string cannot be converted to component

Question

i don't know what;s goin on, please help me master

private void btn_sendActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {                                         
    try {
        server_writer.write(cmb_server.getSelectedItem() + ":" +txt_chat.getText());
        server_writer.newLine();
        server_writer.flush();
    } catch (IOException ex){
        System.out.println("Failed");
    }

    list_chat.add("Me : " + txt_chat.getText()); // ERROR
    txt_chat.setText("");
}

*Note : App chatting with Jlist(Client-Server)

@YoungMillie that's the "Oh no, SO has a minimum question length. But wait, I have an idea..." — Boris the Spider, Dec 28 '16 at 10:16

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:46

Assuming that list_chat is a JList, the error tells you that you should add a Component instead of a String when using the add() method. See the API documentation.

I think you want to add elements to the list, the way it's explained in the answer to this question: Adding elements to a JList (but that's only a guess, you're question isn't clear).

What happens when you replace the line that causes the error with:

list_chat.addElement("Me : " + txt_chat.getText());

I think that should work.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 28 '16 at 10:17

Guessing: list_chat is some sort of UI element that has a method [add()][1] that expects some JComponent as argument.

But this here:

"Me : " + txt_chat.getText()

results in a String object. A String is not a UI component.

And that is what the compiler is telling you. So the real answer here is: learn to read those compiler messages. They tell you exactly what the problem is ...

string cannot be converted to component

2 Answers2