Search Term Program Problem

I am having a problem with the output of my term searching program. When I run the program, it seems to work okay but the problem is that when i search a term that is in the ArrayList position of 3 for example, the position outputs 0 instead. It is almost as if the position counter is not increasing inside the loop. If anyone can help me out I would appreciate it.

Code :

---

package searcher;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.*;
/**
 *
 * @author Shane
 */
public class Searcher {
 
    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
 
        //Get terms
        ArrayList<String> terms = getTerms();
 
        String searchTerm = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Please enter a search term.");
        int position = 0;
        boolean found = false;
        while (position < terms.size() && !found){
            if (terms.contains(searchTerm)){
                found = true;
            }else{
                position++;
            }
        }
        if (found){
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "String " + searchTerm + " found at position " + position + ".");
        }else{
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "String " + searchTerm + " not found.");
        }
 
 
 
    }
 
    public static ArrayList<String> getTerms(){
        ArrayList<String> terms = new ArrayList();
        String words;
        do{
            words = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Please enter words one at a time.\nWhen finished, leave input field blank and press enter.");
            if(!words.equalsIgnoreCase("")){
                terms.add(words);
            }
        }while(!words.equalsIgnoreCase(""));
        return terms;
    }
}

---

If the List contains the element you are searching for, then terms.contains will always return true. Why not use indexOf instead?

Thanks copeg, that's what I was missing! It runs perfectly now and outputs exactly what it's supposed to. :) Here is the updated code:

Code :

---

package searcher;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.*;
/**
 *
 * @author Shane
 */
public class Searcher {
 
    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
 
        //Get terms
        ArrayList<String> terms = getTerms();
 
        String searchTerm = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Please enter a search term.");
        int position = 0;
        boolean found = false;
        while (position < terms.size() && !found){
            if (terms.contains(searchTerm)){
                found = true;
                position = terms.indexOf(searchTerm);
                break;
            }else{
                position++;
            }
        }
        if (found){
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "String " + searchTerm + " found at position " + position + ".");
        }else{
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "String " + searchTerm + " not found.");
        }
 
 
 
    }
 
    public static ArrayList<String> getTerms(){
        ArrayList<String> terms = new ArrayList();
        String words;
        do{
            words = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Please enter words one at a time.\nWhen finished, leave input field blank and press enter.");
            if(!words.equalsIgnoreCase("")){
                terms.add(words);
            }
        }while(!words.equalsIgnoreCase(""));
        return terms;
    }
}

---