Trying to pass and object variable to a method

Question

I have yet another question. I'm trying to display my output in succession using a next button. The button works and I get what I want using test results, however what I really want to do is pass it a variable instead of using a set number.
I want to be able to pass the object variables myProduct, myOfficeSupplies, and maxNumber to method actionPerformed so they can be in-turn passed to the displayResults method which is called in the actionPerformed method. Since there is no direct call to actionPerformed because it is called within one of the built in methods, I can't tell it to receive and pass those variables. Is there a way to do it without having to pass them through the built-in methods?
import javax.swing.JToolBar;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import java.net.URL;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
public class Panel extends JPanel implements ActionListener
     protected JTextArea myTextArea;
     protected String newline = "\n";
     static final private String FIRST = "first";
     static final private String PREVIOUS = "previous";
     static final private String NEXT = "next";
     public Panel( Product myProduct, OfficeSupplies myOfficeSupplies, int maxNumber )
             super(new BorderLayout());
          int counter = 0;
             //Create the toolbar.
             JToolBar myToolBar = new JToolBar( "Still draggable" );
             addButtons( myToolBar );
             //Create the text area used for output.
             myTextArea = new JTextArea( 450, 190 );
             myTextArea.setEditable( false );
             JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane( myTextArea );
             //Lay out the main panel.
             setPreferredSize(new Dimension( 450, 190 ));
             add( myToolBar, BorderLayout.PAGE_START );
             add( scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER );
          myTextArea.setText( packageData( myProduct, myOfficeSupplies, counter ) );
          setCounter( counter );
     } // End Constructor
     protected void addButtons( JToolBar myToolBar )
             JButton myButton = null;
             //first button
             myButton = makeNavigationButton( FIRST, "Display first record", "First" );
             myToolBar.add(myButton);
             //second button
             myButton = makeNavigationButton( PREVIOUS, "Display previous record", "Previous" );
             myToolBar.add(myButton);
             //third button
             myButton = makeNavigationButton( NEXT, "Display next record", "Next" );
             myToolBar.add(myButton);
     } //End method addButtons
     protected JButton makeNavigationButton( String actionCommand, String toolTipText, String altText )
             //Create and initialize the button.
             JButton myButton = new JButton();
                 myButton.setActionCommand( actionCommand );
             myButton.setToolTipText( toolTipText );
             myButton.addActionListener( this );
               myButton.setText( altText );
             return myButton;
     } // End makeNavigationButton method
         public void actionPerformed( ActionEvent e )
             String cmd = e.getActionCommand();
             // Handle each button.
          if (FIRST.equals(cmd))
          { // first button clicked
                      int counter = 0;
               setCounter( counter );
             else if (PREVIOUS.equals(cmd))
          { // second button clicked
               counter = getCounter();
                  if ( counter == 0 )
                    counter = 5;  // 5 would be replaced with variable maxNumber
                    setCounter( counter );
               else
                    counter = getCounter() - 1;
                    setCounter( counter );
          else if (NEXT.equals(cmd))
          { // third button clicked
               counter = getCounter();
               if ( counter == 5 )  // 5 would be replaced with variable maxNumber
                    counter = 0;
                    setCounter( counter );
                  else
                    counter = getCounter() + 1;
                    setCounter( counter );
             displayResult( counter );
     } // End method actionPerformed
     private int counter;
     public void setCounter( int number ) // Declare setCounter method
          counter = number; // stores the counter
     } // End setCounter method
     public int getCounter()  // Declares getCounter method
          return counter;
     } // End method getCounter
     protected void displayResult( int counter )
          //Test statement
//                 myTextArea.setText( String.format( "%d", counter ) );
          // How can I carry the myProduct and myOfficeSupplies variables into this method?
          myTextArea.setText( packageData( product, officeSupplies, counter ) );
             myTextArea.setCaretPosition(myTextArea.getDocument().getLength());
         } // End method displayResult
     * Create the GUI and show it.  For thread safety,
     * this method should be invoked from the
     * event dispatch thread.
     public void createAndShowGUI( Product myProduct, OfficeSupplies myOfficeSupplies, int maxNumber )
             //Create and set up the window.
             JFrame frame = new JFrame("Products");
             frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
             //Add content to the window.
             frame.add(new Panel( myProduct, myOfficeSupplies, maxNumber ));
             //Display the window.
             frame.pack();
             frame.setVisible( true );
         } // End method createAndShowGUI
     public void displayData( Product myProduct, OfficeSupplies myOfficeSupplies, int maxNumber )
          JTextArea myTextArea = new JTextArea(); // textarea to display output
          JFrame JFrame = new JFrame( "Products" );
          // For loop to display data array in a single Window
          for ( int counter = 0; counter < maxNumber; counter++ )  // Loop for displaying each product
               myTextArea.append( packageData( myProduct, myOfficeSupplies, counter ) + "\n\n" );
               JFrame.add( myTextArea ); // add textarea to JFrame
          } // End For Loop
          JScrollPane scrollPane = new JScrollPane( myTextArea ); //Creates the JScrollPane
          JFrame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(350, 170)); // Sets the pane size
          JFrame.add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER); // adds scrollpane to JFrame
          JFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation( JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE ); // Sets program to exit on close
          JFrame.setSize( 350, 170 ); // set frame size
          JFrame.setVisible( true ); // display frame
     } // End method displayData
     public String packageData( Product myProduct, OfficeSupplies myOfficeSupplies, int counter ) // Method for formatting output
          return String.format( "%s: %d\n%s: %s\n%s: %s\n%s: %s\n%s: $%.2f\n%s: $%.2f\n%s: $%.2f\n%s: $%.2f",
          "Product Number", myOfficeSupplies.getProductNumber( counter ),
          "Product Name", myOfficeSupplies.getProductName( counter ),
          "Product Brand",myProduct.getProductBrand( counter ),
          "Number of Units in stock", myOfficeSupplies.getNumberUnits( counter ),
          "Price per Unit", myOfficeSupplies.getUnitPrice( counter ),
          "Total Value of Item in Stock is", myOfficeSupplies.getProductValue( counter ),
          "Restock charge for this product is", myProduct.restockingFee( myOfficeSupplies.getProductValue( counter ) ),
          "Total Value of Inventory plus restocking fee", myOfficeSupplies.getProductValue( counter )+
               myProduct.restockingFee( myOfficeSupplies.getProductValue( counter ) ) );
     } // end method packageData
} //End Class Panel

Answer 1

multarnc wrote:
My instructor has not been very forthcoming with assistance to her students leaving us to figure it out on our own.Aren't they all the same! Makes one wonder why they are called instructors. <sarcasm/>
Of course it's highly likely that enough information was imparted for any sincere, reasonably intelligent student to actually figure it out, and learn the subject in the process.
And if everything were spoonfed, how would one grade the performance of the students? Have them recite from memory
public class HelloWorld left-brace
indent public static void main left-parenthesis String left-bracket right-bracket args right-parenthesis left-brace
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go
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