel();
          splitPane.setRightComponent(panel_2);
          panel_2.add(new JScrollPane(fileDetailsTextArea));
setVisible(true);
private String getFileDetails(File file) {
if (file == null)
return "";
StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
if (file.listFiles()!=null){
     for (int i=0; i< file.listFiles().length; i++){
     buffer.append(((file.listFiles())) + "\n");
     System.out.println("List all files");
return buffer.toString();
public static void main(String args[]) {
new ListPanel("c:\\");
class FileSystemModel implements TreeModel {
private File root;
private Vector listeners = new Vector();
public FileSystemModel(File rootDirectory) {
root = rootDirectory;
public Object getRoot() {
return root;
public Object getChild(Object parent, int index) {
File directory = (File) parent;
String[] children = directory.list();
return new TreeFile(directory, children[index]);
public int getChildCount(Object parent) {
File file = (File) parent;
if (file.isDirectory()) {
String[] fileList = file.list();
if (fileList != null)
return file.list().length;
return 0;
public boolean isLeaf(Object node) {
File file = (File) node;
return file.isFile();
public int getIndexOfChild(Object parent, Object child) {
File directory = (File) parent;
File file = (File) child;
String[] children = directory.list();
for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
if (file.getName().equals(children[i])) {
return i;
return -1;
public void valueForPathChanged(TreePath path, Object value) {
File oldFile = (File) path.getLastPathComponent();
String fileParentPath = oldFile.getParent();
String newFileName = (String) value;
File targetFile = new File(fileParentPath, newFileName);
oldFile.renameTo(targetFile);
File parent = new File(fileParentPath);
int[] changedChildrenIndices = { getIndexOfChild(parent, targetFile) };
Object[] changedChildren = { targetFile };
fireTreeNodesChanged(path.getParentPath(), changedChildrenIndices, changedChildren);
private void fireTreeNodesChanged(TreePath parentPath, int[] indices, Object[] children) {
TreeModelEvent event = new TreeModelEvent(this, parentPath, indices, children);
Iterator iterator = listeners.iterator();
TreeModelListener listener = null;
while (iterator.hasNext()) {
listener = (TreeModelListener) iterator.next();
listener.treeNodesChanged(event);
public void addTreeModelListener(TreeModelListener listener) {
listeners.add(listener);
public void removeTreeModelListener(TreeModelListener listener) {
listeners.remove(listener);
private class TreeFile extends File {
public TreeFile(File parent, String child) {
super(parent, child);
public String toString() {
return getName();
[3]. Program 3:
package swing.com.test.test;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.io.File;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTree;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelListener;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionListener;
import javax.swing.tree.TreeModel;
import javax.swing.tree.TreePath;
import java.io.Serializable;
public class ListRightPanel extends JPanel implements TreeSelectionListener, Serializable{
     protected JTextArea textArea;
//     protected ListAllFile laf;
private String str = "";
          public String getlTextArea() {
                    //textArea.getText();
                    return str;
          public String setlTextArea(String ta) {
                    str = ta;
                    return str;
     * Create the panel
     public ListRightPanel(ListPanel laff) {
          super();
          setLayout(new BorderLayout());
          final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
          panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
          add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
          textArea = new JTextArea();
final String st = laff.getlTextArea();
System.out.println("####################################");
System.out.println("st=" + st);
     laff.fileTree.addTreeSelectionListener(new TreeSelectionListener() {
     public void valueChanged(TreeSelectionEvent event) {
     //laff.textArea.setText(getFileDetails(file));
          textArea.setText(getlTextArea());
     System.out.println("ListRightPanel Was Invoked from ListPanel!!getlTextArea() =" + getlTextArea() );
     System.out.println("st=" + st);
          panel.add(textArea, BorderLayout.CENTER);
     public void valueChanged(TreeSelectionEvent e){};
It is runnable program, just compile and run it in Console is ok,
Regards
Sunny

Answer 1

Thnaks, code post again, see
[1]. package swing.com.test.test;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JSplitPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import java.io.Serializable;
import swing.com.test.test.ListPanel;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
public class ListPanelMain implements java.io.Serializable{
     private JFrame frame;
      * Launch the application
      * @param args
     public static void main(String args[]) {
          try {
               ListPanelMain window = new ListPanelMain();
               window.frame.setVisible(true);
          } catch (Exception e) {
               e.printStackTrace();
      * Create the application
     public ListPanelMain() {
          initialize();
      * Initialize the contents of the frame
     private void initialize() {
          frame = new JFrame("FileTreePanelMain");
          frame.setBounds(100, 100, 900, 675);
     //     FieTreePanelComm      ftreecomm                = new       FieTreePanelComm();
          ListPanel                 ftree                     = new      ListPanel("C:\\");
//          ListAllFile            ftree                     = new      ListAllFile("C:\\");
     //     FileTreePanelText      fileTreePanelText      = new      FileTreePanelText(ftreecomm);
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
          final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
          panel.setLayout(new GridLayout(0, 2));
          frame.getContentPane().add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
     //     final JSplitPane splitPane = new JSplitPane();
     //     frame.getContentPane().add(splitPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
     //     splitPane.setLeftComponent(ftree);
          panel.add(ftree);
          final ListRightPanel listRightPanel = new ListRightPanel(ftree);
          //splitPane.setRightComponent(listRightPanel);
          panel.add(listRightPanel);
            frame.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
                 public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
                     System.exit(0);
             frame.pack();
             frame.setVisible(true);
}[2] Program 2
package swing.com.test.test;
//File System Tree
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Vector;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JSplitPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTree;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelListener;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionListener;
import javax.swing.tree.TreeModel;
import javax.swing.tree.TreePath;
import java.io.Serializable;
public class ListPanel extends JPanel implements Serializable{
  protected JTree fileTree;
  private FileSystemModel fileSystemModel;
  private JTextArea ltextArea = new JTextArea();
  protected JTextArea fileDetailsTextArea = new JTextArea();
  private String str = "";
     public  String getlTextArea()  {
               //textArea.getText();
                  return str;
     public  String setlTextArea(String ta)  {
               ltextArea.setText(ta);
               str = ta;
                  return str;
  public ListPanel(String directory) {
    //super("JTree FileSystem Viewer");
               setLayout(new BorderLayout());
               final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
               panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
              add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    fileDetailsTextArea.setEditable(false);
    fileSystemModel = new FileSystemModel(new File(directory));
    fileTree = new JTree(fileSystemModel);
    fileTree.setEditable(true);
    fileTree.addTreeSelectionListener(new TreeSelectionListener() {
      public void valueChanged(TreeSelectionEvent event) {
        System.out.println("1. What we save is: getlTextArea() =" + getlTextArea() );
        File file = (File) fileTree.getLastSelectedPathComponent();
        fileDetailsTextArea.setText(getFileDetails(file));
        final ListRightPanel lrp = new ListRightPanel(this);
        lrp.textArea.setText(getFileDetails(file));
        setlTextArea(getFileDetails(file));
        System.out.println("2. What we save is: getlTextArea() =" + getlTextArea() );
          final JSplitPane splitPane = new JSplitPane();
          panel.add(splitPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
          final JPanel panel_1 = new JPanel();
          splitPane.setLeftComponent(panel_1);
          panel_1.add(new JScrollPane(fileTree));
          final JPanel panel_2 = new JPanel();
          splitPane.setRightComponent(panel_2);
          panel_2.add(new JScrollPane(fileDetailsTextArea));
    setVisible(true);
  private String getFileDetails(File file) {
    if (file == null)
      return "";
    StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
    if (file.listFiles()!=null){
         for (int i=0; i< file.listFiles().length; i++){
         buffer.append(((file.listFiles())) + "\n");
     System.out.println("List all files");
return buffer.toString();
public static void main(String args[]) {
new ListPanel("c:\\");
class FileSystemModel implements TreeModel {
private File root;
private Vector listeners = new Vector();
public FileSystemModel(File rootDirectory) {
root = rootDirectory;
public Object getRoot() {
return root;
public Object getChild(Object parent, int index) {
File directory = (File) parent;
String[] children = directory.list();
return new TreeFile(directory, children[index]);
public int getChildCount(Object parent) {
File file = (File) parent;
if (file.isDirectory()) {
String[] fileList = file.list();
if (fileList != null)
return file.list().length;
return 0;
public boolean isLeaf(Object node) {
File file = (File) node;
return file.isFile();
public int getIndexOfChild(Object parent, Object child) {
File directory = (File) parent;
File file = (File) child;
String[] children = directory.list();
for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
if (file.getName().equals(children[i])) {
return i;
return -1;
public void valueForPathChanged(TreePath path, Object value) {
File oldFile = (File) path.getLastPathComponent();
String fileParentPath = oldFile.getParent();
String newFileName = (String) value;
File targetFile = new File(fileParentPath, newFileName);
oldFile.renameTo(targetFile);
File parent = new File(fileParentPath);
int[] changedChildrenIndices = { getIndexOfChild(parent, targetFile) };
Object[] changedChildren = { targetFile };
fireTreeNodesChanged(path.getParentPath(), changedChildrenIndices, changedChildren);
private void fireTreeNodesChanged(TreePath parentPath, int[] indices, Object[] children) {
TreeModelEvent event = new TreeModelEvent(this, parentPath, indices, children);
Iterator iterator = listeners.iterator();
TreeModelListener listener = null;
while (iterator.hasNext()) {
listener = (TreeModelListener) iterator.next();
listener.treeNodesChanged(event);
public void addTreeModelListener(TreeModelListener listener) {
listeners.add(listener);
public void removeTreeModelListener(TreeModelListener listener) {
listeners.remove(listener);
private class TreeFile extends File {
public TreeFile(File parent, String child) {
super(parent, child);
public String toString() {
return getName();
[3] Program 3:
package swing.com.test.test;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.io.File;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JTree;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeModelListener;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionEvent;
import javax.swing.event.TreeSelectionListener;
import javax.swing.tree.TreeModel;
import javax.swing.tree.TreePath;
import java.io.Serializable;
public class ListRightPanel extends JPanel implements TreeSelectionListener, Serializable{
     protected JTextArea textArea;
//     protected ListAllFile  laf;
    private String str = "";
          public  String getlTextArea()  {
                    //textArea.getText();
                       return str;
          public  String setlTextArea(String ta)  {
                    str = ta;
                       return str;
      * Create the panel
     public ListRightPanel(ListPanel  laff) {
          super();
          setLayout(new BorderLayout());
          final JPanel panel = new JPanel();
          panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
          add(panel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
          textArea = new JTextArea();
        final String st = laff.getlTextArea();
        System.out.println("####################################");
        System.out.println("st=" + st);
         laff.fileTree.addTreeSelectionListener(new TreeSelectionListener() {
             public void valueChanged(TreeSelectionEvent event) {
               //laff.textArea.setText(getFileDetails(file));
                  textArea.setText(getlTextArea());
                 System.out.println("ListRightPanel Was Invoked from ListPanel!!getlTextArea() =" + getlTextArea() );
                 System.out.println("st=" + st);
          panel.add(textArea, BorderLayout.CENTER);
       public void valueChanged(TreeSelectionEvent e){};
}You can try this one, thanks again
sunny