How can I make a JList interact with my database?

Question

I have a list of items that are pulled from a database, it combines the various fields with a rs.getString method to create a longer string of items, this is done in an action button method.

I would like to be able to click on an item in this list and have one of the fields display as text in a textbox, so this needs to be done through the list selection event method where I instruct the program to set the text to my desired value.

My problem is, I am not sure of the logic to follow in order to specify how to retrieve that fields information that will be corresponding to the item that is selected in the list, can you give me any ideas?

Answer 1

Rather the combining the fields into a single String , create a POJO (Plain Old Java Object), which provides getters (and possible setters) for the fields you want and these objects to the ListModel

Use a ListCellRenderer to customise the way which the JList renders the POJO the way you want to. See Writing a Custom Cell Renderer for more details.

When the user selects an item from the list, use JList#getSelectedValue and cast to the same class as your POJO. You can now use the POJO's getters to extract the properties you want to display.

The idea is to generate a self contained unit of work, which, based on what you want to do, you can customise how the object is displayed.

This concept is a corner stone to the separation of data (model) and the UI (view) behind the Model-View-Controller paradigm and OOP generally...