I'm new to Java and have been working on an assignment for days w/ no luck.

I'm happy to post my program if needed BUT for now just looking for a hint(s) and clarification.

I am trying to write a 'simple' applet that will use a one dimensional array w/ 5 elements. Basically I want my user to enter a number in the text field, I then want to validate the number- must be between 10-100, I want to validate the entriescounter which must be less than 5, then (finally) I want to search my array to see if the users number was previously entered, if not I want to append that number into the array (how?) if the number is alrady stored I want to increment my counter but ignore the input. I want the unique user input to dispay in another jtextfield and I want my error responses to display in the showStatus box- ie, invalid entry after the valid test and over 5 entries made- if entries counter reaches 5.

I am new to this site as well- so if I have asked too much I'm sorry in advance.

Thanks- any help on arrays and appending input from a user is most appreaciated.