Question

I’m trying to fill a jComboBox with objects. I have it working in one class, but in this class it’s giving a NullPointerException but the code is almost the same. What am I missing here?

The code I’m using to fill the comboboxes:

I have translated every variable to English and removed some unnescessary stuff. I hope it’s more clear for you guys now:

package unive.billing.boundary.clientmanager.frames;

import unive.billing.control.ClientsManager;
import unive.billing.control.InsuranceManager;

/**
 *
 * @author Forza
 */

public class ClientFrame extends javax.swing.JFrame {

/**
 * Creates new form AddClientGUI
 */
private ClientsManager clientmanager;
private InsuranceManager insurancemanager;

public ClientFrame() {
    initComponents();
    clientmanager = new ClientsManager();
    clientmanager.printList();
    updateComboBoxCompany();
    updateComboBoxInsurance();
}

private ClientsManager clientmanager;
private InsuranceManager insurancemanager;

public ClientFrame() {
    initComponents();
    clientmanager = new ClientsManager();
    clientmanager.printList();
    updateComboBoxCompany();
    updateComboBoxInsurance();
}

public void updateComboBoxCompany() 
{
    for (Object object : insurancemanager.getCompanyNames()) 
    {
        companyComboBox.addItem(object);
    }   
}

public void updateComboBoxInsurance() 
{
    for (Object object : insurancemanager.getPolicyNames()) 
    {
        insuranceComboBox.addItem(object);
    }   
}

Here are the methods used:

public Object[] getCompanyNames() 
{
    ArrayList<String> cnames = new ArrayList<String>();
    for (InsurancesCompany company : insurancecompanyList) 
    {
        cnames.add(company.getCompanyName());
    }
    return cnames.toArray();
}

public Object[] getPolicyNames() 
{
    ArrayList<String> vnames = new ArrayList<String>();
    for (Insurance insurance : insuranceList) 
    {
        vnames.add(insurance.getPolicyName());
    }
    return vnames.toArray();
}

This is how my lists are initialized:

public class InsuranceManager {

private String insurancePath;
private String insurancecompanyenPath;
private static List<InsurancesCompany> insurancecompanyList;
private static List<Insurance> insuranceList;
private Insurance currentInsurance;

public InsuranceManager() {
    insurancecompanyenPath = "Files/company.txt";
    insurancePath = "Files/insurance.txt";
    insuranceList = new List<>();
}

public void createNewList() 
{
    insurancecompanyList = new List<>();
    System.out.println("Creates list");
}

public Object[] getCompanyNames() 
{
    ArrayList<String> cnames = new ArrayList<String>();
    for (InsurancesCompany company : insurancecompanyList) 
    {
        cnames.add(company.getCompanyName());
    }
    return cnames.toArray();
}

public Object[] getPolicyNames() 
{
    ArrayList<String> vnames = new ArrayList<String>();
    for (Insurance insurance : insuranceList) 
    {
        vnames.add(insurance.getPolicyName());
    }
    return vnames.toArray();
}

Edit: Here’s the MainGUI which calls createNewList (maakLijstAan)

private ClientsManager clientsmanager;
private BillingManager billingmanager;
private InsuranceManager insurancemanager;            

public MainGUI() {
    clientsmanager = new ClientsManager();  
    clientsmanager.CreateNewList();
    insurancemanager = new InsuranceManager();
    insurancemanager.CreateNewList();
    insurancemanager.loadInsuranceCompanyList();
    initComponents();
    jMenuItem1.setText("Save clients"); 
    jMenuItem2.setText("Load clients"); 
    jMenuItem3.setText("Exit");
}

Answer 1

You never initialize verzekeringBeheer, therefore you get a NullPointerException when you try to invoke methods on that variable.

You should have somewhere in your constructor, something like this:

verzekeringbeheer = new VerzekeringBeheer();

Also, try to avoid making your code coupled with other parts of your code. For example:

public VerzekeringBeheer() {
    ...
    //verzekeringmaatschappijLijst is never initialized!!!
}

public void maakLijstAan() 
{
    verzekeringmaatschappijLijst = new Lijst<>();
    System.out.println("Maak lijst aan");
}

public Object[] getMaatschappijNamen() 
{
    ArrayList<String> mnamen = new ArrayList<String>();
    // Here you use verzekeringmaatschappijLijst without checking that is not null!!!
    for (VerzekeringsMaatschappij maatschappij : verzekeringmaatschappijLijst) 
    {
        mnamen.add(maatschappij.getMaatschappijNaam());
    }
    return mnamen.toArray();
}

If nobody calls maakLijstAan, you will get a NullPointerException in getMaatschappijNamen. Try to avoid code that is so dependent of external code, in order to run without problems.