Need help writing custom Swing JComponent

Question

Hi, I am trying to write my own version of a "comboBox" that does not have a drop-down box, and doesn't have a down-arrow icon on it. What I would really like to do is basically write a class that is a JLabel, but will accept KeyEvents and FocusEvents. Here is an example of exactly what I want, but it is written using an uneditable JTextArea(Hit the up and down arrow Keys to scroll through the options):
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.text.JTextComponent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import java.awt.event.FocusListener;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.FocusEvent;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Font;
public class Test implements KeyListener, FocusListener
     Color colorBackgroundFocus = new java.awt.Color(240, 240, 240);
     Color colorText = new Color(0, 0, 128);
     Font fontText = new java.awt.Font("SansSerif", 1, 12);
     JTextArea jTextAreaPOPayment;
     public static void main(String[] args)
          new Test();
     * The Constructor for Test
     public Test(){
          JFrame jFrame = new JFrame("�:o)");
          jFrame.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter() {
               public void windowClosing(java.awt.event.WindowEvent e) {
                    ((JFrame)e.getComponent()).setVisible(false);
                    ((JFrame)e.getComponent()).dispose();
                    System.exit(0);
          jTextAreaPOPayment = new JTextArea();
          setUnEditableTextProperties(jTextAreaPOPayment, "jTextAreaPOPayment", "Cash", 60, 15, 10, 10);
          jFrame.getContentPane().add(jTextAreaPOPayment);
          jFrame.pack();
          jFrame.setVisible(true);
     * The Following is used to set all the properties for the JTextArea
     public void setUnEditableTextProperties(JTextComponent jTextComponent, String stringVariableName, String stringText, int intSizeX, int intSizeY,
     int intLocationX, int intLocationY){
          jTextComponent.setSize(new java.awt.Dimension(intSizeX, intSizeY));
          jTextComponent.setLocation(new java.awt.Point(intLocationX, intLocationY));
          jTextComponent.setName(stringVariableName);
          jTextComponent.setVisible(true);
          jTextComponent.setForeground(colorText);
          jTextComponent.setBackground(null);
          jTextComponent.setFont(fontText);
          jTextComponent.addFocusListener(this);
          jTextComponent.addKeyListener(this);
          jTextComponent.setEditable(false);
          jTextComponent.setText(stringText);
     * The Following is used to Cycle the Payment Types
     public void cyclePOPayment(boolean booleanUp){
          if (jTextAreaPOPayment.getText().compareTo("Cash") == 0)
               jTextAreaPOPayment.setText(booleanUp ? "Check" : "Credit");
          else if (jTextAreaPOPayment.getText().compareTo("Credit") == 0)
               jTextAreaPOPayment.setText(booleanUp ? "Cash" : "Check");
          else if (jTextAreaPOPayment.getText().compareTo("Check") == 0)
               jTextAreaPOPayment.setText(booleanUp ? "Credit" : "Cash");
     * The Following are needed to implement KeyListener Class
    public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
    public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
          if (e.getComponent().getName().compareTo("jTextAreaPOPayment") == 0)
               if (e.getKeyText(e.getKeyCode()).equalsIgnoreCase("Up")){
                    cyclePOPayment(true);
               else if (e.getKeyText(e.getKeyCode()).equalsIgnoreCase("Down")){
                    cyclePOPayment(false);
    public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
     * The Following is needed to implement FocusListener Class
     public void focusGained(FocusEvent e) {
          if (e.getComponent().getName().compareTo("jTextAreaPOPayment") == 0){
               jTextAreaPOPayment.setBackground(colorBackgroundFocus);
               jTextAreaPOPayment.select(-1, 0);
    public void focusLost(FocusEvent e) {
          if (e.getComponent().getName().compareTo("jTextAreaPOPayment") == 0){
               jTextAreaPOPayment.setBackground(null);
}Here is what I tried to do, but I think I need to write the "fireFocusEvent" method?? I read something about tha tsomewhere, but can't find it again. I tried just implementing the focusListener and KeyListener, and that didn't work...Can someone Help me please!!
what I tried:
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import java.awt.event.FocusListener;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.FocusEvent;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Dimension;
class ComboJLabel extends JComponent implements FocusListener, KeyListener
     String stringText;
     // The preferred size of the gauge
     int Height = 20;  
     int Width  = 20;
     public ComboJLabel(){
          this.stringText = "Test";
     public ComboJLabel(String stringText){
          this.stringText = stringText;
          this.addKeyListener(this);
          this.addFocusListener(this);
     public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e){
          System.out.println("KeyPressed");
     public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e){
          System.out.println("KeyTyped");
     public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e){
          System.out.println("KeyReleased");
     public void focusGained(FocusEvent e){
          System.out.println("Focus Gained");
     public void focusLost(FocusEvent e){
          System.out.println("Focus lost");
     public void setText(String stringNewText){
          stringText = stringNewText;
     public void paint(Graphics g){
       g.setColor(java.awt.Color.black);
       g.drawString(stringText, 3, 15);
     public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
          return new Dimension(Width, Height);
     public Dimension getMinimumSize() {
          return new Dimension(Width, Height);
import javax.swing.JFrame;
class TestComboJLabel
     public static void main(String[] args)
          JFrame jFrame = new JFrame();
          ComboJLabel comboJLabel = new ComboJLabel();
          jFrame.getContentPane().add(comboJLabel);
          jFrame.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter() {
               public void windowClosing(java.awt.event.WindowEvent e) {
                    ((JFrame)e.getComponent()).setVisible(false);
                    ((JFrame)e.getComponent()).dispose();
                    System.exit(0);
          jFrame.pack();
          jFrame.setVisible(true);
}But that didn't work! If anyone can help, or show me a good site that tells me how to, It would greatly appreciated! Thanks in advanced,
Jeff �:o)

Answer 1

Yeah,sorry about the length...If you just grab the first piece of code(that works BTW0, you will see Exactly what I am trying to do...I just don't want to use anything that already exists and Jerry-Rig it...I want to try and create a new JComponent, more as a learning experience than anything else.
But thanks for the response!