Thread: compiler error "Cannot make a static reference to the non-static field TextArea1"

I did write a small application that catches and displays UDP messages sent via a certain port.
It works fine whith "screen dump" output (System.out.println) but if I try to send the output to a TextArea I get a compiler error "Cannot make a static reference to the non-static field TextArea1"
See code below.
How can I fix this?

Rik

import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.net.DatagramPacket; 
import java.net.DatagramSocket; 
 
 
public class TextAreaApplet extends Applet implements ActionListener {
 public void init() {
  Button1 = new Button("Clear");
  Button1.addActionListener(this);
  TextArea1 = new TextArea("",5,40);
  TextArea1.setEditable(false);
  add(Button1);
  add(TextArea1);
 }
 
 public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException { 
   String NewData;
   DatagramSocket ds= new DatagramSocket(2237);
   byte[] receive= new byte[65535]; 
   DatagramPacket DpReceive= null; 
   while (true) { 
     DpReceive= new DatagramPacket(receive,receive.length);
     ds.receive(DpReceive);
     NewData= data(receive)+"\n\r";
     System.out.println(NewData); // this works fine
//    TextArea1.append(NewData); // compiler error "Cannot make a static reference to the non-static field TextArea1"
     if (data(receive).toString().equals("bye")) {
       System.out.println("Client sent bye ... ");
       ds.close();
       break; 
     } 
     receive= new byte[65535];
   } 
 } 
 
 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
  TextArea1.setText("");
 }
 
 public static StringBuilder data(byte[] a) {
   if (a == null) return null; 
   StringBuilder ret = new StringBuilder(); 
   int i = 0; 
   while (a[i] != 0) { 
     ret.append((char) a[i]); 
     i++; 
   } 
   return ret; 
 }  
 
 TextArea TextArea1;
 Button Button1;
}

Please excuse my stupid questions, but Java is completely new to me.
I just need a simple platfporm independent app that displays UDP messages from a given port, and thought of Java.

Code in a static method can not access fields that only exist when an instance of the class exists.

OK, I get that.

Move the code that references textArea1 into a method that is not static.

I created a method:

public void ShowMessage(String s) {
   TextArea1.append(s);
 }

But when I call this method from within main (

ShowMessage(NewData);

) I get the same compiler error on that line.

Applets are no longer supported in most browsers. Why does the code extend Applet?

I just want to show the messages in some kind of box, if there is another way than applets that is fine for me (again, I am completely new to Java).

Thanks,

Rik

Hello Jim, Norm,

thank you both for your help.
As mentioned before I am a Java newbie and only did some very basic reading on Java before writing the application (mostly cut & paste from pieces of code I found on the web).
Maybe I should read/study a bit more about Java basics before going on ;-) .

Rik