Using a textfield for input from keyboard to cause events

Question

Ok I know very little about java and even less about handling events... I am reciving conflicting information from different sources like webpages and the JDK docs but I so far have this code which compiles but doesn't work. I want it to draw an oval if the user inputs an a.
public boolean Action(Graphics g, Event evt, Object arg){
          boolean a = true;
          if (evt.target instanceof TextField){
               if (evt.target.equals(movement)) {
                    direction = direction();
                    System.out.println(direction);
                    clear();
                    if(direction == "a"){
                         g.setColor(Color.decode(randomHex.Colour()));
                         g.fillOval(10,10,10,10);     
                    }//end if direction
               }//end if target
               else {
                    a = false;
               }//end else
          }//end event target textarea
          return(a);
     }//end action
This of course is only my action method. I look forward to posts that'll help me out. Thx a lot guys.

Answer 1

Assuming that "direction" is a String variable, don't do this:if (direction == "a")Instead, do this:if (direction.equals("a"))Your code tests whether the direction variable and the "a" constant refer to the same String object, which they won't. The revised code tests whether the direction variable contains the same characters as the constant "a".