Re: exception

Maybe its simpler to show how I think it should be done.

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
    // Dear tutor, grill student re spoonfed solution from usenet.
    try {
        String name = StudentTextField.getText();

        FileWriter swriter = new FileWriter("c:\\studname.txt",true);
        PrintWriter outputFile= new PrintWriter(swriter);
        outputFile.println(name);
        outputFile.close();

        FileWriter gwriter = new FileWriter("c:\\grades.txt",true);
        PrintWriter outputFile2 = new PrintWriter(gwriter);
        outputFile2.println("0,0,0");
        outputFile2.close();

        StudentTextField.setText("");

    } catch (IOException x) {
        System.out.println("Unable to add student - " + x.getMessage());
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, x.getMessage, "AppName",
                JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
        System.exit(1);
    }
}

Untested, caveat emptor.