Problems adding to a JList

Question

in my filter panel i have a text field, and a search button. when i enter some text and click search, the text should appear in the JList. but all that happens is the test field clears (which should happen) but doesnt appear in the JList. here is my code below:
firstly for the setting up of the JList:
          //the JList with a model, renderer and selectionListener
          filterListModel = new DefaultListModel();
          filterList = new JList(filterListModel);
          filterList.setCellRenderer(new CustomCellRenderer());
          filterList.addListSelectionListener(new MyListSelectionListener());
          filterList.setSelectionMode(ListSelectionModel.SINGLE_SELECTION);then the action performed for the search button
               public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                    if (textFilter.getText().equals("")) {
                         JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "No keyword has been entered");
                    } else {
                         int index = filterList.getSelectedIndex(); //get selected index
                         if (index == -1) { //no selection, so insert at beginning
                              index = 0;
                         } else { //add after the selected item
                              index++;
                         filterListModel.insertElementAt(textFilter.getText(), index);
                         //Reset the text field.
                         textFilter.requestFocusInWindow();
                         textFilter.setText("");
                         //Select the new item and make it visible.
                         filterList.setSelectedIndex(index);
                         filterList.ensureIndexIsVisible(index);
               }i also wanted to be able to detect selected items and display them as cyan in color. i have created 2 inner classes for this.
class MyListSelectionListener implements ListSelectionListener {
     public void valueChanged(ListSelectionEvent e) {
          if (e.getValueIsAdjusting() == false) {
               if (filterList.getSelectedIndex() == -1) {
                    //No selection, disable fire button.
                    removeFilter.setEnabled(false);
               } else {
                    //Selection, enable the fire button.
                    removeFilter.setEnabled(true);
} //end class MyListSelectionListener
class CustomCellRenderer extends JLabel implements ListCellRenderer {
     public Component getListCellRendererComponent(JList list, // the list being redrawn
     Object value, // value to display
     int index, // cell index
     boolean isSelected, // is the cell selected
     boolean cellHasFocus) // the list and the cell have
     //  the focus
     { //begin getListCellRendererComponent() body
          if (isSelected) { //set the background for selected
               setBackground(Color.cyan);
          } else { //set the background for not selected
               setBackground(Color.white);
          } //end else
          return this; //return component used to render
     } //end getListCellRendererComponent()
} //end class CustomCellRenderer any help is much appreciated

Answer 1

when i enter some text and click search, the text should appear in the JListThe section in the Swing tutorial on "How to Use Lists" has an example almost exactly like this:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/components/list.html
i also wanted to be able to detect selected items and display them as cyan in color.It is generally better to extend the DefaultListCellRenderer (it extends JLabel) as some methods have been optimized for painting efficiency.
I don't know if this is your problem, but whenever you extend JLabel directly you need to use
setOpaque( true );
otherwise the background color is inherited from the parent component.