Applet not running on the web

The webpage is:

https://files.nyu.edu/emf202/public/jv/NatalTransits.html

and you can find the code in

https://files.nyu.edu/emf202/public/jv/transits/NatalTransitsApplet.java

The applet was working without a problem from the beginning in the
eclipse applet viewer. Then I managed to make it work on browser from my
computer by putting the class and the csv files into a transits folder
(like the package in eclipse) and the html in the higher level
directory. Then I created the same structure in the webserver. The
applet loads, when you enter a invalid birthdate it lets you know, but
when you enter a valid birthdate it seems that it does nothing. I tried
to troubleshoot adding JOptionPanes, and the problem seems to be in the
planet array method:

// array of date, planet position formatted to integer, and in minutes
public int[][] planetArray(String birthday$) {
     int i = 0;
     String textLine = null;
     int[][] planetArray = new int[36525][2];
     try {
         FileReader ephemeris = new FileReader("transits/ephemeris.csv");
         BufferedReader buffer = new BufferedReader(ephemeris);
         String date;
         do {
             textLine = buffer.readLine();
             date = textLine.substring(0, 8);
             i++;
         } while (!date.equals(birthday$));
         for (i = 0; i < 36525; i++) {
             planetArray[i][0] = Integer.parseInt(textLine.substring(0,
                 8));
             planetArray[i][1] =
                 toMinutes(textLine.substring(planetPlace,planetPlace
                 + 5));
             textLine = buffer.readLine();
             if (textLine == null) {
                 break;
             } //the remaining places of the array are 0
         }
         buffer.close();
     } catch (IOException e) {
         outputArea.setText("Invalid date input.");
         outputArea.append("\n" + e.toString());
     }
     return planetArray;
}

but the try block does not catch any errors. What could the problem be?

Thanks,

Eustace

--
It ain't THAT, babe! - A radical reinterpretation
https://files.nyu.edu/emf202/public/bd/itaintmebabe.html