Using getter/setter for returing a string variable to display on an Applet

Question

have two classes called, class A and class testA.
class A contains an instance variable called title and one getter & setter method. class A as follow.
public class A extends Applet implements Runnable, KeyListener
     //Use setter and getter of the instance variable
     private String title;
     public void init()
          ASpriteFactory spriteFactory = ASpriteFactory.getSingleton();
          // Find the size of the screen .
          Dimension theDimension = getSize();
          width = theDimension.width;
          height = theDimension.height;
          //Create new ship
          ship = spriteFactory.createNewShip();
          fwdThruster = spriteFactory.createForwardThruster();
          revThruster = spriteFactory.createReverseThruster();
          ufo = spriteFactory.createUfo();
          missile = spriteFactory.createMissile();
          generateStars();
          generatePhotons();
          generateAsteroids();
          generateExplosions();
          initializeFonts();
          initializeGameData();
          //Example from Instructor
          //setMyControlPanel( new MyControlPanel(this) );
          // new for JDK 1.2.2
          addKeyListener(this);
          requestFocus();
     public void update(Graphics theGraphics)
          // Create the offscreen graphics context, if no good one exists.
          if (offGraphics == null || width != offDimension.width || height != offDimension.height)
               // This better be the same as when the game was started
               offDimension = getSize();
               offImage = createImage(offDimension.width, offDimension.height);
               offGraphics = offImage.getGraphics();
               offGraphics.setFont(font);
          displayStars();
          displayPhotons();
          displayMissile();
          displayAsteroids();
          displayUfo();
          //displayShip();
          //Load the game with different color of the space ship          
          displayNewShip();
          displayExplosions();
          displayStatus();
          displayInfoScreen();
          // Copy the off screen buffer to the screen.
          theGraphics.drawImage(offImage, 0, 0, this);
     private void displayInfoScreen()
          String message;
          if (!playing)
               offGraphics.setColor(Color.white);
               offGraphics.drawString("\'A\' to Change Font Attribute", 25, 35);
               offGraphics.drawString(getTitle(), (width - fontMetrics.stringWidth(message)) / 2, height / 2
                         - fontHeight);
               message = "The Training Mission";
               offGraphics.drawString(message, (width - fontMetrics.stringWidth(message)) / 2, height / 2);
               message = "Name of Author";
               offGraphics.drawString(message, (width - fontMetrics.stringWidth(message)) / 2, height / 2
                         + fontHeight);
               message = "Original Copyright 1998-1999 by Mike Hall";
               offGraphics.drawString(message, (width - fontMetrics.stringWidth(message)) / 2, height / 2
                         + (fontHeight * 2));
               if (!loaded)
                    message = "Loading sounds...";
                    int barWidth = 4 * fontWidth + fontMetrics.stringWidth(message);
                    int barHeight = fontHeight;
                    int startX = (width - barWidth) / 2;
                    int startY = 3 * height / 4 - fontMetrics.getMaxAscent();
                    offGraphics.setColor(Color.black);
                    offGraphics.fillRect(startX, startY, barWidth, barHeight);
                    offGraphics.setColor(Color.gray);
                    if (clipTotal > 0)
                         offGraphics.fillRect(startX, startY, (barWidth * clipsLoaded / clipTotal), barHeight);
                    offGraphics.setColor(Color.white);
                    offGraphics.drawRect(startX, startY, barWidth, barHeight);
                    offGraphics
                              .drawString(message, startX + 2 * fontWidth, startY + fontMetrics.getMaxAscent());
               else
                    message = "Game Over";
                    offGraphics.drawString(message, (width - fontMetrics.stringWidth(message)) / 2, height / 4);
                    message = "'S' to Start";
                    offGraphics.drawString(message, (width - fontMetrics.stringWidth(message)) / 2, height / 4
                              + fontHeight);
          else if (paused)
               offGraphics.setColor(Color.white);
               message = "Game Paused";
               offGraphics.drawString(message, (width - fontMetrics.stringWidth(message)) / 2, height / 4);
     public String getTitle() {
          System.out.print(title);
          return title;
     public void setTitle(String title) {
          this.title = title;
}displayInfoScreen method in class A calls out for getTitle( ) to be displayed on an applet as an initial display string for the application.
The instance variable title is set by setTitle method which is called out in class testA as follow,
public class testA extends TestCase
      * testASprite constructor comment.
      * @param name
      *          java.lang.String
     public testA(String name)
          super(name);
      * Insert the method's description here.
      * @param args
      *          java.lang.String[]
     public static void main(String[] args)
          junit.textui.TestRunner.run(suite());
          // need to figure out how to get rid of the frame in this test
          System.exit(0);
     public static Test suite()
          return new TestSuite(testA.class);
      * Basic create and simple checks
     public void testCreate()
          A theGame = new A();
          assertNotNull("game was null!", theGame);
      * Basic create and simple checks
     public void testInit()
          A theGame = new A();
          Frame gameFrame = new Frame("THE GAME");
          gameFrame.add(theGame);
          int width = 640;
          int height = 480;
          gameFrame.setSize(width, height);
          // must pack to get graphics peer
          gameFrame.pack();
          theGame.resize(width, height);
          theGame.setTitle("TEST THE GAME");
          theGame.init();
          assertEquals("ASprite width not set", A.width, width);
          gameFrame.dispose();
          gameFrame.remove(theGame);
}Basically, class testA invokes the init( ) method in class A and start the applet application. However, it displays a white blank display. If I change the getTitle( ) in the displayInfoScreen method to a fixed string, it works fine. Did I forget anything as far as using getter & setter method? Do I have to specify some type of handle to sync between setter and getter between two classes? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Your class A extends runnable which leads me to believe that this is a multi-threaded application. In that case, title may or may not be a shared variable. Who knows? It's impossible to tell from what you posted.
Anyway, what is happening is that your applet is being painted by the JFrame before setTitle is called. After that, who knows what's happening. It's a complicated application. I suspect that if you called setTitle before you added the applet to the frame, it would work.