Setting scroll pane initial display size

Question

hello.
how can i modify the modified code below so that users of my video library system would be able to view CD/DVD/Game information by name, age category, type and year? the text area is not displaying in a proper size - i have to use the scroll pane to view the data in the text area. i should be able to view the data in the text area without a scrollpane because there is not much data in the database. how can i make the text area bigger?
thanks.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.sql.*;
public class ViewProductDetails extends JFrame{
   JPanel pnlBox, pnlBody, pnlFooter; 
   JCheckBox name;
   JCheckBox ageCategory;
   JCheckBox type;
   JCheckBox year;
   JButton returnToProductMenu;
   JTextArea jta;
   Container contentpane;
   Connection db;
   Statement statement;
   public void makeConnection(){
      try{
         Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
      catch(Exception e){
           System.out.println("Problem loading the driver");
   public void setHostURL(){
      String url = "jdbc:odbc:VideoLibrary";
      closeDB();
      try{
         db = DriverManager.getConnection(url,"","");
         statement = db.createStatement();
         DatabaseMetaData dbmd = db.getMetaData();
         ResultSet rs = dbmd.getTables(null, null, null, new String[]{"TABLE"});
      catch(Exception e){
           System.out.println("Could not initialise the database");
           e.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductOne(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs1 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY name");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd1 = rs1.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd1.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd1.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs1.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd1.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs1.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException ea){
         ea.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductTwo(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs2 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY ageCategory");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd2 = rs2.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd2.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd2.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs2.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd2.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs2.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException eb){
         eb.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductThree(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs3 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY type");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd3 = rs3.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd3.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd3.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs3.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd3.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs3.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException ec){
         ec.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductFour(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs4 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY year");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd4 = rs4.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd4.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd4.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs4.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd4.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs4.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException ed){
         ed.printStackTrace();
   public void closeDB(){
      try{
         if(statement != null){
            statement.close();
         if(db != null){
            db.close();
      catch(Exception e){
         System.out.println("Could not close the current connection");
         e.printStackTrace();
   public ViewProductDetails(){
      super("View Product Details");
      contentpane = getContentPane();
      contentpane.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
      pnlBox = new JPanel();
      pnlBody = new JPanel();
      pnlFooter = new JPanel();
      jta = new JTextArea();
      jta.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 12));
      jta.setLineWrap(true);
      jta.setWrapStyleWord(true);
      jta.setEditable(false);
      name = new JCheckBox("Name");
      ageCategory = new JCheckBox("Age Category");
      type = new JCheckBox("Type");
      year = new JCheckBox("Year");
      pnlBox.add(name);
      pnlBox.add(ageCategory);
      pnlBox.add(type);
      pnlBox.add(year);
      JScrollPane jsp = new JScrollPane(jta);
      pnlBody.add(jsp, BorderLayout.CENTER);
      returnToProductMenu = new JButton("Return To Product Menu");
      pnlFooter.add(returnToProductMenu);
      contentpane.add(pnlBox,BorderLayout.NORTH);
      contentpane.add(pnlBody,BorderLayout.CENTER);
      contentpane.add(pnlFooter,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
      pack();
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setVisible(true);
      name.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductOne();
            closeDB();
      ageCategory.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductTwo();
            closeDB();
      type.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductThree();
            closeDB();  
      year.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductFour();
            closeDB();     
      returnToProductMenu.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            setVisible(false);
   public static void main(String[] args){
      new ViewProductDetails();
}

Answer 1

hello.
thanks for the reply. i did what you told me to do. but when i compile the program i get the following error (both error + code are shown below).
----jGRASP exec: javac -g E:\CP4B Project\ViewProductDetails.java
ViewProductDetails.java:174: cannot find symbol
symbol : method setPreferredSize()
location: class javax.swing.JScrollPane
jsp.setPreferredSize();
^
1 error
----jGRASP wedge2: exit code for process is 1.
----jGRASP: operation complete.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.sql.*;
public class ViewProductDetails extends JFrame{
   JPanel pnlBox, pnlBody, pnlFooter; 
   JCheckBox name;
   JCheckBox ageCategory;
   JCheckBox type;
   JCheckBox year;
   JButton returnToProductMenu;
   JTextArea jta;
   Container contentpane;
   Connection db;
   Statement statement;
   public void makeConnection(){
      try{
         Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
      catch(Exception e){
           System.out.println("Problem loading the driver");
   public void setHostURL(){
      String url = "jdbc:odbc:VideoLibrary";
      closeDB();
      try{
         db = DriverManager.getConnection(url,"","");
         statement = db.createStatement();
         DatabaseMetaData dbmd = db.getMetaData();
         ResultSet rs = dbmd.getTables(null, null, null, new String[]{"TABLE"});
      catch(Exception e){
           System.out.println("Could not initialise the database");
           e.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductOne(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs1 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY name");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd1 = rs1.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd1.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd1.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs1.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd1.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs1.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException ea){
         ea.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductTwo(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs2 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY ageCategory");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd2 = rs2.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd2.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd2.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs2.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd2.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs2.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException eb){
         eb.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductThree(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs3 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY type");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd3 = rs3.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd3.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd3.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs3.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd3.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs3.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException ec){
         ec.printStackTrace();
   public void selectProductFour(){
      try{
         ResultSet rs4 = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Product ORDER BY year");
         ResultSetMetaData rsmd4 = rs4.getMetaData();
         for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd4.getColumnCount(); i++){
            jta.append(rsmd4.getColumnName(i) + "    ");
         jta.append("\n");
         while(rs4.next()){
            for(int i = 1; i <= rsmd4.getColumnCount(); i++){
               jta.append(rs4.getObject(i) + "     ");
            jta.append("\n");
      catch(SQLException ed){
         ed.printStackTrace();
   public void closeDB(){
      try{
         if(statement != null){
            statement.close();
         if(db != null){
            db.close();
      catch(Exception e){
         System.out.println("Could not close the current connection");
         e.printStackTrace();
   public ViewProductDetails(){
      super("View Product Details");
      contentpane = getContentPane();
      contentpane.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
      pnlBox = new JPanel();
      pnlBody = new JPanel();
      pnlFooter = new JPanel();
      jta = new JTextArea();
      jta.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 12));
      jta.setLineWrap(true);
      jta.setWrapStyleWord(true);
      jta.setEditable(false);
      name = new JCheckBox("Name");
      ageCategory = new JCheckBox("Age Category");
      type = new JCheckBox("Type");
      year = new JCheckBox("Year");
      pnlBox.add(name);
      pnlBox.add(ageCategory);
      pnlBox.add(type);
      pnlBox.add(year);
      JScrollPane jsp = new JScrollPane(jta);
      jsp.setPreferredSize();
      pnlBody.add(jsp, BorderLayout.CENTER);
      returnToProductMenu = new JButton("Return To Product Menu");
      pnlFooter.add(returnToProductMenu);
      contentpane.add(pnlBox,BorderLayout.NORTH);
      contentpane.add(pnlBody,BorderLayout.CENTER);
      contentpane.add(pnlFooter,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
      pack();
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setVisible(true);
      name.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductOne();
            closeDB();
      ageCategory.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductTwo();
            closeDB();
      type.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductThree();
            closeDB();  
      year.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            makeConnection();
            setHostURL();
            selectProductFour();
            closeDB();     
      returnToProductMenu.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
         public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
            setVisible(false);
   public static void main(String[] args){
      new ViewProductDetails();
}