I'M NEW TO THIS, i hope someone can help me out with something so simple...

Question

Hello all
i'm a first time user with java...my editor is Visual J++ (trial ed)...i'm testing out java to see if i want to use this for my company. for the past 4 days i've been trying to figure out how to connect to a database (i'm using MS SQL SERVER 2K) i've already posted in the JDBC Fourm...but found no answer...I apologize if I'm posting in 2 different forums at same time...but you gotta feel me on this, over 4 days on just trying to connect is not healthy LOL....
I already downloaded the driver from MS. Installed it followed the user guide (acrobat pdf file) on how to implement it...but i'm still stuck and haven't reached no where....what i want to do is a simple select statement but i can't do that without connecting first....maybe one of you out there has a sample code who uses MS SQL SERVER 2K...or someone can just be a miracle and help out on my code....the code will be attached below
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.sql.*;
public class AccessApp extends Frame
     TextField driver = new TextField(80);
     TextField url = new TextField(80);
     TextField sql = new TextField(80);
     Button doIt = new Button("Do it!");
     TextArea resultArea = new TextArea(10,60);
     public static void main(String args[])
          AccessApp app = new AccessApp();
     public AccessApp()
          super("AccessApp");
          setup();
          pack();
          addWindowListener(new WindowEventHandler());
          show();
     void setup()
          setupMenuBar();
          setLayout(new GridLayout(2,1));
          Panel topPanel = new Panel();
          topPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(4,1));
          Panel panels[]=new Panel[4];
          for(int i=0;i<panels.length;++i)
               panels=new Panel();
               panels[i].setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT));
          panels[0].add(new Label("Driver:"));
          panels[0].add(driver);
          panels[1].add(new Label("URL: "));
          panels[1].add(url);
          panels[2].add(new Label("SQL: "));
          panels[2].add(sql);
          doIt.addActionListener(new ButtonHandler());
          panels[3].add(doIt);
          for(int i=0; i<panels.length; ++i)
               topPanel.add(panels[i]);
          add(topPanel);
          add(resultArea);
     void setupMenuBar()
          MenuBar menuBar = new MenuBar();
          Menu fileMenu = new Menu("File");
          MenuItem fileExit = new MenuItem("Exit");
          fileExit.addActionListener(new MenuItemHandler());
          fileMenu.add(fileExit);
          menuBar.add(fileMenu);
          setMenuBar(menuBar);
     void accessDB()
          try
               Class.forName(driver.getText()).newInstance();
               Connection connection=DriverManager.getConnection(url.getText());
               Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
               boolean hasResults = statement.execute(sql.getText());
               if(hasResults)
                    ResultSet result = statement.getResultSet();
                    if(result!=null) displayResults(result);
               else resultArea.setText("");
               connection.close();
          catch(Exception ex)
               resultArea.setText(ex.toString());
     void displayResults(ResultSet r) throws SQLException
          ResultSetMetaData rmeta = r.getMetaData();
          int numColumns=rmeta.getColumnCount();
          String text="";
          for(int i=1; i<=numColumns; ++i)
               if(i<numColumns)
                    text+=rmeta.getColumnName(i)+" | ";
               else
                    text+=rmeta.getColumnName(i);
          text+="\n";
          while(r.next())
               for(int i=1;i<=numColumns;++i)
                    if(i<numColumns)
                         text+=r.getString(i)+" | ";
                    else
                         text+=r.getString(i).trim();
               text+="\n";
          resultArea.setText(text);
     class ButtonHandler implements ActionListener
          public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ev)
               String s=ev.getActionCommand();
               if(s=="Do it!") accessDB();
     class MenuItemHandler implements ActionListener
          public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ev)
               String s=ev.getActionCommand();
               if(s=="Exit")
                    System.exit(0);
     class WindowEventHandler extends WindowAdapter
          public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
               System.exit(0);
I hope this helps
and hopefully someone will respond

Answer 1

First use JPanel not Panel.
Panel panels[]=new Panel[4];becomes
JPanel panels[]=new JPanel[4];Then refactor your code so that you use arrays correctly:
panels=new Panel();
panels.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT));becomes
panels=new JPanel();
panels[i].setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT));
I did the above changes to your code and it worked fine.
Dave