Need help with integrating chat into Gui

Question

Hello Guys,
I'm fairly new to Java and I have a quick question regarding a simple chat program in java. My problem is that I have a simple chat program that runs from its own JFrame etc. Most of you are probably familiar with the code below, i got it from one of my java books. In any case, what I'm attempting to do is integrate this chat pane into a gui that i have created. I attempted to call an instace of the Client class from my gui program so that I can use the textfield and textarea contained in my app, but it will not allow me to do it. Would I need to integrate this code into the code for my Gui class. I have a simple program that contains chat and a game. The code for the Client is listed below.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Client
extends JPanel {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
String name = args[0];
String host = args[1];
int port = Integer.parseInt(args[2]);
final Socket s = new Socket(host, port);
final Client c = new Client(name, s);
JFrame f = new JFrame("Client : " + name);
f.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() { 
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent we) { 
c.shutDown();
System.exit(0);
f.setSize(300, 300);
f.setLocation(100, 100);
f.setContentPane(c);
f.setVisible(true);
private String mName;
private JTextArea mOutputArea;
private JTextField mInputField;
private PrintWriter mOut;
public Client(final String name, Socket s)
throws IOException {
mName = name;
createUI();
wireNetwork(s);
wireEvents();
public void shutDown() {
mOut.println("");
mOut.close();
protected void createUI() {
setLayout(new BorderLayout());
mOutputArea = new JTextArea();
mOutputArea.setLineWrap(true);
mOutputArea.setEditable(false);
add(new JScrollPane(mOutputArea), BorderLayout.CENTER);
mInputField = new JTextField(20);
JPanel controls = new JPanel();
controls.add(mInputField);
add(controls, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
mInputField.requestFocus();
protected void wireNetwork(Socket s) throws IOException {
mOut = new PrintWriter(s.getOutputStream(), true);
final String eol = System.getProperty("line.separator");
new Listener(s.getInputStream()) {
public void processLine(String line) {
mOutputArea.append(line + eol);
mOutputArea.setCaretPosition(
mOutputArea.getDocument().getLength());
protected void wireEvents() {
mInputField.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
String line = mInputField.getText();
if (line.length() == 0) return;
mOut.println(mName + " : " + line);
mInputField.setText("");

Answer 1

I think the easiest way to do it would be to cut an paste most of that code into your program. Then all you have to do is change some names so that it uses your textfield and textarea.