Passing variables in an array to jtextarea?

Question

What method could I use to pass different Strings in an array to a jtextarea each time the "Next" button (a JButton) in my JFrame is pressed? So, for example, if i hit next, i might want the word "frank" to print in the jtextarea, but the next time i hit it, i might want it to print "joe" Thank you!!
This is my code:
public class discardedSaluteMyShorts extends JPanel implements ActionListener
    JTextArea textArea;
    String newline = "\n";
    static final public String NEXT = "next";
    public discardedSaluteMyShorts()
        super(new BorderLayout());
        //Create the toolbar.
        JToolBar toolBar = new JToolBar("Still draggable");
        addButtons(toolBar);
        //Create the text area used for output.  Request
        //enough space for 5 rows and 30 columns.
        textArea = new JTextArea(5, 30);
        textArea.setEditable(false);
        JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane(textArea);
        //Lay out the main panel.
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(450, 130));
        add(toolBar, BorderLayout.PAGE_START);
        add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
    public void addButtons(JToolBar toolBar)
        JButton button = null;
        //third button
        button = makeNavigationButton("Forward24", NEXT,
                "Next light or sound cue",
                "Next");
        toolBar.add(button);
    public JButton makeNavigationButton(String imageName,
            String actionCommand,
            String toolTipText,
            String altText)
        //Look for the image.
        String imgLocation = "images/"
                + imageName
                + ".gif";
        URL imageURL = discardedSaluteMyShorts.class.getResource(imgLocation);
        //Create and initialize the button.
        JButton button = new JButton();
        button.setActionCommand(actionCommand);
        button.setToolTipText(toolTipText);
        button.addActionListener(this);
        if (imageURL != null)
        {                      //image found
            button.setIcon(new ImageIcon(imageURL, altText));
        else
        {                                     //no image found
            button.setText(altText);
            System.err.println("Resource not found: "
                    + imgLocation);
        return button;
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
        String cmd = e.getActionCommand();
        String cmd1 = e.getActionCommand();
        String description="";
        String description1 = "";
        String description2 = "";
        // Handle each button.
        if (NEXT.equals(cmd))
        { // third button clicked
            description="23 up";
            description1 ="23 down";
            description2="adsfsd";
            displayResult(description, description1, description2);
    public void displayResult(String description, String description1, String description2)
        JButton button = new JButton();
        button.getActionCommand();
        textArea.append(description + newline);//adds description to document
        if(button.getActionCommand()!=null)
        textArea.append(description1 + newline);
        textArea.append(description2 + newline);
        textArea.setCaretPosition(textArea.getDocument().getLength());//scrolls down
    public void nextCue1()
        String description2 = "asdfasasdf";
        displayResult2(""+description2);
    public void displayResult2(String description2)
        String description3 = ".";
        textArea.append(description2 + newline);//adds description to document
        textArea.setCaretPosition(textArea.getDocument().getLength());//scrolls down
    public void displayResult3(String description3)
        textArea.append(description3 + newline);//adds description to document
        textArea.setCaretPosition(textArea.getDocument().getLength());//scrolls down
     * Create the GUI and show it.  For thread safety,
     * this method should be invoked from the
     * event dispatch thread.
    public static void createAndShowGUI()
        //Create and set up the window.
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("ToolBarDemo");
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        //Add content to the window.
        frame.add(new discardedSaluteMyShorts());
        //Display the window.
        frame.pack();
        frame.setVisible(true);
    public static void main(String[] args)
        //Schedule a job for the event dispatch thread:
        //creating and showing this application's GUI.
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
            public void run()
                //Turn off metal's use of bold fonts
                createAndShowGUI();
}Edited by: cubswar on Apr 1, 2008 8:47 PM

Answer 1

First you declare the array and the index you currently are on in your class on the global variables section so for example:
public class discardedSaluteMyShorts extends JPanel implements ActionListener {
    private int index = 0;
    private String arr[] = new String[] { "frank", "joe" };
    // The code would be here
}Then in the method which displays the next value:
public void showNextValue() {
    textArea.setText(arr[index]);
    index = (index + 1) % arr.length;
}You probably want to call the method from the action performed of the button.