Visibility Problems

Question

Hello everyone. I am relatively new to swing, I've worked with it for less than a month. However, I am not new to Java.
I have an easy problem to resolve and I think I'm doing something basic wrong, so I thought I'd ask for help here.
Consider the following code (an abridged version of what I have):
public class Gui extends JFrame {
    private JScrollPane p2;
    public Gui() {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
              public void run() {
                   buildGUI();
    private void buildGUI() {
    //initialize p2, add components in it
    //due to an event, the following method is invoked
    private void somemethod() {
        p2.setVisible(false);
        //do whatever I need to do
        p2.setVisible(true);
        validate();
}The problem occurs in somemethod(). The component p2 disappears and doesn't reappear. I tried to use repaint() and validate() on the component and the frame, but it was in vain. I also tried running the instructions toward the swing component in the EDT, as suggested by a swing developer; no luck again.
What is it I am doing that's wrong here?
Message was edited by:
pvangarde
I've achieved the effect I desire. Only I have to remove the component from the ContentPane and add it, instead of doing the setVisible shebang. However, I don't like the solution for obvious reasons, and this also disrupts the size of the component.

Answer 1

Post a small demo code that is generally compilable, runnable and could reproduce your problem. See: http://homepage1.nifty.com/algafield/sscce.html
Here's a standard solution for a very common problem:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class Gui extends JFrame {
    private JScrollPane p2;
String text = "For anyone interested in reducing child poverty, there was"
+ " heartening bad news out of Britain last month. In 1999 the Blair"
+ " government introduced an initiative to end child poverty by 2020, with"
+ " an initial goal of cutting it by one-quarter by April of last year."
+ " Recently the government reported that it missed that target: The number"
+ " of children in poverty dropped by \"only\" about 17 percent -- some"
+ " 700,000 kids over the past five years.\n\nIf only we could have such"
+ " problems in this country.\n\nSince 2000 the number of American children"
+ " living in poverty has risen 12 percent -- to 13 million. The initial"
+ " growth was due to the economic downturn. But since then, despite the"
+ " ongoing expansion, the poverty rate for children on this side of the pond"
+ " keeps rising, largely because the benefits of the recovery have flowed"
+ " so disproportionately to families at the top of the income scale.\n\nBut"
+ " in the United Kingdom, the policy-driven focus on reducing child poverty"
+ " has helped to ensure that economic growth is reaching those at the bottom"
+ " of the income scale. Yes, they've missed an interim target, and some parts"
+ " of the plan need rethinking, but they're making progress while we're"
+ " backsliding.\n\nThis all started back in 1999, when Prime Minister Tony"
+ " Blair gave a speech in which he set the goal of eliminating child poverty"
+ " by 2020. As we learned on a recent trip there to see how things were"
+ " unfolding, the officials at the relevant agencies don't claim to know all"
+ " the answers. But with a directive to end poverty in 20 years, they rolled"
+ " up their sleeves and got to work.\n\nMembers of Parliament and the Blair"
+ " government built, and continue to build, a comprehensive system designed"
+ " to boost the incomes of working parents, mainly through subsidies to"
+ " low-wage earners. They raised the minimum wage and have continued to push"
+ " it up regularly.";
    public Gui() {
        setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
           public void run() {
             buildGUI();
    private void buildGUI() {
    //initialize p2, add components in it
      JPanel panel = new JPanel();
      JButton button = new JButton("Do it");
      panel.add(button);
      JTextArea ta = new JTextArea(text);
      ta.setLineWrap(true);
      ta.setWrapStyleWord(true);
      p2 = new JScrollPane(ta);
      add(p2, BorderLayout.CENTER);
      add(panel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
      button.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
          somemethod();
      setSize(300, 300);
      setVisible(true);
    //due to an event, the following method is invoked
    private void somemethod() {
      Thread t = new Thread(){
        public void run(){
          SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
            public void run(){ 
              p2.setVisible(false);
          //do whatever I need to do
          try{
            Thread.sleep(3000);
          catch (InterruptedException ie){
            ie.printStackTrace();
          SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
            public void run(){ 
              p2.setVisible(true);
      t.start();
    public static void main(String[] args){
      new Gui();
}