private static DefaultMutableTreeNode findInChildren( DefaultMutableTreeNode currentTreeNode, AbstractTreeNode topPathElement) { for (int i = 0; i < currentTreeNode.getChildCount(); i++) { TreeNode child = currentTreeNode.getChildAt(i); if (((DefaultMutableTreeNode) child).getUserObject().equals(topPathElement)) { return (DefaultMutableTreeNode) child; } } return null; }