Using a JFileChooser with Swing GUI classes and listeners

As a general rule, you should not have your GUI classes, such as the class extending JPanel, implement any listener interfaces, and in fact you should strive for just the opposite -- to separate the control functions of the program (the listeners and the like) from the view functions of the program (the GUI). So my answer to your question of "how can I attach the JFileChooser to the actionPerformed method... [to my DrawingPanel class which extends JPanel], is to strive to not do this.

Instead have your view classes implement interfaces that would allow the control classes to more easily interact with them.

Edit 1: your new code you never display the JFileChooser dialog. You need to display the open dialog:

// first make sure that you've declared the JFrame frame as final
int result = theFileChooser.showOpenDialog(frame); 
if (result == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
  // ... code goes here           
}

Edit 2

Swing Model-View-Control Example:

For example, here's an MVC or Model-View-Control implementation that shows the view, the model and the control. This is all very simplistic, and all it does at present is to open a text file and display it in a JTextField, that's it, and it tries to seperate out the control functions from the view.

MvcMain class

import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;

public class MvcMain {

   private static void createAndShowGui() {
      MvcView view = new ShowTextView("Show Text");
      MvcModel model = new ShowTextModel();
      ShowTextControl control = new ShowTextControl(view, model);

      control.showView(true);
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
         public void run() {
            createAndShowGui();
         }
      });
   }
}

MvcModel interface

import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener;

public interface MvcModel {
   static final String TEXT = "text";
   static final String STATUS = "STATUS";

   String getText();

   String getStatus();

   void setText(String text);

   void setStatus(String text);

   void addPropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener);

   void removePropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener);
}

MvcView interface

import java.awt.Window;
import javax.swing.Action;

public interface MvcView {

   void setVisible(boolean visible);

   void setFileAction(Action fileAction);

   void setOpenFileAction(Action openFileAction);

   void setSaveToFileAction(Action saveToFileAction);

   void setExitAction(Action exitAction);

   void setStatusText(String string);

   String getTextAreaText();

   void setTextAreaText(String text);

   Window getTopWindow();

}

ShowTextView class

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.Window;
import javax.swing.*;

public class ShowTextView implements MvcView {
   private JFrame frame = new JFrame();
   private JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar();
   private JMenu fileMenu = new JMenu();
   private StatusBar statusBar = new StatusBar();
   private ViewDisplayText displayText = new ViewDisplayText();

   public ShowTextView(String title) {
      menuBar.add(fileMenu);

      frame.setTitle(title);
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      frame.getContentPane().add(displayText.getMainComponent(), BorderLayout.CENTER);
      frame.getContentPane().add(statusBar.getComponent(), BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
      frame.setJMenuBar(menuBar);
   }

   @Override
   public void setVisible(boolean visible) {
      frame.pack();
      frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      frame.setVisible(true);
   }

   @Override
   public void setOpenFileAction(Action action) {
      displayText.setOpenFileButtonAction(action);
      fileMenu.add(new JMenuItem(action));
   }

   @Override
   public void setSaveToFileAction(Action action) {
      displayText.setSaveToFileAction(action);
      fileMenu.add(new JMenuItem(action));
   }

   @Override
   public void setExitAction(Action exitAction) {
      displayText.setExitAction(exitAction);
      fileMenu.add(new JMenuItem(exitAction));
   } 

   @Override
   public void setFileAction(Action fileAction) {
      fileMenu.setAction(fileAction);
   }


   @Override
   public String getTextAreaText() {
      return displayText.getTextAreaText();
   }

   @Override
   public void setTextAreaText(String text) {
      displayText.setTextAreaText(text);
   }

   @Override
   public Window getTopWindow() {
      return frame;
   }

   @Override
   public void setStatusText(String text) {
      statusBar.setText(text);
   }

}

class ViewDisplayText {
   private static final int TA_ROWS = 30;
   private static final int TA_COLS = 50;
   private static final int GAP = 2;
   private JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
   private JButton openFileButton = new JButton();
   private JButton saveToFileButton = new JButton();
   private JButton exitButton = new JButton();
   private JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea(TA_ROWS, TA_COLS);

   public ViewDisplayText() {
      JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(1, 0, GAP, 0));
      buttonPanel.add(openFileButton);
      buttonPanel.add(saveToFileButton);
      buttonPanel.add(exitButton);

      mainPanel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(GAP, GAP, GAP, GAP));
      mainPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
      mainPanel.add(new JScrollPane(textArea), BorderLayout.CENTER);
      mainPanel.add(buttonPanel, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
   }

   public void setExitAction(Action exitAction) {
      exitButton.setAction(exitAction);
   }

   public JComponent getMainComponent() {
      return mainPanel;
   }

   public void setOpenFileButtonAction(Action action) {
      openFileButton.setAction(action);
   }

   public void setSaveToFileAction(Action action) {
      saveToFileButton.setAction(action);
   }

   public String getTextAreaText() {
      return textArea.getText();
   }

   public void setTextAreaText(String text) {
      textArea.setText(text);
   }
}

class StatusBar {
   private static final String STATUS = "Status: ";
   private JLabel label = new JLabel(STATUS);

   public StatusBar() {
      label.setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.black));
   }

   public JComponent getComponent() {
      return label;
   }

   public void setText(String text) {
      label.setText(STATUS + text);
   }
}

ShowTextModel class

import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener;
import javax.swing.event.SwingPropertyChangeSupport;

public class ShowTextModel implements MvcModel {
   private String text;
   private String status;
   private SwingPropertyChangeSupport propChangeSupport = 
         new SwingPropertyChangeSupport(this);

   @Override
   public String getText() {
      return text;
   }

   @Override
   public void setText(String text) {
      String newValue = text;
      String oldValue = this.text;
      this.text = newValue;
      propChangeSupport.firePropertyChange(TEXT, oldValue, newValue);
   }

   @Override
   public void setStatus(String status) {
      String newValue = status;
      String oldValue = this.status;
      this.status = newValue;
      propChangeSupport.firePropertyChange(STATUS, oldValue, newValue);
   }

   @Override
   public void addPropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener) {
      propChangeSupport.addPropertyChangeListener(listener);
   }

   @Override
   public void removePropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener listener) {
      propChangeSupport.removePropertyChangeListener(listener);
   }

   @Override
   public String getStatus() {
      return status;
   }

}

ShowTextControl class

import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeEvent;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import javax.swing.*;

public class ShowTextControl {

   private MvcView view;
   private MvcModel model;

   public ShowTextControl(MvcView view, MvcModel model) {
      this.view = view;
      this.model = model;

      view.setFileAction(new FileAction("File", KeyEvent.VK_F));
      view.setOpenFileAction(new OpenFileAction(view, model, "Open File",
            KeyEvent.VK_O));
      view.setSaveToFileAction(new SaveToFileAction(view, model,
            "Save to File", KeyEvent.VK_S));
      view.setExitAction(new ExitAction(view, model, "Exit", KeyEvent.VK_X));

      model.addPropertyChangeListener(new ModelListener(view, model));
   }

   public void showView(boolean visible) {
      view.setVisible(visible);
   }
}

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
class OpenFileAction extends AbstractAction {
   private MvcView view;
   private MvcModel model;

   public OpenFileAction(MvcView view, MvcModel model, String name, int keyCode) {
      super(name);
      putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, keyCode);
      this.view = view;
      this.model = model;
   }

   @Override
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
      JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser();
      fileChooser.setMultiSelectionEnabled(false);
      int result = fileChooser.showOpenDialog(view.getTopWindow());
      if (result == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
         File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
         if (file.exists()) {
            if (file.getName().endsWith(".txt")) {
               model.setStatus("Opening file \"" + file.getName() + "\"");

               OpenFileWorker openFileWorker = new OpenFileWorker(file);
               openFileWorker.addPropertyChangeListener(
                     new OpenFileWorkerListener(model));
               openFileWorker.execute();
            } else {
               model.setStatus("File \"" + file.getName()
                     + "\" is not a text file");
            }
         } else {
            model.setStatus("File \"" + file.getName() + "\" does not exist");
         }
      }
   }

}

class OpenFileWorker extends SwingWorker<String, Void> {
   private File file;

   public OpenFileWorker(File file) {
      this.file = file;
   }

   public File getFile() {
      return file;
   }

   @Override
   protected String doInBackground() throws Exception {
      StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
      Scanner scan = null;
      try {
         scan = new Scanner(file);
         while (scan.hasNextLine()) {
            stringBuilder.append(scan.nextLine() + "\n");
         }

      } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
      } finally {
         if (scan != null) {
            scan.close();
         }
      }
      return stringBuilder.toString();
   }
}

class OpenFileWorkerListener implements PropertyChangeListener {
   private MvcModel model;

   public OpenFileWorkerListener(MvcModel model) {
      this.model = model;
   }

   @Override
   public void propertyChange(PropertyChangeEvent evt) {
      if (SwingWorker.StateValue.DONE == evt.getNewValue()) {
         OpenFileWorker openFileWorker = (OpenFileWorker) evt.getSource();
         try {
            String text = openFileWorker.get();
            model.setText(text);
            model.setStatus("File \"" + openFileWorker.getFile().getName() + "\" opened");
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
         } catch (ExecutionException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
         }
      }
   }
}

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
class FileAction extends AbstractAction {
   public FileAction(String name, int keyCode) {
      super(name);
      putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, keyCode);
   }

   @Override
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
      // pretty much empty
   }
}

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
class SaveToFileAction extends AbstractAction {
   private MvcView view;
   private MvcModel model;

   public SaveToFileAction(MvcView view, MvcModel model, String name,
         int keyCode) {
      super(name);
      putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, keyCode);
      this.view = view;
      this.model = model;
   }

   @Override
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
      // TODO finish!
   }
}

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
class ExitAction extends AbstractAction {
   private MvcView view;
   // private MvcModel model; // TODO: may use this later

   public ExitAction(MvcView view, MvcModel model, String name, int keyCode) {
      super(name);
      putValue(MNEMONIC_KEY, keyCode);
      this.view = view;
      // this.model = model; // TODO: may use this later
   }

   @Override
   public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
      view.getTopWindow().dispose();
   }
}

class ModelListener implements PropertyChangeListener {
   private MvcView view;
   private MvcModel model;

   public ModelListener(MvcView view, MvcModel model) {
      this.view = view;
      this.model = model;
   }

   @Override
   public void propertyChange(PropertyChangeEvent pcEvt) {
      if (MvcModel.TEXT.equals(pcEvt.getPropertyName())) {
         view.setTextAreaText(model.getText());
      }

      else if (MvcModel.STATUS.equals(pcEvt.getPropertyName())) {
         view.setStatusText(model.getStatus());
      }
   }

}

In this example, I've combined java classes in one file for brevity, but in the application, they'd be in their own files but would all share the same package. Note that while this may be "over-kill" for this simple application, I've used this sort of structure with several very large Swing applications with good success. The main benefit for me comes when I need to debug or enhance a program months after creation, since this separation of concerns and information and behavior hading makes it much easier for me make changes in one part of the program without offending or upsetting another part of the program.

Also, the reason for the interfaces is so that you can create new or different GUI's that look differently, but that can respond in the same way. I've also used them frequently to help create mock classes that allow me to better test my modules in isolation.

I would recommend using Action(s) to use there. On each action you have some specific actionlistener, set your panel as an listener if you like to do so:

Action Explained