I am currently trying to display a world map, on to which I want to draw dots in the centroids of each country. I have already found all the necessary coordinates, but my main issue is actually drawing those coordinates based on user input. Instead of using a scanner and taking system input, I am receiving a string in JLabel, that I then want to find the associated coordinate for in a hash map that I created. I am able to receive the input using an ActionListener, but don’t know how to approach then using that input to draw something.

I attempted to make a String instance variable; public static String in; which is meant to store the inputted value in the ActionListener method:

 @Override
 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
      if(e.getSource() == button) {
           ((DefaultListModel) answers.getModel()).addElement(textField.getText());
           in = (String)textField.getText();
        } 
    }

By printing within the method, along with a display box that I put on to the JFrame printing user input, I know that I’m able to receive the string they enter. If, then, in a paint() method, I want to take that input and use it to draw something, why does the following code do nothing?

 protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        
        super.paintComponent(g);
        background.paint(g);
        g.setColor(Color.red);
        if(in != null) {
            g.drawOval(500, 500, 100, 100);
        }
    }

Currently, the logic isn’t implemented to actually draw the right location, but I just want to be able to know that I am indeed able to recognize the non-empty string in the paint method. My understanding is that the paint method constantly runs while the program is running, so what exactly do I need to do to actually be able to store the inputted text and display it?

Thanks!