JFormattedTextField_Phone is not formatting

Question

I wrote this simple applet using netbeans 3.6 IDE -
The applet has 3 formatted textFields (which does not format)
Date mm/dd/yyyy
Tel [phone]
Price #,###
Can you please help - why the format is not working.
Thanks
//Here is the code
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.text.*;
public class aFormat extends javax.swing.JApplet {
/** Initializes the applet aFormat */
public void init() {
initComponents();
setUpField_Date();
setUpField_Phone();
setUpField_Money();
private void setUpField_Date() {
// date format
DateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy");
DateFormatter df = new DateFormatter(format);
this.jFormattedTextField_Date = new JFormattedTextField(df);
this.jFormattedTextField_Date.setValue(new Date());
private void setUpField_Phone() {
// US telephone number
try {
MaskFormatter mf2 = new MaskFormatter("(###) ###-####");
this.jFormattedTextField_Phone = new JFormattedTextField(mf2);
} catch (java.text.ParseException exc) {
System.out.println("Exception formatting");
private void setUpField_Money() {
// money format
this.jFormattedTextField_Money.setText("0.00");
this.jFormattedTextField_Money = new JFormattedTextField(new DecimalFormat("#,###"));
/** This method is called from within the init() method to
* initialize the form.
* WARNING: Do NOT modify this code. The content of this method is
* always regenerated by the Form Editor.
private void initComponents() {
jLabel1 = new javax.swing.JLabel();
jFormattedTextField_Date = new javax.swing.JFormattedTextField();
jLabel2 = new javax.swing.JLabel();
jFormattedTextField_Phone = new javax.swing.JFormattedTextField();
jLabel3 = new javax.swing.JLabel();
jFormattedTextField_Money = new javax.swing.JFormattedTextField();
getContentPane().setLayout(null);
jLabel1.setText("Date (MM/DD/YYYY)");
getContentPane().add(jLabel1);
jLabel1.setBounds(4, 20, 160, 20);
getContentPane().add(jFormattedTextField_Date);
jFormattedTextField_Date.setBounds(170, 20, 130, 21);
jLabel2.setText("Tel ( ___ )-___-____");
getContentPane().add(jLabel2);
jLabel2.setBounds(0, 50, 150, 20);
getContentPane().add(jFormattedTextField_Phone);
jFormattedTextField_Phone.setBounds(170, 50, 130, 20);
jLabel3.setText("Price");
getContentPane().add(jLabel3);
jLabel3.setBounds(0, 80, 130, 20);
getContentPane().add(jFormattedTextField_Money);
jFormattedTextField_Money.setBounds(170, 80, 130, 21);
// Variables declaration - do not modify
private javax.swing.JFormattedTextField jFormattedTextField_Date;
private javax.swing.JFormattedTextField jFormattedTextField_Money;
private javax.swing.JFormattedTextField jFormattedTextField_Phone;
private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel1;
private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel2;
private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel3;
// End of variables declaration

Answer 1

The problem is that you are adding the components in the initComponets() method and then overlaying their references with new components with the applied mask format. The original components are still present on the panel. You've simply orphaned the references to those original components not replaced them on the panel. See adjusted code below:
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.text.*;
public class aFormat extends javax.swing.JApplet {
/** Initializes the applet aFormat */
public void init() {
initComponents();
//setUpField_Date();
//setUpField_Phone();
//setUpField_Money();
validate();
private void setUpField_Date() {
// date format
DateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy");
DateFormatter df = new DateFormatter(format);
this.jFormattedTextField_Date = new JFormattedTextField(df);
this.jFormattedTextField_Date.setValue(new Date());
private void setUpField_Phone() {
// US telephone number
try {
MaskFormatter mf2 = new MaskFormatter("(###) ###-####");
this.jFormattedTextField_Phone = new JFormattedTextField(mf2);
} catch (java.text.ParseException exc) {
System.out.println("Exception formatting");
private void setUpField_Money() {
// money format
this.jFormattedTextField_Money.setText("0.00");
this.jFormattedTextField_Money = new JFormattedTextField(new DecimalFormat("#,###"));
/** This method is called from within the init() method to
* initialize the form.
* WARNING: Do NOT modify this code. The content of this method is
* always regenerated by the Form Editor.
private void initComponents() {
jLabel1 = new javax.swing.JLabel();
DateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy");
DateFormatter df = new DateFormatter(format);
this.jFormattedTextField_Date = new JFormattedTextField(df);
this.jFormattedTextField_Date.setValue(new Date());
jLabel2 = new javax.swing.JLabel();
try {
MaskFormatter mf2 = new MaskFormatter("(###) ###-####");
this.jFormattedTextField_Phone = new JFormattedTextField(mf2);
} catch (java.text.ParseException exc) {
System.out.println("Exception formatting");
jLabel3 = new javax.swing.JLabel();
this.jFormattedTextField_Money = new JFormattedTextField(new DecimalFormat("#,###"));
this.jFormattedTextField_Money.setText("0.00");
getContentPane().setLayout(null);
jLabel1.setText("Date (MM/DD/YYYY)");
getContentPane().add(jLabel1);
jLabel1.setBounds(4, 20, 160, 20);
getContentPane().add(jFormattedTextField_Date);
jFormattedTextField_Date.setBounds(170, 20, 130, 21);
jLabel2.setText("Tel ( ___ )-___-____");
getContentPane().add(jLabel2);
jLabel2.setBounds(0, 50, 150, 20);
getContentPane().add(jFormattedTextField_Phone);
jFormattedTextField_Phone.setBounds(170, 50, 130, 20);
jLabel3.setText("Price");
getContentPane().add(jLabel3);
jLabel3.setBounds(0, 80, 130, 20);
getContentPane().add(jFormattedTextField_Money);
jFormattedTextField_Money.setBounds(170, 80, 130, 21);
// Variables declaration - do not modify
private javax.swing.JFormattedTextField jFormattedTextField_Date;
private javax.swing.JFormattedTextField jFormattedTextField_Money;
private javax.swing.JFormattedTextField jFormattedTextField_Phone;
private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel1;
private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel2;
private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel3;
// End of variables declaration
}