Thread: Run code to scan file system after rendering Swing GUI window

I'm new to using Swing, so I'm not exactly sure how to correctly implement what I'd like to do so I'll explain what I'm trying to do...

I've written some code that scans a file system for certain file types on start. I'm now going back and trying to rework this to use a GUI rather than simply run in a console. What I'd like to do is render the GUI on the screen (with a jList) and then execute the scan (with the scan updating progress in the GUI and adding the returned file paths to the jList).

From what I'm able to tell, simply adding a call to my scan method will basically freeze the GUI so I'll likely need to create another thread and update the GUI from there? Any tips or suggestions? Do I make the call for the scan from main() or somewhere else?

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From what I'm able to tell, simply adding a call to my scan method will basically freeze the GUI

How are you able to tell this? Yes, that is not desirable behavior, and we can probably help you fix it, but we need to see what you've done to cause it. There are multiple considerations: Swing is not thread safe, the Swing app should be run on the EDT, other application elements supporting the GUI may be run on other threads, including the main thread, or if the other elements are not independent of the GUI, then look at using SwingWorker. All of these considerations are well documented throughout the 'net.

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I would advice you to write your own ListModel implementation. This custom ListModel of yours will need to synchronized because you are going to add elements to it from another thread.
You should also read up on how to make Swing thread safe. Basically, when firing Events in your custom ListModel (insertion-, removal- and change events) you need to invoke them on the EventDispatcherThread (EDT).

As you said, you also need a worker thread to do the actual work.