How to clear the status text of a Java applet?

Question

I am programming the game Breakout in Java using an applet and I used some showStatus("") lines to say someting in the window of the applet.

But when I start a new game, I want that the status text disappears. That is, when a key is pressed and some action happens. If the up arrow (key 1004) is pressed, the game starts and I want the status text gone.

How can I achieve this?

This is my solution so far:

public boolean keyDown(Event e, int key) {
    if(key==1004 && ballready) {
        ballready = false;
        ball.xchange = BallSpeedX;
        ball.ychange = BallSpeedY;
    }
    if(key==1006)
        leftArrow = true;
    if(key==1007)
        rightArrow = true;
    return true;
}

Answer 1

The answer is very simple! Just by adding literally the showStatus(" ").

  public boolean keyDown(Event e, int key) {
    if(key==1004 && ballready) {
        ballready = false;
        ball.xchange = BallSpeedX;
        ball.ychange = BallSpeedY;
        showStatus(" ")
    }
    if(key==1006)
        leftArrow = true;
    if(key==1007)
        rightArrow = true;
    return true;
}