First post here, so please be gentle! I have searched far and wide for an answer to my question, but have turned up nothing.
I am trying to learn and apply the MVC architecture to create a Java Swing application. I think I understood the separate roles of the model, view and the controller.
However, my application has a JMenuBar (File, Edit and so on...).
What I want to do is after clicking a menu item, a form to pop up (which gets delegated in to the controller from the DVSDesk class).
The difficulty I am having is how to display the form accepting the controller and model -- from what I have read, each JFrame needs it's own thread, which is where I get confused. As the invokeLater is in its own unique thread, I can not seem to pass model or controller in.
Apologies if this is a dumb question, but I have been doing a lot of searching around, and seem to be getting nowhere fast!
EDIT -- My real question -- Is the showImporterForm() the correct way of creating and showing the new form?
Below is the code for the main thread (DVSMain.java)
public static void main(String[] args) {
    TopLevelController TLC;
    TopLevelModel TLM;
     java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            TopLevelModel TLM = new TopLevelModel();
            TopLevelController TLC = new TopLevelController(TLM);
        }
    });
}
Below is the code for the controller (TopLevelController.java)
public class TopLevelController {    
// Initialise model and view
TopLevelModel TLM;
DVSDesk TLV;
public TopLevelController(TopLevelModel model) {
    // Get a reference to the view and model
    TLM = model;
    TLV = new DVSDesk(this,model);
    TLV.setVisible(true);
}
public void showImporter() {
    ImportForm importFm = new ImportForm(this,TLM);
    importFm.setVisible(true);
}
/*public void showForm(final Form fm) {        
    // Show the form which has been passed in
    java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
        @Override
        public void run() {                
            fm.show();
        }
    });
}*/
public void quit() {System.exit(0);};
}
And below is the code from DVSDesk.java (the menu based GUI)...
public class DVSDesk extends javax.swing.JFrame {
/**
 * Creates new form DVSDesk
 */
TopLevelController TLC;
TopLevelModel TLM;
public DVSDesk(TopLevelController controller, TopLevelModel model) {
    initComponents();
    TLC = controller;
    TLM = model;
}
/**
 * This method is called from within the constructor to initialize the form.
 * WARNING: Do NOT modify this code. The content of this method is always
 * regenerated by the Form Editor.
 */
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
// <editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc="Generated Code">                          
private void initComponents() {
    jLayeredPane1 = new javax.swing.JLayeredPane();
    jSeparator1 = new javax.swing.JSeparator();
    jMenuBar1 = new javax.swing.JMenuBar();
    jMenu1 = new javax.swing.JMenu();
    fImportDiags = new javax.swing.JMenuItem();
    jSeparator2 = new javax.swing.JPopupMenu.Separator();
    fQuit = new javax.swing.JMenuItem();
    jMenu2 = new javax.swing.JMenu();
    setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.WindowConstants.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    jMenu1.setText("File");
    fImportDiags.setText("Import Diagrams...");
    fImportDiags.addActionListener(new java.awt.event.ActionListener() {
        public void actionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
            fImportDiagsActionPerformed(evt);
        }
    });
    jMenu1.add(fImportDiags);
    jMenu1.add(jSeparator2);
    fQuit.setText("Quit...");
    fQuit.addActionListener(new java.awt.event.ActionListener() {
        public void actionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
            fQuitActionPerformed(evt);
        }
    });
    jMenu1.add(fQuit);
    jMenuBar1.add(jMenu1);
    jMenu2.setText("Edit");
    jMenuBar1.add(jMenu2);
    setJMenuBar(jMenuBar1);
    javax.swing.GroupLayout layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(getContentPane());
    getContentPane().setLayout(layout);
    layout.setHorizontalGroup(
        layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING)
        .addGap(0, 800, Short.MAX_VALUE)
    );
    layout.setVerticalGroup(
        layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING)
        .addGap(0, 579, Short.MAX_VALUE)
    );
    pack();
}// </editor-fold>                        
private void fQuitActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {                                      
    TLC.quit();
}                                     
private void fImportDiagsActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {                                             
    TLC.showImporter();
}                                            
/**
 * @param args the command line arguments
 */
public static void main(String args[]) {
    /*
     * Set the Nimbus look and feel
     */
    //<editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc=" Look and feel setting code (optional) ">
    /*
     * If Nimbus (introduced in Java SE 6) is not available, stay with the
     * default look and feel. For details see
     * http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/lookandfeel/plaf.html
     */
    try {
        for (javax.swing.UIManager.LookAndFeelInfo info : javax.swing.UIManager.getInstalledLookAndFeels()) {
            if ("Nimbus".equals(info.getName())) {
                javax.swing.UIManager.setLookAndFeel(info.getClassName());
                break;
            }
        }
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
        java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(DVSDesk.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
    } catch (InstantiationException ex) {
        java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(DVSDesk.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
    } catch (IllegalAccessException ex) {
        java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(DVSDesk.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
    } catch (javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
        java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(DVSDesk.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
    }
    //</editor-fold>
}
// Variables declaration - do not modify                     
private javax.swing.JMenuItem fImportDiags;
private javax.swing.JMenuItem fQuit;
private javax.swing.JLayeredPane jLayeredPane1;
private javax.swing.JMenu jMenu1;
private javax.swing.JMenu jMenu2;
private javax.swing.JMenuBar jMenuBar1;
private javax.swing.JSeparator jSeparator1;
private javax.swing.JPopupMenu.Separator jSeparator2;
// End of variables declaration                   
}
 
     
    