Access textarea in one controller from another controller JavaFX - javafx

Question

I have two controllers FXMLDocumentController and FXMLOpenedCodeController. I am reading the contents of a .txt file from FXMLDocumentController and I want that text to be placed in a textarea in the FXMLOpenedCodeController. The code is running and reading well from the FXMLDocumentController but when the window from FXMLOpenedCodeController is opened, the read contents from .txt contents is not visible in the textarea. My system.out.println shows that String mine has the contents but it is not showing in the textarea in FXMLOpenedCodeController. Please help anyone. Thank you.
FXMLDocumentController code
public class FXMLDocumentController implements Initializable {
#FXML
private MenuItem open;
#FXML
private MenuItem about;
#Override
public void initialize(URL url, ResourceBundle rb) {
open.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>(){
#Override
public void handle (ActionEvent event){
try {
showSingleFileChooser();
} catch (IOException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(FXMLDocumentController.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
});
}
private void showSingleFileChooser() throws IOException {
//Stage s = new Stage();
FileChooser fileChooser = new FileChooser();
fileChooser.setTitle("ZEBRA file open...");
FileChooser.ExtensionFilter exfil = new FileChooser.ExtensionFilter("TXT files (*.txt)", "*.txt");
fileChooser.getExtensionFilters().add(exfil);
File selectedFile = fileChooser.showOpenDialog(stage);
if(selectedFile != null){
FXMLLoader fxmlLoader = new FXMLLoader();
fxmlLoader.setLocation(getClass().getResource("FXMLOpenedCode.fxml"));
AnchorPane frame = (AnchorPane) fxmlLoader.load();
FXMLOpenedCodeController c = fxmlLoader.getController();
//c.codeExecute = codeExecute;
c.codeExecute.appendText(readFile(selectedFile));
String mine;
mine = readFile(selectedFile);
//c.codeExecute.appendText(mine);
System.out.println(mine);
Parent root = FXMLLoader.load(getClass().getResource("FXMLOpenedCode.fxml"));
Scene scene = new Scene(root);
stage4.initModality(Modality.APPLICATION_MODAL);
stage4.setTitle("Compile Code");
stage4.setScene(scene);
stage4.show();
}
}
private void newWindow() throws IOException{
Parent root = FXMLLoader.load(getClass().getResource("FXMLNew.fxml"));
Scene scene = new Scene(root);
stage3.initModality(Modality.APPLICATION_MODAL);
stage3.setTitle("Enter code to run here");
stage3.setScene(scene);
stage3.show();
}
private String readFile(File selectedFile) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
StringBuilder content = new StringBuilder();
BufferedReader buffRead = null;
buffRead = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(selectedFile));
String text;
while((text = buffRead.readLine())!=null){
content.append(text);
}
return content.toString();
}
}
and in the FXMLOpenedCodeController there is a public TextArea codeExecute; I removed the #FXML and private so that the code works.

Answer 1

You are loading FXMLOpenedCode.fxml twice. You put the text in the text area you get from loading it the first time, but then you display the UI you get from loading it the second time. So, obviously, you don't see the text as it is set to the wrong text area.
Just load the FXML file once:
if(selectedFile != null){
FXMLLoader fxmlLoader = new FXMLLoader();
fxmlLoader.setLocation(getClass().getResource("FXMLOpenedCode.fxml"));
AnchorPane frame = (AnchorPane) fxmlLoader.load();
FXMLOpenedCodeController c = fxmlLoader.getController();
//c.codeExecute = codeExecute;
String mine;
mine = readFile(selectedFile);
c.codeExecute.appendText(mine);
System.out.println(mine);
Scene scene = new Scene(frame);
stage4.initModality(Modality.APPLICATION_MODAL);
stage4.setTitle("Compile Code");
stage4.setScene(scene);
stage4.show();
}