Develop Reference

Menu Bar GUI Application

My menuBar isn't showing. Do I need the JPanel for it to show in my GUI?
private void buildCtrlPanel() {
ctrlPanel = new JPanel();
menuBar = new JMenuBar();
fileMenu = new JMenu("File");
optionsMenu = new JMenu("Options");
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setJMenuBar(menuBar);
frame.setSize(350, 250);
frame.setVisible(true);
ctrlPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
ctrlPanel.add(menuBar);
ctrlPanel.add(frame);
menuBar.add(fileMenu);
menuBar.add(optionsMenu);
}

You can only add a component to one container. You've added the JMenuBar appropriately to the JFrame -- fine, but then you also add it incorrectly to a JPanel (why?) one that uses a FlowLayout, layouts that don't work well with JMenuBars (again why?). Solution: don't do that. Add it to the JFrame as you're already doing, and leave it be.
You also seem to be adding a JFrame to a JPanel -- something that you shouldn't be doing, and again which suggests that you will want to go through the Swing tutorials before proceding further.
You can find links to the Swing tutorials and to other Swing resources here: Swing Info
The Swing menu tutorial can be found here: How to use Menus

Displaying a JFrame as the result of a JButton click?

I am trying to create a JPanel to display when a user clicks a button within my main JFrame. In Netbeans I first used the wizard to add a new JPanel to my project, I then used the GUI creator to fill in all the content. I am not trying to display the JPanel with the following code
private void m_jbShowSelAccResultsActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt)
{
Account selAcc = getSelectedAccount();
if(selAcc != null)
{
AccountView accPanel = new AccountView(Account.getDeepCopy(selAcc));
accPanel.setVisible(true);
}
else
ShowMessage("Please select an account to view");
}
But nothing happens, no error is thrown and the JPanel is not shown. So I then changed the JPanel to a JFrame (Netbeans didn't complain). When I try again with the same code I receive the error GroupLayout can only be used with one Container at a time.
How can I display my JPanel/JFrame?

To change views within a Swing GUI, use a CardLayout as this is a much more robust and reliable way to do this.
Don't try to blindly "change a JPanel to a JFrame". It looks like you're just guessing here.
GroupLayout can't be reused as the error message is telling you. Likely this error comes from the point above. If you avoid trying to make a JFrame out of a JPanel, the error message will likely go away. As an aside, GroupLayout is not easily used manually, especially if you're trying to add components to an already rendered GUI.
So for instance, if your program had a JPanel say called cardHolderPanel, that used a CardLayout, this held by a variable say called cardLayout, and you've already added a "card" JPanel to this holder for accounts, say called accPanel, and if the accPanel had a method to set its currently displayed account, say setAccount(Accoint a), you could easily swap views by calling the CardLayout show(...) method, something like:
private void m_jbShowSelAccResultsActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
Account selAcc = getSelectedAccount();
if(selAcc != null) {
accPanel.setAccount(Account.getDeepCopy(selAcc));
cardLayout.show(cardHolderPanel, "Account View");
}
else {
showErrorMessage("Please select an account to view");
}
}

How do you add a jFrame to your main class in Netbeans?

So I have made a Jframe with a lot of elements and buttons and things in it, but I am new to using NetBeans. Upon creating the java application a main class.java was created and upon adding the jframe another jframe.java was created. How do I get the main class to open, read, and run my jframe.java? I can upload the specific code if need be.
Thanks in advance

To call a certain method from another class, you must first create a new object for that class, like this:
Jframe frame = new Jframe();
frame.setVisible(true); //or whatever the method is in jframe.class
Maybe rename the actual class name from jframe to something like frameone. I've heard that naming classes the same as classes in the Java API will cause trouble.
Or, you could put it all in one class, with either two separate methods or put it all in the main method. If this doesn't help, then please paste the exact code on pastebin.org and give a link.

Look at this sample example and learn how to set frame visible
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class exp{
public static void main(String args[]){
JFrame jf=new JFrame("This is JFrame");
JPanel h=new JPanel();
h.setSize(100,100);
h.add(new JButton("Button"));
h.add(new JLabel("this is JLabel"));
h.setBackground(Color.RED);
jf.add(h);
jf.pack();
jf.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
jf.setVisible(true);
}
}
Useful Links
Designing a Swing GUI in NetBeans IDE
Creating a GUI With Swing (As #MadProgrammer Commented)
Learning Swing with the NetBeans IDE

I'm new to this, but I got a form up. Woo hoo!
1) The project created my main function in japp1.java
2) I created a JFrame, file jfMain.java
3) While there was probably a way to reference it as it was, I didn't see how right away, so I moved it to a peer level with the japp1 file, both in a folder called japp1 which will cause them to get built together, having the same parent reference available.
src\
japp1\
japp1.java
jfMain.java
4) Then instead of creating a generic JFrame with a title, I created an instance of my class...
5) I gave it a size...
7) Then showed it...
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO code application logic here
JFrame frame = new japp1.jfMain();
frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(700, 500));
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}
I had already put some code in my jframe... to show a messagedialog with JOptionPane from a mouseclick event on a button and set some text for some textfields.
Hope that helps.

JFrame getRootPane() Returns Null

In my main class I initially start out by creating the java frame. Later I create a new object from another class entitled 'keybinding' and pass it the JFrame. It then applies the action maps for certain keys to the root pane of the JFrame.
I was previously writing this application in the educational IDE BlueJ where this code worked fine. But I'm in the process of moving it to regular IDE, in this case JDeveloper. All the code works apart from the this keybinding.
With the below code, using JDev, calling getRootPane() returns null.
Stage.java
jf = new JFrame("The Title");
jf.setSize(800,600);
//etc
Keybinding keys = new Keybinding(this);
Keybinding.java
KeyStroke pressLeft = KeyStroke.getKeyStroke("LEFT");
stage.jf.getRootPane().getInputMap(JComponent.WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW)
.put(pressLeft, "pressLeft");

The parameter to the KeyBinding class should just be
new KeyBinding(jf);
Then the code in the KeyBinding class can access the frame as follows:
public KeyBinding(JFrame frame)
{
JRootPane rootPane = frame.getRootPane();
rootPane.getInputMap(...)
}

Chart Wont Show When I Run It?

I'm trying to make a simple pie chart appear on a jpanel in netbeans with JFreeChart and got this:
public void createPieChart()
{
DefaultPieDataset myPie = new DefaultPieDataset();
myPie.setValue("Apples",new Integer(12));
myPie.setValue("Oranges",new Integer(23));
myPie.setValue("Mangos",new Integer(7));
myPie.setValue("Pears",new Integer(22));
JFreeChart myChart = ChartFactory.createPieChart3D("Damo's Fruit Sales", myPie,true,true,true);
PiePlot3D pie3D = (PiePlot3D)myChart.getPlot();
ChartPanel myPanel = new ChartPanel(myChart);
lowerMain_PNL.removeAll();
lowerMain_PNL.add(myPanel,BorderLayout.CENTER);
lowerMain_PNL.revalidate();
}
I get no compiler errors and when it runs the window appears with the button, but when I press the button my pie chart doesn't appear. Anyone know what I could be missing?

Check the layout manager of lowerMain_PNL. Netbeans form designer uses GroupLayout by default, so unless you changed it, that's what you got. Adding to a container using GroupLayout at run time is tricky, especially if the component contains more than one subcomponent (And requires adding components to the layout, instead of using the usual add() methods).
Change it to BorderLayout instead, since you are using BorderLayout constraints.