List selection events are fired when the following methods are used to change the set of selected items (see e774 Creating a JList Component). 
    // Create a list and get the model
    String[] items = {"A", "B", "C", "D"};
    JList list = new JList(items);
    
    // Select the second item
    int start = 1;
    int end = 1;
    list.setSelectionInterval(start, end);       // B
    
    // Select the first 3 items
    start = 0;
    end = 2;
    list.setSelectionInterval(start, end);       // A, B, C
    
    // Select all the items
    start = 0;
    end = list.getModel().getSize()-1;
    if (end >= 0) {
        list.setSelectionInterval(start, end);   // A, B, C, D
    }
    
    // Clear all selections
    list.clearSelection();
    
    // Select the first item
    start = 0;
    end = 0;
    list.setSelectionInterval(start, end);       // A
    
    // Add another selection - the third item
    start = 2;
    end = 2;
    list.addSelectionInterval(start, end);       // A, C
    
    // Deselect the first item
    start = 0;
    end = 0;
    list.removeSelectionInterval(start, end);    // C
    
    // Select a single item
    boolean scrollIntoView = true;
    list.setSelectedValue("B", scrollIntoView);  // B