Thread: Please Help?

Most here prefer to code what you've done so far "by hand" rather than using Netbeans' GUI Builder. Your question isn't really "How do I code this in Java?" but "How do I use the GUI Builder?" and not many here can or will help with that, because it's not a Java question.

Someone able to help may come along, but don't be surprised if the responses are few.

Thank you. That's what I figured. I may just do it by hand since the GUI builder confuses me.

--- Update ---

Originally Posted by GregBrannon

Most here prefer to code what you've done so far "by hand" rather than using Netbeans' GUI Builder. Your question isn't really "How do I code this in Java?" but "How do I use the GUI Builder?" and not many here can or will help with that, because it's not a Java question.

Someone able to help may come along, but don't be surprised if the responses are few.

Ok, I went ahead and got rid of the stuff I did with the Netbeans GUI builder. I re-did it by hand. Hopefully someone can help me.

And I should have requested that in the future you write better thread titles. Everyone wants help but no one will find this topic by searching for "contact list app" or similarly useful searches because your thread title won't support it.

That took some effort. Good job. I've noticed some things in the code I'd recommend you change, but let's work on your questions first.

1) Using ArrayList to add contact info. I recommend you create another class to contain the contact info. (For discussion, I'll call it ContactInfo.) It'd be real simple, just a couple fields: name and phoneNumber. Then when the add contact button is pressed, the info from the text fields will be used to create a new instance of ContactInfo and the new instance will be added to an ArrayList<ContactInfo>. The code pieces you'll need include the following (not necessarily in the right order, place, or using the correct names):

// an ArrayList to hold ContactInfo objects
List<ContactInfo> contactInfoList;
 
// then in the constructor
contactInfoList = new ArrayList<ContactInfo>();
 
// then when the add contacts button is pressed
contactInfoList.add( new ContactInfo( nameTextField.getText(), phoneTextField.getText() ) );

2. Scrolling through ArrayList with Next/Back buttons: This might be easier to imagine using a simple Array as an example: create a new field, int currentIndex, initialize it to zero. Assuming each new contact is displayed on the right side of your GUI when it is created, increment currentIndex and display the name and phone number on the right side each time a new contact is added. Then when next is pressed, currentIndex is incremented, the object from the array at the new currentIndex is retrieved, and the name/phoneNumber from that object is displayed in the text fields on the right side. The code will react similarly when the back button is pressed, but the currentIndex is decremented. In a simple Array, you would have to wrap from index 0 to the end of the array when back is pressed and from the end of the array to index 0 when next is pressed. Using an ArrayList of ContactInfo objects is similar to using an Array, but different. Start by reading the ArrayList API page for the available methods, code what you can, and then come back for help. You'll also have to "reset" the currentIndex to the next available ArrayList<ContactInfo> index each time the add contact button is pressed, but that's getting into the finer (but important) details.

That's enough to think about and work on for now.

Thanks for the help! It's starting to make sense. I'm a little confused about creating another class for ContactInfo.

Would I do something like:

public class ContactInfo
{
nameJTextField;
phoneJTextField;
}

The ContactInfo class looks more like:

public class ContactInfo
{
    private String name;
    private String phoneNumber;
 
    // a constructor that accepts name and phone number parameters
 
 
    // appropriate getters and setters
 
} // end class ContactInfo

I really appreciate your help, Greg. I'm beginning to understand this better.

So I created the new public class for ContactInfo. I now have two files, my original Contacts.java and ContactInfo.java. That sound right?

Here's what I did with ContactInfo

public class ContactInfo {
    private String name;
    private String phoneNumber;
 
    public final void setName( String n )
    {
        name = n;
    }
 
    public void setPhone (String p)
    {
        phoneNumber = p;
    }
 
    public String getName( )
    {
        return name;
    }
 
    public String getPhone( )
    {
        return phoneNumber;
    }
 
    public ContactInfo (String n, String p)
    {
        setName(n);
        setPhone(p);
    }
 
}

I'm still not sure where I would insert the arraylist syntax you suggested.

// an ArrayList to hold ContactInfo objects
List<ContactInfo> contactInfoList;
 
// then in the constructor
contactInfoList = new ArrayList<ContactInfo>();

I tried this to add the ArrayList but it's not working either:

    private String[] contacts = {"name", "phone"};
    private Contact newContact;
    private ArrayList contactsArrayList = new ArrayList();
    private int position = 0;

Here's my Add Contact button:

private void addContactJButtonActionPerformed( ActionEvent event )
   {
 
        String inputName = nameJTextField.getText();
        String inputPhone = phoneJTextField.getText();
        contactNameJTextField.setText(inputName);
        contactPhoneJTextField.setText(inputPhone);
        contactsArrayList.add( new ContactInfo ( nameJTextField.getText(), phoneJTextField.getText() ) );
 
 
   }

Here's what I did with the back and next buttons to scroll through contacts added to the ArrayList. They're not doing anything right now because I don't think anything is being added to the ArrayList.

private void backJButtonActionPerformed (ActionEvent event)
   {
      if (position > 0)
      {
          position--;
      }
      else
      {
          position = contactsArrayList.size() -1;
      }
   }
 
   private void nextJButtonActionPerformed (ActionEvent event)
   {
      if (position < contactsArrayList.size() -1)
      {
          position++;
      }
      else
      {
          position = 0;
      }
 
   }

This is an unorthodox constructor:

public ContactInfo (String n, String p)
{
    setName(n);
    setPhone(p);
}

This is an orthodox constructor:

public ContactInfo (String name, String phoneNumber)
{
    this.name = name;
    this.phoneNumber = phoneNumber;
}

I don't see where you're obtaining the name and phoneNumber from the contactInfo instance stored in the ArrayList pointed to by the currentIndex and setting the text fields to those values. It should be something like (fix the textfield names to those on the right):
(untested code, but close
nameTextField.setText( contactList.get( currentIndex ).getName() );
phoneNumberTextField.setText( contactList.get( currentIndex ).getPhoneNumber() );