preDefTxtWindow pdxctw = new preDefTxtWindow(); idx = pdxctw.preDefTxtWindow(); ---------------------------------------------------------------------- public class preDefTxtWindow extends JPanel implements MouseListener { public int preDefTxtWindow() { JFrame framePreDefTxt = new JFrame("Predefined Text"); framePreDefTxt.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.HIDE_ON_CLOSE); for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) { JTextArea ta = new JTextArea(); ta.setText("set some text here"); framePreDefTxt.add(ta); } framePreDefTxt.pack(); framePreDefTxt.setVisible(true); return 123; /* return a TextArea idx here */ } @Override public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent arg0) { // System.out.println("TextArea: " + "was clicked"); } @Override public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent arg0) {} @Override public void mouseExited(MouseEvent arg0) {} @Override public void mousePressed(MouseEvent arg0) {} @Override public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent arg0) {} }