Paint(), repaint(), update() question

Question

I have an applet window which paints text,
then a request may be made to the applet to add more text,
my problem is that i seem to be repainting evertything.
please help :o|

Answer 1

i have altered it slightly so that now my program uses a vector which is a list of names, if the list is updated the paint method will need recalling and the new list displayed
//i havent used a canvas but i think it may be more useful is that right?
  public void init()
    this.setSize(250,350);
    this.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter()
      public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
        chatOnlineListClosing_windowClosing(e);
    this.setBackground(new Color(13, 79, 158));
  } //end init()
  public void paint(Graphics g)
    positionX = 80;
    positionY= 85;
    g.setColor(Color.white);
    g.fillRect(40,40,150,250);
    g.setColor(Color.black);
    g.setFont(new java.awt.Font("Dialog", 1, 11));
    g.drawString("GroupNames", 60, 70);
    if(! nameVec.elementAt(0).equals("")) //checks there is a value in the vector
      for(int i = 0; i < nameVec.size(); i++)
        String name = (String)nameVec.elementAt(i);
        g.drawString(name, positionX, positionY);
        positionY = positionY + 15;
  }//end paint()