In processing command line, can't find just-opened TopComponents

(Using Netbeans 8.2.)  There seems to be a timing problem at startup in 
my Netbeans Platform application.

The application needs to open image files specified on the command line, 
then display on top of those images the information read from any 
additional "overlay" files specified on the command line with a named 
argument "--overlay".

Some of this is working as intended.  The DataLoader finds the image 
DataObjects and successfully opens the files in the appropriate editor.  
Then, with a CommandLineProcessor class

@ServiceProvider(service=OptionProcessor.class)
publicclassCommandLineProcessorextendsOptionProcessor{
...
}

the additional "--overlay" files are parsed from the command line 
successfully.

The overlay files get read, but alas, their contents never get overlayed 
on the images. When the overlay file's DataObjects's method gets called 
to read their content, it cannot find the TopComponent for the 
associated image file on which the information should be displayed.

Its search through all opened TopComponents, using 
WindowManager.getDefault().getRegistry().getOpened(), finds other 
TopComponents (such as Notifications, Project, and maybe some others), 
but not TopComponents for the just-opened image files.

Suspecting that the overlaying is happening before the image 
TopComponents get registered, I use 
WindowManager.getDefault().invokeWhenUIReady(...) to defer the 
overlaying until after all the image files are opened and the UI has 
stabilized.  Alas, this doesn't suffice.

What could be wrong here?  Is there a way defer the overlay processing 
until after all the image TopComponents get registered (assuming that's 
the problem)?

-- 
Greg Bullock
NorthWest Research Associates
149 Bonifacio Place, Suite 200
Monterey, CA  93940
(831) 582-4907
[email protected]