Value from JDialog to another class

Question

Hi:
I have a trouble with getting my values from a JDialog box to another class.
Here's what I have:
This is an ftp application. I have a main frame where if the user selects File->New Connection
it pops up a Connect dialog box. The connect dialog box has various fields such as profile name, host address, user name, and so on. In addition, there are three buttons, Add, Connect and Cancel.
After the user types info and clicks Connect, all these information should be sent to the main frame from where it would send the information to another class which would connect to the ftp server.
I have a class called Profile which is used to wrap these information to be sent to the main frame.
Now, how can i get this info to the main frame? Here's the code in main frame:
class MainFrame extends JFrame {
JMenuItem newconnection = new JMenuItem("New Connection", 'N');
newconnection.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
Profile p = new Profile();
ConnectDialog con = new ConnectDialog();
p = con.getProfile();
makeNewConnection(p); //this is the method i use to make a new connection
The problem is that by the time i get to the line p = con.getProfile(),
con object no longer exists.
Should i use threads or should i just send the main frame as the parameter to create the Connect dialog. If i use threads, how should i code it, and if i use main frame as the parent frame for connect dialog, how do i get the info to main frame. Please help. Here's the code for ConnectDialog. Also, please advice if ConnectDialog code can be improved since i am new to swing. Thanks for helping a needy student.
public class ConnectDialog extends JDialog{
private MainFrame parent;
private String defaultDownloadPath;
private static Profile currProfile;
private JList profileList;
private JPanel listPanel;
private JPanel infoPanel;
private JPanel labelPanel;
private JPanel buttonPanel;
private JPanel arrangedComponents;
private Vector data;
private JLabel ProfileName;
private JLabel HostAddress;
private JLabel Account;
private JLabel PortNo;
private JLabel login;
private JLabel password;
private JLabel DownLoadPath;
private JButton addButton;
private JButton cancelButton;
private JButton connectButton;
private JButton browseButton;
private JButton clearButton;
private JLabel Anonymous;
private JCheckBox anonymous;
private JTextField profileName;
private JTextField hostAddress;
private JTextField account;
private JTextField portNo;
private JTextField loginName;
private JTextField passwd;
private JTextField downloadPath;
private final int textSize = 20;
private final int fontSize = 12;
private Container cp;
public ConnectDialog(MainFrame main) {
super(main, true);
parent = main;
data = new Vector();
currProfile = new Profile();
profileList = new JList(data);
listPanel = new JPanel();
labelPanel = new JPanel();
infoPanel = new JPanel();
buttonPanel = new JPanel();
arrangedComponents = new JPanel();
ProfileName = new JLabel("Profile Name:");
ProfileName.setForeground(Color.black);
HostAddress = new JLabel("Host Address:");
HostAddress.setForeground(Color.black);
Account = new JLabel("Account:");
Account.setForeground(Color.black);
PortNo = new JLabel("Port:");
PortNo.setForeground(Color.black);
login = new JLabel("Login:");
login.setForeground(Color.black);
password = new JLabel("Password:");
password.setForeground(Color.black);
DownLoadPath = new JLabel("Download Path:");
DownLoadPath.setForeground(Color.black);
addButton = new JButton("Add");
addButton.setMnemonic('A');
addButton.setForeground(Color.black);
cancelButton = new JButton("Cancel");
cancelButton.setForeground(Color.black);
clearButton = new JButton("Clear");
clearButton.setForeground(Color.black);
connectButton = new JButton("Connect");
connectButton.setForeground(Color.black);
connectButton.setMnemonic('C');
browseButton = new JButton("Browse");
browseButton.setForeground(Color.black);
browseButton.setMnemonic('B');
Anonymous = new JLabel("Anonymous: ");
Anonymous.setForeground(Color.black);
anonymous = new JCheckBox();
profileName = new JTextField(textSize);
profileName.setText("");
profileName.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLoweredBevelBorder());
profileName.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
profileName.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.PLAIN,fontSize));
hostAddress = new JTextField(textSize);
hostAddress.setText("");
hostAddress.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
hostAddress.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
hostAddress.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.PLAIN,fontSize));
account = new JTextField(textSize);
account.setText("");
account.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLoweredBevelBorder());
account.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
account.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.PLAIN,fontSize));
portNo = new JTextField(5);
portNo.setText("");
portNo.setText("21");
portNo.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
portNo.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
portNo.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.PLAIN,fontSize));
loginName = new JTextField(textSize);
loginName.setText("");
loginName.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
loginName.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
loginName.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.PLAIN,fontSize));
passwd = new JTextField(textSize);
passwd.setText("");
passwd.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
passwd.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
passwd.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.PLAIN,fontSize));
downloadPath = new JTextField(textSize);
downloadPath.setText("");
downloadPath.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
downloadPath.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
downloadPath.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.PLAIN,fontSize));
cp = this.getContentPane();
this.setBounds(200,200,600,300);
this.setResizable(false);
cp.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
setListPanel();
setLabelPanel();
setButtonPanel();
setActionListeners();
this.setBackground(Color.lightGray);
this.setVisible(true);
this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JDialog.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
public String getDefaultDownloadPath() {
return defaultDownloadPath;
// public Profile getProfile() {
// try {
// this.wait();
// } catch (Exception e) {}
// return currProfile;
public void setListPanel() {
profileList.setFont(new Font("Dialog", Font.PLAIN, 12));
profileList.setBackground(Color.white);
profileList.setForeground(Color.black);
profileList.setPrototypeCellValue("MMMMMMMMM");
listPanel.setPreferredSize(profileList.getPreferredScrollableViewportSize());
listPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
listPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
listPanel.setBackground(Color.white);
listPanel.add(profileList);
cp.add(listPanel, "West");
public void setLabelPanel() {
arrangedComponents = new JPanel();
arrangedComponents.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
labelPanel = new JPanel();
labelPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(labelPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
labelPanel.setAlignmentX(JPanel.LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
JPanel row1 = new JPanel();
row1.add(ProfileName);
labelPanel.add(row1);
JPanel row2 = new JPanel();
row2.add(HostAddress);
labelPanel.add(row2);
JPanel row3 = new JPanel();
row3.add(Account);
labelPanel.add(row3);
JPanel row4 = new JPanel();
row4.add(PortNo);
labelPanel.add(row4);
JPanel row5 = new JPanel();
row5.add(login);
labelPanel.add(row5);
JPanel row6 = new JPanel();
row6.add(password);
labelPanel.add(row6);
JPanel row7 = new JPanel();
row7.add(DownLoadPath);
labelPanel.add(row7);
infoPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(infoPanel,BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
infoPanel.setAlignmentX(JPanel.LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
row1 = new JPanel();
row1.add(profileName);
row1.add(profileName);
infoPanel.add(row1);
row2 = new JPanel();
row2.add(hostAddress);
row2.add(hostAddress);
infoPanel.add(row2);
row3 = new JPanel();
row3.add(account);
infoPanel.add(row3);
row4 = new JPanel();
row4.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
row4.add(portNo);
row4.add(Box.createHorizontalStrut(57));
row4.add(Anonymous);
row4.add(anonymous);
infoPanel.add(row4);
row5 = new JPanel();
row5.add(loginName);
infoPanel.add(row5);
row6 = new JPanel();
row6.add(passwd);
infoPanel.add(row6);
row7 = new JPanel();
row7.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
row7.add(downloadPath);
row7.add(browseButton);
infoPanel.add(row7);
arrangedComponents.add(labelPanel, "West");
arrangedComponents.add(infoPanel, "Center");
cp.add(arrangedComponents, "Center");
public void setButtonPanel() {
buttonPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
buttonPanel.add(addButton);
buttonPanel.add(connectButton);
buttonPanel.add(cancelButton);
buttonPanel.add(clearButton);
cp.add(buttonPanel, "South");
public void setActionListeners() {
anonymous.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
     if(anonymous.isSelected()) {
     loginName.setText("anonymous");
     passwd.setText("your email here");
     else {
     loginName.setText("");
     passwd.setText("");
addButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
     if(profileName.getText() != "" && !data.contains(profileName.getText())){
     data.add(profileName.getText());
     profileList.setListData(data);
connectButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
     connectButtonPressed();
cancelButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
     JButton b = (JButton) e.getSource();
     ConnectDialog c = (ConnectDialog) b.getTopLevelAncestor();
     c.dispose();
clearButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
     profileName.setText("");
     hostAddress.setText("");
     account.setText("");
     portNo.setText("");
     loginName.setText("");
     passwd.setText("");
     downloadPath.setText("");
browseButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
     JFrame browseFrame = new JFrame("browse for folder");
     browseFrame.setBounds(230,230,200,200);
     JDirectoryChooser fileChooser = new JDirectoryChooser();
     fileChooser.setFileSelectionMode(JDirectoryChooser.DIRECTORIES_ONLY);
     int option = fileChooser.showDialog(browseFrame);
     if(option==JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
     File f = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
     defaultDownloadPath = f.getAbsolutePath();
     downloadPath.setText(defaultDownloadPath);
public void connectButtonPressed() {
if(!profileName.getText().equals("") && !hostAddress.getText().equals("") &&
!loginName.getText().equals("") && !passwd.getText().equals("")) {
currProfile.setProfileName(profileName.getText());
currProfile.setHostAddress(hostAddress.getText());
currProfile.setAcct(account.getText());
currProfile.setUserName(loginName.getText());
currProfile.setPassword(passwd.getText());
currProfile.setDownloadPath(downloadPath.getText());
parent.setProfile(currProfile);
this.dispose();
else {
JFrame f = new JFrame("Error!");
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(f, "Some fields empty!", "", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
}

Answer 1

If the dialog is modal then you can just call show and wait for it to close by the user, then grab the info:
ConnectDialog dialog = new ConnectDialog();
dialog .show();
Profile profile = con.getProfile();
makeNewConnection( profile );