Using JTextArea - How do I clear it?

Question

Hi all.
I have written a GUI program which transfers data from a method to a JTextArea/JScrollPane upon a button ActionEvent.
When I press the "Next Record" button I want to be able to clear the previous details held in this JTextArea before I print the new ones in it. The Same for going backwards through an array. Does anybody know how to do this?
Currently I am using the append method to add the returned String to my JTextArea. I have also tried using a replaceRange(String, int, int) method to clear the box before printing new details, but this isn't working properly as each Record in the array contains a different String length, so I can not enter the int values for each specific object.
Below is the code for the application, and I've highlighted where I have used the methods to add a String to the JTextArea. I'm declaring the class for the action event within creating the actionListener, but can seperate it out if people need to see it more clearly.
RECORDING CLASS ----------
package RecordingManagerGUI;
public class Recording
private String title, artist, genre;
     public Recording (String theTitle, String theArtist, String theGenre)
          title = theTitle;
          artist = theArtist;
          genre = theGenre;
        public String getAlbum()
            return title;
        public String getArtist()
            return artist;
        public String getGenre()
            return genre;
     public String toString()
          String s = "Title: " + title + "\nArtist: " + artist + "\nGenre: " + genre + "\n\n";
          return s;
}MANAGER CLASS ---------------
package RecordingManagerGUI;
import java.util.*;
public class Manager
private Recording[] theRecordings;
private int numRecordings, maxRecordings, age;
private String managerName;
//Extending the Manager Class Instance Variables
private int current = 0;
private String record;
     public Manager (String theName, int theAge, int max)
          managerName = theName;
                age = theAge;
          maxRecordings = max;
          numRecordings = 0;
          theRecordings = new Recording[maxRecordings];
     public boolean addRecording (Recording newRecording)
          if (numRecordings == maxRecordings)
               System.out.println("The store is full");
               return false;
          else
               theRecordings[numRecordings] = newRecording;
               numRecordings++;
               return true;
        public int nextRecording ()
            if(current < numRecordings)
                current += 1;
            else
                record = "You have reached the end of the Records"; //initialise the string if no records
            return current;
        public int previousRecording()
            if(current > 1)
                current -= 1;
            else
                record = "You have reached the start of the Records"; //initialise the string if no records
            return current;
        public String displayCurrent()
            String displayRec = "";
            displayRec += theRecordings[current-1];
            return displayRec;
     public void displayDetails()
          System.out.println("Manager Name: " + managerName + ", " + age);
     //public void displayRecordings()
     //     System.out.println("\nThe Recordings: ");
     //     for (int i = 0; i < numRecordings; ++i)
     //          System.out.println(theRecordings);
}RecordingManagerGUI CLASS ----------/*
*Need to add a Label which tells me when I have reached the end of the Records
package RecordingManagerGUI;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class RecordingManagerGUI extends JFrame {
* Create the GUI and show it. For thread safety,
* this method should be invoked from the
* event-dispatching thread.
JButton nextRecord;
JButton previousRecord;
JLabel recordLabel;
JTextArea displayRecord;
Manager theManager;
public RecordingManagerGUI() {
//Create and set up the window.
super("Recording Manager Application");
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Recording FooFighters = new Recording("The Colour and the Shape", "Foo Fighters", "Rock");
Recording BlindMelon = new Recording("Blind Melon", "Blind Melon", "Alternative Rock");
Recording JoeSatriani = new Recording("The Extremist", "Joe Satriani", "Instrumental Rock");
Recording PercySledge = new Recording("When a Man Loves a Woman", "Percy Sledge", "Soul");
Recording JustinTimberlake = new Recording("Justified", "Justin Timberlake", "Pop");
Recording BeyonceKnowles = new Recording("Dangerously in Love", "Beyonce Knowles", "R'n'B");
Recording TupacShakur = new Recording("2Pacalypse Now", "Tupac Shakur", "Hip Hop");
theManager = new Manager("Cathy", 42, 7);
theManager.addRecording(FooFighters);
theManager.addRecording(BlindMelon);
theManager.addRecording(JoeSatriani);
theManager.addRecording(PercySledge);
theManager.addRecording(JustinTimberlake);
theManager.addRecording(BeyonceKnowles);
theManager.addRecording(TupacShakur);
displayRecord = new JTextArea(10, 30);
displayRecord.setEditable(false);
JScrollPane recordScroll = new JScrollPane(displayRecord);
recordLabel = new JLabel("Record Details");
nextRecord = new JButton("Next Record");
nextRecord.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){theManager.nextRecording();displayRecord.append(theManager.displayCurrent());displayRecord.replaceRange(theManager.displayCurrent(), 0, 30);}}); //ADDING STRING TO JTEXTAREA
previousRecord = new JButton("Previous Record");
previousRecord.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){theManager.previousRecording();displayRecord.replaceRange(theManager.displayCurrent(), 0, 30);}}); //ADDING STRING TO JTEXTAREA
getContentPane().setLayout(new FlowLayout());
getContentPane().add(recordLabel);
getContentPane().add(recordScroll);
getContentPane().add(nextRecord);
getContentPane().add(previousRecord);
//Display the window.
pack();
setVisible(true);
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Schedule a job for the event-dispatching thread:
//creating and showing this application's GUI.
new RecordingManagerGUI();
}Would appreciate any help thanks. I'm not sure if I just need to create a new instance of the JTextArea upon the event which would hold the String information. If so I'm not really sure how to do this.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Answer 1

I don't know, the Swing experts are in the Swing forum. but setText() is defined in TextComponent, which a JTextArea is.