JTextArea, getText, and Null pointer exception

Question

Hi, I am having trouble figuring out why i get a null pointer exception when i call
ta = theGUI.AbName_TA;
ta.getText();does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem is?
(NOTE: i am somewhat new to java, and am DEFINITELY new to swing. so, if there is a better way to go about the stuff that i'm trying to accomplish, PLEASE feel free to offer suggestions.)
Thanks, Kim
Code for GUI_CreateAntibody
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
public class GUI_CreateAntibody implements ActionListener
     private String AntibodyName;
     private TheDBInterface3 TheInterface2 = new TheDBInterface3();
     private JTextArea ta;
     GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher theGUI = new GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher();
     public static void main (String[] args) {
          System.out.println("In Main");
          GUI_CreateAntibody atry = new GUI_CreateAntibody();
          atry.init();
     protected void init () {
          System.out.println("In init");
          GUI_CreateAntibody atry = new GUI_CreateAntibody();
          theGUI.init();
          theGUI.button1.addActionListener(atry);
          System.out.println("added the actionlistener");
          System.out.println(theGUI.button1.toString());
     public void CloseWindow() {
          theGUI.window.dispose();
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
          System.out.println("In actionPerformed");
          Object source = e.getSource();
          System.out.println(source.toString());
          System.out.println("");
     //     System.out.println(theGUI.button1.toString());
     //     if (source == theGUI.button1) {
               System.out.println("BUTTON1 WAS PRESSED");
               ta = theGUI.AbName_TA;
               ta.getText();
               // String name = theGUI.AbName_TA.getText();
               System.out.println("hi");
               //TheInterface2.CreateAb(name);
               //GUI_AddingAntibody AddingAb = new GUI_AddingAntibody();
               //AddingAb.init();
               //CloseWindow();
Code for GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
public class GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher implements WindowListener
     public JTextArea AbName_TA;          
     public JButton button1;
     String currentPattern;
     String[] patternExamples = {
                 "Yes",
                 "No",
     JComboBox patternList;
     JLabel result;
     JComboBox AbList;
     public void init ()
          window  = new SketchFrame("GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher");     // create the application window
          Toolkit theKit = window.getToolkit();     // get the window toolkit
          Dimension wndSize = theKit.getScreenSize();     //     get screen size
          double xPosition = 200;
          double yPosition = 200;
          double xSize = 200;
          double ySize = 200;
          window.setBounds((int) xPosition, (int) yPosition,
                               (int) xSize, (int) ySize);
          theApp.window.setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
          GridBagLayout gridbag = new GridBagLayout();     // create a layout manager
          GridBagConstraints constraints = new GridBagConstraints();
          JPanel contentPane  = new JPanel();
          theApp.window.getContentPane().setLayout(gridbag); // set the container layout mgr
          contentPane.setBorder(BorderFactory.createCompoundBorder(
                              BorderFactory.createMatteBorder(
                                              1,1,2,2,Color.black),
                              BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(5,5,5,5)));
        constraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
        constraints.gridy = 0;
        constraints.gridx = 1;
        constraints.insets = new Insets(10,0,10,10);
        JLabel l = null;
        l = new JLabel("Add Antibody");
        l.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.BOLD + Font.ITALIC, 18));
        gridbag.setConstraints(l, constraints);
        contentPane.add(l);
          window.getContentPane().add(l);
     /////// Antibody Name
        constraints.gridy = 2;
        JLabel AbLabel = null;
        AbLabel = new JLabel("Antibody Name:");
        AbLabel.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.BOLD, 12));
         AbName_TA = new JTextArea();
        AbName_TA.setEditable(true);
        JScrollPane AbName_ScrollPane = new JScrollPane(AbName_TA);
        JPanel AbPanel = new JPanel();
        gridbag.setConstraints(AbPanel, constraints);
        AbPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(AbPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
        AbPanel.add(AbLabel);
        AbPanel.add(AbName_ScrollPane);
        window.getContentPane().add(AbPanel);
     /////// SET CONSTRAINTS AND ADD BUTTON
     /////// Pressing button will indicate that you have
     /////// entered the Ab name
          // set constraints and add button     
          constraints.gridy = 7;          
          String label = "Enter the Antibody";     
          button1 = new JButton(label);
          addButton(button1, constraints, gridbag);
          window.setVisible(true);      
     public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
          window.dispose();
          System.exit(1);
     public void windowOpened(WindowEvent e) { }
     public void windowClosed(WindowEvent e) { }
     static void addButton(JButton button, GridBagConstraints constraints, GridBagLayout layout)
          // create a border object using a BorderFactory method
          // Border edge = BorderFactory.createRaisedBevelBorder();
          Border edge = BorderFactory.createRaisedBevelBorder();
          Color LightBlue = new Color(180,180,255);
          button.setBorder(edge);
          button.setFont(new Font("Times", Font.ITALIC + Font.BOLD, 14));
          button.setBackground(LightBlue);
          layout.setConstraints(button, constraints);
          window.getContentPane().add(button);           
     public void windowIconified(WindowEvent e) {}
     public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent e) {}
     public void windowActivated(WindowEvent e) {}
     public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent e) {}
     public static SketchFrame window;
     public static GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher theApp;
}

Answer 1

I changed my "actionPerformed" function a bit.
Thanks for your comments - I hadn't realized some mistakes I had made while trying to fix my code.
I'm still getting a null pointer exception, though.
Also, in the main function of GUI_CreateAntibody, I call init for GUI_CreateAntibody. Within THIS init function I call init for GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher. I don't understand what is wrong with this (except that I suppose I should be using constructors as opposed to init functions.)
Thanks,
Kim
Code for GUI_CreateAntibody
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
public class GUI_CreateAntibody implements ActionListener
     private String AntibodyName;
     private TheDBInterface3 TheInterface2 = new TheDBInterface3();
     private JTextArea ta;
     GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher theGUI = new GUI_CreateAntibody_Sketcher();
     public static void main (String[] args) {
          System.out.println("In Main");
          GUI_CreateAntibody atry = new GUI_CreateAntibody();
          atry.init();
     public void init () {
          System.out.println("In init");
          GUI_CreateAntibody atry = new GUI_CreateAntibody();
          theGUI.init();
          theGUI.button1.addActionListener(atry);
          System.out.println("added the actionlistener");
          System.out.println(theGUI.button1.toString());
     public void CloseWindow() {
          theGUI.window.dispose();
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
          System.out.println("In actionPerformed");
          Object source = e.getSource();
          System.out.println(source.toString());
          System.out.println("");
     //     System.out.println(theGUI.button1.toString());
     //     if (source == theGUI.button1) {
               System.out.println("BUTTON1 WAS PRESSED");
               String name = theGUI.AbName_TA.getText();
               // String name = theGUI.AbName_TA.getText();
               System.out.println("hi");
               //TheInterface2.CreateAb(name);
               //GUI_AddingAntibody AddingAb = new GUI_AddingAntibody();
               //AddingAb.init();
               //CloseWindow();
}