JFileChooser repaint

Question

Hello,
I am opening a JFileChooser from a menu FILE > OPEN. When I click OPEN, I want to change a status message being displayed, then open JFileChooser. Somehow the repaint doesn't happen: when JFileChooser finally opens, if I drag it to one side and look at the launching window underneath, yep, the message is displayed.
Next, right after I select a file in JFileChooser, I first want to repaint the window underneath properly before I do something intensive with the file -- once again the refresh isn't happening correctly, the window greys out and is repainted only after the long task is done.
Have tried super.repaint(), repaint(), repaint() in a try/catch, all with the same result.
Have stripped down my code to demo my problem, will much appreciate guidance. Thanks in advance!
//ChangeMessage.java
//simplified code to demonstrate repaint problem right before
//opening JFileChooser and right after selecting a file
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Locale;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import javax.swing.filechooser.*;
import javax.swing.filechooser.FileFilter;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.border.Border;
import javax.swing.border.TitledBorder;
import javax.swing.border.EtchedBorder;
public class ChangeMessage extends JFrame implements ActionListener
private JMenuItem openItem;
private JMenuItem exitItem;
private JMenuItem aboutItem;
private JTextField txtStatus;
public String filename;
public ChangeMessage()
          setTitle("ChangeMessage");
          setSize(430,145);
          setLocation(50,50);
          setResizable(false);
          Container contentPane = getContentPane();
          //Set up the window controls:
          GridBagLayout gbl = new GridBagLayout();
          contentPane.setLayout(gbl);
          //menu starts:
          JMenuBar mbar = new JMenuBar();
          JMenu m = new JMenu("File");
          openItem = new JMenuItem("Open");
          openItem.addActionListener(this);
          m.add(openItem);
          exitItem = new JMenuItem("Exit");
          exitItem.addActionListener(this);
          m.add(exitItem);
          mbar.add(m);
          JMenu n = new JMenu("Help");
          aboutItem = new JMenuItem("About");
          aboutItem.addActionListener(this);
          n.add(aboutItem);
          mbar.add(n);
          //menu ends
          GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
          gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
          gbc.weightx = 200;
          gbc.weighty = 50;
          add(mbar,gbc,0,0,7,1);
          gbc.weightx = 20;
          txtStatus = new JTextField("Select a text file by doing menu FILE > OPEN",300);
          txtStatus.setEditable(false);
          txtStatus.setBorder(BorderFactory.createBevelBorder(1));
          txtStatus.setHorizontalAlignment(JTextField.CENTER);
          txtStatus.setForeground(Color.blue);
          gbc.weightx = 0;
          gbc.weighty = 15;
          add(txtStatus,gbc,0,1,7,1);
          gbc.weightx = 50;
          gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.EAST;
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt)
          Object source = evt.getSource();
     if (source == openItem)
               //On my system, you click and wait for the File Chooser, so
               //want to show an hourglass:
               super.setCursor(Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.WAIT_CURSOR));
               //PROBLEM: WANT TO SEE THE FOLLOWING WHILE WAITING:
               txtStatus.setText("Opening file chooser window...");
               repaint();
               JFileChooser chooser = new JFileChooser();
               chooser.setCurrentDirectory(new File("."));
               chooser.setFileFilter(new FileFilter()
                    public boolean accept(File f)
                         return f.getName().toLowerCase().endsWith(".txt") || f.isDirectory();
                    public String getDescription()
                         return "Plain text file (.TXT)";
     int r = chooser.showOpenDialog(this);
               super.setCursor(Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.DEFAULT_CURSOR));
     if (r == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
               filename = chooser.getSelectedFile().getPath();
               repaint();
               //PROBLEM: DOING SOMETHING INTENSIVE HERE "BLANKS OUT" window
               //do something with the file
     else if (source == aboutItem)
     else if (source == exitItem)
               System.exit(0);
     public void add(Component c,GridBagConstraints gbc,int x,int y,int w,int h)
          gbc.gridx = x;
          gbc.gridy = y;
          gbc.gridwidth = w;
          gbc.gridheight = h;
          getContentPane().add(c,gbc);
public static void main(String[] args)
          JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
          Frame f = new ChangeMessage();
          f.show();

Answer 1

Hello,
Just wanted to mention that I resolved this, using SwingWorker. So the answer is yes, I needed to launch another thread.
The complete source code is available to anyone interested at:
http://www.quadmore.com/babytalk/index.html
Cheers,
Bert Szoghy