paintComponent is not reading my private variables

Just to simplify, I'll leave out the details to my code:

Code :

---

public class Theclass{
 
private short a,b;
 
public Theclass(short a,short b){
}
 
public void paintComponent(Graphics g){
super.paintComponent(g)
System.out.println("a: "+a+" and b: "+b);//outputs: "a: 0 and b: 0"
}
 
public static void main(String[]args){
a=10;
b=5;
Theclass tc=new TheClass(a,b);
}
}

---

So why isn't my paintComponent reading these 2 variables? It draws other things. I'm guessing it's being called before main is called. How do i get it to run when i want it to, aka after the required variables and methods have been run so it knows what to do?

You left out so many details that your code is uncompilable.

What's the point of a constructor that takes two arguments and doesn't do anything with them? Recommended reading: Providing Constructors for Your Classes (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Classes and Objects)

db

sorry i didn't think the code would be enough, but I figured it out.