set progress bar from a different class

sure, all you need is a reference to the JProgressBar instance

For example you could add a getter to your class to allow other classes to access it

public class MyPanel extends JPanel {
   private JProgressBar bar = new JProgressBar();

   public JProgressBar getProgressBar() {
       return bar;
   }

   ....


Then from another class you could access it using the getter


JProgressBar bar = mypanel.getProgressBar();
// do what you need to the progress bar

thanks objects,
I have created jProgressBar within Netbeans and it is already in mainPanel [JPanel] so is it possible to make progressBar public and refer to that (or something similar)?

you can make it public but its better design to add a (public) getter to access it as I showed above

So how can I show this progress bar on my mainPanel? I can't do drag&drop in netbeans now.
thanks

Thats the problem with using netbeans and its gui builder. it takes a lot of the control away from you.
if you're using netbeans then create your gui with netbeans and once you're done add methods to provide any interaction between classes that you need.