Storing a record set into an array

Question

Hello Again,
Yet another road block in my destination to completing my program. I wanted to create a MultiColumn Combobox and needed to store my Database values into an array so I get get them into the Combobox. I'm having trouble getting this code to work properly. It seems that the the combobox wont accept the variable items maybe because it is outside the scope? I tried to move the code around to get it to work but it don't.
here is the code.
package pms;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.sql.*;
public class Test3 extends JFrame {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new Test3();
    public Test3() {
        Container c = getContentPane();
        c.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        c.setBackground(Color.gray);
        DBConnection db = new DBConnection();
        try {
            Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(db.connUrl);
            Statement sql = conn.createStatement();
            ResultSet rs = sql.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Referrals ORDER BY Referral_Text");
            while (rs.next()) {
                Item[] items = {
                    new Item(rs.getString(2), rs.getString(2)),};
            JComboBox jcb = new JComboBox(items);
            //Close connections.
            rs.close();
            sql.close();
            conn.close();
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.getStackTrace();
        jcb.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(24, 24));
        jcb.setRenderer(new ItemRenderer());
        c.add(jcb, BorderLayout.NORTH);
        setSize(200, 100);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setVisible(true);
// The items to display in the combobox...
    class Item {
        String itemName = "";
        String itemValue = "";
        public Item(String name, String value) {
            itemName = name;
            itemValue = value;
// The combobox's renderer...
    class ItemRenderer extends JPanel implements ListCellRenderer {
        private JLabel nameLabel = new JLabel(" ");
        private JLabel valueLabel = new JLabel(" ");
        public ItemRenderer() {
            setOpaque(true);
            setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
            add(nameLabel);
            add(valueLabel);
        public Component getListCellRendererComponent(
                JList list,
                Object value,
                int index,
                boolean isSelected,
                boolean cellHasFocus) {
            nameLabel.setText(((Item) value).itemName);
            valueLabel.setText(((Item) value).itemValue);
            if (isSelected) {
                setBackground(Color.black);
                nameLabel.setForeground(Color.white);
                valueLabel.setForeground(Color.white);
            } else {
                setBackground(Color.white);
                nameLabel.setForeground(Color.black);
                valueLabel.setForeground(Color.black);
            return this;
}Thanks!

Answer 1

He is telling you that there are two problems with your code.
The first is that you are declaring the items array inside the while loop, which means its scope is too limited - it can't be accessed by the JComboBox which is declared later.
The second is that you are recreating the items array for every record in your ResultSet. This implies that for every new record, the item(s) already stored will be removed from memory and replaced by the values of the latest record, leading to a single option for your combo box.
Try instead creating an ArrayList object that you initialise right before the loop, and add items to it's collection as you move along. Then pass that ArrayList to the JComboBox in this way:
          try {
               Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(db.connUrl);
               Statement sql = conn.createStatement();
               ResultSet rs = sql
                         .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Referrals ORDER BY ReferItemText");
               ArrayList<Item> items = new ArrayList<Item>();
               while (rs.next()) {
                    items.add(new Item(rs.getString(2), rs.getString(2)));
               JComboBox jcb = new JComboBox(items.toArray());
               // Close connections.
               rs.close();
               sql.close();
               conn.close();
          } catch (SQLException e) {
               e.getStackTrace();
          }