The [b]instanceof[/b] operator

Question

Hello again world.
Here's the code in question:
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
class InstanceOperator
     public static void main(String args[])
          JButton poo = new JButton();
          if (poo instanceof JComponent)
             System.out.println("It is.");
          else
             System.out.println("It's not.");
}If I change JComponent to Container or Component or Object, I get the string "It is." I am trying to get the string "It's not". However, if I use anything other than something in the JButton ancestral chain - like Window or InstanceOperator - I get the compile error inconvertible types.
I don't understand the usefullness of instanceof if I can only test for direct ancestors. Can anyone explain this with a practical example.
Ciao for now and thanx again one and all.

Answer 1

Demo in code:public class junk{
   public static void main(String[] args) {
        String a = "hello";
        java.awt.Button b  = new java.awt.Button("hello");
        if(checkForType(a).equals("string")) System.out.println("The String has a value of "+a );
        if(checkForType(b).equals("button")) System.out.println("The button has a label of "+b.getLabel() );
   private static String checkForType(Object o){          
       if(o instanceof String) return "string";
       else if(o instanceof java.awt.Button) return "button";
       else return "other object type";
}(and apologies to the OP for my previous mean-ness)