JTextArea not visable!

[rosishere]

So, i am new to java, and i just figured out how to position JPanles.

I tought that making a text editing program would be a good start.
But my problem is that wen i position my JPanel holding my JTextArea it just disapears.
i use a JButton called Test to check where the edge of my JPanels are and it worked fine for all the things i have done so far, but this time it just disapeared.
Here is a link to a picture: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/90315377/Pr...roblems/JP.png

i show 2 JFrames, 1 with the test button and 1 with the textarea (that disapears).

to make things clear, incase people don't understand my bad english :
the TextArea is not there and i have no clue why its not there so can anyone please point me at what i have done wrong.

[KevinWorkman]

The best way to get help is to provide an SSCCE that demonstrates exactly what's going on. I am behind a firewall that blocks dropbox, so runnable code is the best way to demonstrate the problem and get help.

[rosishere]

So, i am new to java, and i just figured out how to position JPanles.

I tought that making a text editing program would be a good start.
But my problem is that wen i position my JPanel holding my JTextArea it just disapears.
i use a JButton called Test to check where the edge of my JPanels are and it worked fine for all the things i have done so far, but this time it just disapeared.
Here is a link to a picture: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/90315377/Pr...roblems/JP.png

i show 2 JFrames, 1 with the test button and 1 with the textarea (that disapears).

to make things clear, incase people don't understand my bad english :
the TextArea is not there and i have no clue why its not there so can anyone please point me at what i have done wrong.

Here is the code


import javax.swing.*;


public class Mainframe {

public static void main (String []args){

//creating JFrame
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test Gui v.2");

//creating JPanels
JPanel p1 = new JPanel();
JPanel p2 = new JPanel();
JPanel p3 = new JPanel();

//creating JButtons for loading saving
JButton b1 = new JButton("Save(b1)");
JButton b2 = new JButton("Load(b2)");

JButton Test = new JButton("Testing location!");

//creating JTextArea
JTextArea ta = new JTextArea();

//adding settings to JFrame
frame.setSize(500, 600);
frame.setLayout(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.setResizable(false);
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOS E);

//positioning JPanels (p1 and p2) on JFrame (frame)
p1.setBounds(-20, -5, 125, 32);
p2.setBounds(60, -5, 125, 32);
p3.setBounds(-160, 25, 495, 595);

//adding JButtons (b1 and b2) to JPanels (p1 and p2)
p1.add(b1);
p2.add(b2);

//adding ta to p3
p3.add(ta);

//adding JPannels (p1, p2 and p3) to JFrame (frame)
frame.add(p1);
frame.add(p2);
frame.add(p3);
}

}

[KevinWorkman]

When posting code, please use the code tags to preserve formatting.

You're going to want to use a layout manager. Setting the bounds on components is almost never a good idea, which is probably contributing to your problem here. Recommended reading: Lesson: Laying Out Components Within a Container (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing)

[Ronin]

Hi rosishere,

The JTextArea does not have a size by default, this can be corrected by calling the setPreferredSize() method of JTextArea.

Edit: I would also like to second KevinWorkman suggestion on layout managers.

Regards.

[KevinWorkman]

Hi rosishere,

The JTextArea does not have a size by default, this can be corrected by calling the setPreferredSize() method of JTextArea.

Regards.

Or better yet, using a layout manager.

[Ronin]

Or better yet, using a layout manager.

Definately the way to go. I assumed the OP had a reason for hardcoding the locations though it can cause a world of pain when resizing.