NullPointerException when attempting to change title of JFrame
<p>I am creating a simple text editor and when I open files I want to change to title bar of the JFrame to include the directory and file name of the file that the user just opened. I am using the setTitle(..) method in the JFrame API but for some reason I am getting a null pointer exception. </p>

<pre><code>public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) 
  {
    //find out what event occured
     String command = ae.getActionCommand();

     String s = " command: " + command;
     JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, s);

     if(command.equals("New..")) //the New file option was selected
     {
        output.setEditable(true);
        //createNewFile();
        isNew = true;
     }
     else if(command.equals("Open.."))//the Open file option was selected
     {
        output.setEditable(true);
        openFile();
        //both className and currentFile are defined
        frame.setTitle(className + ": " + currentFile.toString()); //Exception here
     }
     else if(command.equals("Save.."))//the Save file option was selected
     {
        saveFile();
     }
     else if(command.equals("Save As.."))//the Save file option was selected
     {
        saveFileAs();
     }
     else if(command.equals("Exit.."))//the Exit program option was selected
     {
        exitProgram();
     }
  }     
</code></pre>

<p>also here is the stacktrace:</p>

<pre><code>Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.NullPointerException
at jtexteditor.JTextEditor.actionPerformed(JTextEditor.java:307)
at javax.swing.AbstractButton.fireActionPerformed(AbstractButton.java:1995)
at javax.swing.AbstractButton$Handler.actionPerformed(AbstractButton.java:2318)
at javax.swing.DefaultButtonModel.fireActionPerformed(DefaultButtonModel.java:387)
at javax.swing.DefaultButtonModel.setPressed(DefaultButtonModel.java:242)
at javax.swing.AbstractButton.doClick(AbstractButton.java:357)
at javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicMenuItemUI.doClick(BasicMenuItemUI.java:809)
at javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicMenuItemUI$Handler.mouseReleased(BasicMenuItemUI.java:850)
at java.awt.Component.processMouseEvent(Component.java:6288)
at javax.swing.JComponent.processMouseEvent(JComponent.java:3267)
at java.awt.Component.processEvent(Component.java:6053)
at java.awt.Container.processEvent(Container.java:2041)
at java.awt.Component.dispatchEventImpl(Component.java:4651)
at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Container.java:2099)
at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Component.java:4481)
at java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.retargetMouseEvent(Container.java:4577)
at java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.processMouseEvent(Container.java:4238)
at java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Container.java:4168)
at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Container.java:2085)
at java.awt.Window.dispatchEventImpl(Window.java:2478)
at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Component.java:4481)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(EventQueue.java:643)
at java.awt.EventQueue.access$000(EventQueue.java:84)
at java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(EventQueue.java:602)
at java.awt.EventQueue$1.run(EventQueue.java:600)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(AccessControlContext.java:87)
at java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(AccessControlContext.java:98)
at java.awt.EventQueue$2.run(EventQueue.java:616)
at java.awt.EventQueue$2.run(EventQueue.java:614)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(AccessControlContext.java:87)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:613)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThread.java:269)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.java:184)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThread.java:174)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:169)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:161)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:122)
</code></pre>

<p>----jGRASP: operation complete.</p>

<p>Any help would be great.
Hunter.</p>
