Problem storing preferences

Question

I come from Windows c++ to Java and am used to storing values in the registry. There is a nice replacement for this in java.util.prefs.Preferences.
I can pick up the values when I create the controls, the problem how do I store the values? There may well be a better way, but one method I saw was to use finalize, which is the equivalent of a destructor. I overrode this method and put in a break point ready to catch it in action, and nothing happens. It never reaches my break point.
I'll put in a snippet of my code:
public class ReconPanel extends JPanel {
     private JCheckBox jRawShow = null;
     jPrefer = Preferences.userNodeForPackage(ReconPanel.class);
     private JCheckBox getJRawShow() {
          if (jRawShow == null) {
               jRawShow = new JCheckBox();
               jRawShow.setSelected(jPrefer.getBoolean("raw show", false));
          return jRawShow;
     private void setRegistry() {
          boolean selected;
          selected = false;
          if(jRawShow.getSelectedObjects()!= null) selected = true;
          jPrefer.putBoolean("raw show", selected);
     protected void finalize() {
          setRegistry();
     }First and foremost, why doesn't it hit my breakpoint?
Second, is there a better place to put my setRegistry, as the destructor may be a little too late?
Thanks,
Ilan

Answer 1

import java.awt.Frame;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
* TODO Enter description
public abstract class AbstractApplictionMainFrame extends JFrame implements ExitApplicationProducer {
     //     ------------------------  Non-Public Fields -----------------
     ArrayList<ExitApplicationListener> exitListeners = new ArrayList<ExitApplicationListener>();
     //     ------------------------  Constructors ----------------------
     protected AbstractApplictionMainFrame(){
          GuiUtilities.setLookAndFeel();
     //     ------------------------  Interface Implementations ---------
      * TODO Enter description
      * @param listener
     /* (non-Javadoc)
      * @see utilities.gui.ExitApplicationProducer#addExitApplicationListener(utilities.gui.ExitApplicationListener)
     public void addExitApplicationListener (ExitApplicationListener listener) {
          exitListeners.add(listener);
     //     ------------------------  Public Methods --------------------
     protected void exitApplication() {
          if (exitListeners.size() > 0) {
               for (ExitApplicationListener l : exitListeners) {
                    l.handleApplicationExiting();
          handleExitApplication();
          this.setVisible(false);
          for (Frame f : getFrames()) {
               f.dispose();
          this.dispose();
     //     ------------------------  Non-Public Methods ----------------
     protected abstract void handleExitApplication();
public class exitTest extends AbstractApplictionMainFrame{
     public exitTest() {
          super();
          this.setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.DO_NOTHING_ON_CLOSE);
          initialize();
      * This method initializes this
     private void initialize() {
       this.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter() {
             public void windowClosing(java.awt.event.WindowEvent e) {
                  exitApplication();             }
     public static void main(String[] args) {
          Frame frame = new exitTest();
          frame.setVisible(true);
     protected void handleExitApplication(){
       // do main exit processing here
}