Problem updating textField via menuItem

Question

I am new to java and I am having a problem getting a menuItem to update a text field in my swing app. The following code is a striped down version but contains the necessary code to repeat my problem.
I'm sure it is something fairly simple, but have had no luck finding a solution. All I want is for a menuItem to update the textfield once selected.
How can I fix this?
Please help.
/*  this class test an implementation of JmenuItem and textfield
where the menuItem is suppose to update the text in the textField*/
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class MenuItemTest
    private GridBagLayout layout;
    private GridBagConstraints constraints;
    private JTextField termField;
    private JLabel headerLabel;
    private JLabel termLabel;
    private JMenuBar menuBar;
    private JMenu menu;
    private JMenuItem menuItem;
    public MenuItemTest()
        // create GUI components
        headerLabel = new JLabel("ItemMenu TextField Test");
        termLabel = new JLabel("Field:");
        termField = new JTextField("choose MenuItem");
    public Container createContentPane()
        //Create the content-pane-to-be.
        JPanel contentPane = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        contentPane.setOpaque(true);
        layout = new GridBagLayout();// new gridbaglayout
        JPanel p = new JPanel(layout); // set frame layout
        constraints = new GridBagConstraints(); // instantiate constraints
        // add components to JPane     
        setConstraints( 1,0,6,1,1,10);
        p.add(headerLabel,constraints);
        setConstraints( 2,1,1,1,1,2);
        p.add(termLabel,constraints);
        setConstraints(2,2,2,1,1,2);
        p.add(termField,constraints);
        contentPane.add(p, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        return contentPane;
    }// end createContentPane()
    // method for simplifying grabBagConstraints
    private void setConstraints(int row, int column, int width, int height,
                                int fill, int ipady)
         constraints.gridx = column; // set gridx
         constraints.gridy = row; // set gridy
         constraints.gridwidth = width; // set gridwidth
         constraints.gridheight = height; // set gridheight
        constraints.insets = new Insets(1,1,0,0);//set uniform vertical gap
        constraints.fill = fill;
        constraints.ipady = ipady;
    }// end method addComponent
    //class for build menu bar
     public class MCalMenu
        public JMenuBar createMenuBar()
            //implements menu handler
            MenuHandler handler = new MenuHandler();
            //Create the menu bar.
            menuBar = new JMenuBar();
            menu = new JMenu("Menu");
            menuBar.add(menu);
            //a group of JMenuItems
            menuItem  = new JMenuItem("Preset Field 1");
            menuItem.addActionListener(handler);
            menu.add(menuItem);
            menuItem = new JMenuItem("Preset Field 2");
            menuItem.addActionListener(handler);
            menu.add(menuItem);
            menuItem = new JMenuItem("Preset Field 3");
            menuItem.addActionListener(handler);
            menu.add(menuItem);
            return menuBar;
        }// end createMenuBar method
    }//end class MCalMenu
    // class for menu events
    public class MenuHandler extends JDialog implements ActionListener
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
            if ( e.getActionCommand() == "Preset Field 1")
                termField.setText("1");
            }//end if
            else if (e.getActionCommand() == "Preset Field 2")
                termField.setText("2");
            }//end else if
            else if (e.getActionCommand() == "Preset Field 3")
               termField.setText("3");
            }//end else if   
        }// end actionPerformed method
    }// end MenuHandler class
    public void createAndShowGUI()
        JFrame frame = new JFrame("MenuItem TextField Update Fail");
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        MenuItemTest myMenuItemTest = new MenuItemTest();
        MCalMenu myMCalMenu = new MCalMenu();
        frame.setJMenuBar(myMCalMenu.createMenuBar());
        frame.setContentPane(myMenuItemTest.createContentPane());
        frame.setSize(200, 200);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    public static void main(  String args [] )
        MenuItemTest myMenuItemTest = new MenuItemTest();
     myMenuItemTest.createAndShowGUI();
}

Answer 1

I think that your problem is that your createAndShowGUI method is creating two separate and distinct objects when you run this program: a MenuItemTest object and a MCalMenu object. As distinct objects, they don't share instance variables which means that this program has two termField JTextFields, one which is visible and the other which is not visible and which you are trying to change. This won't work.
The other problem is here:
if ( e.getActionCommand() == "Preset Field 1")don't compare strings with ==. Better to use the String method equals(...)