Converting List<List<String>> to array - java

I have elements that is declared in a list variable such as:
List<List<String>> textList = new ArrayList<>();
The elements are added such as:
textList.add(Arrays.asList(p)); //adding elements
The only way I could output the elements inside the variable is by using:
for(List<String> s: textList){
System.out.println(s); }
which output elements like this:
[He is a boy.]
[He likes apple.]
[She is a girl.]
Now, I would like to store them in an array so that the elements will look like this when outputted.
[He is a boy., He likes apple., She is a girl.]
I've tried
String[] textArr = new String[textList.size()];
textArr = textList.toArray(textArr);
for(String s : textArr){
System.out.println(s);}
but I got an error about:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ArrayStoreException
at java.lang.System.arraycopy(Native Method)
at java.util.Arrays.copyOf(Arrays.java:3213)
at java.util.ArrayList.toArray(ArrayList.java:407)
So, how do I convert the elements inside a list into array using the proper way. Thanks!

Your problem is that you are not storing Strings in your list textList.
textList.add(Arrays.asList(p));
As the type says, you have a List of List of String here.
So you can't take the elements of that list and assume they are Strings. Because they aren't! The error message tells you that: toArray() wants strings it can put into that array of strings, but you give it a List of List of String!
But thing is: what you are describing here doesn't make sense in the first place. Printing strings shouldn't care if strings are in an array or a List.
What I mean is: when you manually iterate a List or an array to print its content, then it absolutely doesn't matter if you iterate a List or an array. The code is even the same:
for (String someString : someCollection) {
System.out.println(someString);
}
someCollection can be both: array or List!
In other words: the idea to turn data that is nicely stored within Lists into arrays for printing simply doesn't make any sense. To the contrary: you are probably calling toString() on your List object, and the result of that ... isn't 100% what you want. But I guarantee you: calling toString() on some array will result in something you totally will not want.
Long story short: forget about converting to Arrays; simply iterate your List of List of Strings and use a StringBuilder to collect the content of that collection the way you want to see it (you simply append those [ ] chars to that builder in those places you want them to see).
(if you insist on that conversion to array, the key point there to understand is that only a List of String can be turned into an array of string. So a List of List ... doesnt work that easy).

Using streams and flatMap, you can do this:
List<List<String>> list = ...;
String[] strings = list.stream().flatMap(l -> l.stream()).collect(Collectors.toList()).toArray(new String[0]);
This is equivalent to using a loop (You can use two nested for loops as suggested in the comments instead by replacing the addAll, but why?):
List<List<String>> list = ...;
List<String> stringList = new ArrayList<>();
for (List<String> l : list)
stringList.addAll(l);
String[] strings = list.toArray(new String[stringList.size()]);

You can use Iterator in order to go over every element of the list, instance of the for each statement (I personally like the iterators more). The code you could use would be something like
//Your list
List<List<String>> textList = new ArrayList<>();
//The iterators
Iterator<List<String>> itList = textList.iterator();
Iterator<String> itString;
//The string to store the phrases
String s[] = new String[textList.size()];
int i =0;
//First loop, this seeks on every list of lists
while(itList.hasNext()){
//Getting the iterator of strings
itString = itList.next().iterator();
s[i] = "";
//2nd loop, it seeks on every List of string
while(itString.hasNext()){
s[i] = s[i].concat(itString.next());
}
s[i] = s[i].concat(".");
i++;
}

Related

Inserting a String[] into a String[] in Java?

How do you add a String[] into a String[] in Java? To be more clear, my desired output is:
String[][] out = {{"A", "AA"},{"B", "BB"}};
I don't know the size of the output array, it can contain more then two elements. Basically, I wanted to do it like this (don't mind the syntax it's a blend of Python):
String [] out;
String[] temp = {"A","AA"};
out.append(temp)
So now out should look like {{"A","AA"}}. Then I can append {"B", "BB"} creating the desire output above? This is what my thought was, but I'm not sure if it can be done. I am more experienced with Python and it can be done in Python, but I am wanting to do this in Java. Any ideas?
As in the comment mentioned, you can use the List to store all the array values inside.
It is when you put in:
List<String[]> list = new ArrayList<>();
String[] array = {"A", "B"};
list.add(array);
...
And it is when you get out:
String[] array = list.get(0 /*i*/);
Try using List for this purpose as you would have more operations to perform on Lists than an Array.
List<List<String>> out = new ArrayList<>();
List<String> temp = new ArrayList<String>();
temp.add("A");
temp.add("AA");
out.add(temp);
Read through the Javadocs for more on this.
You can either use List or ArrayList that dynamically grows.
ArrayList al = new ArrayList();
The ArrayList class extends AbstractList and implements the List interface. ArrayList supports dynamic arrays that can grow as needed.
Standard Java arrays are of a fixed length. After arrays are created, they cannot grow or shrink, which means that you must know in advance how many elements an array will hold.
Array lists are created with an initial size. When this size is exceeded, the collection is automatically enlarged. When objects are removed, the array may be shrunk.
For differences between List and ArrayList Type List vs type ArrayList in Java
Detailed Methods of ArrayList
You could try this way too if you exactly want to add dynamic array of Strings into another dynamic array.
List<List<String>> addresses = new ArrayList<List<String>>();
ArrayList<String> singleAddress = new ArrayList<String>();
singleAddress.add("17 Fake Street");
singleAddress.add("Phoney town");
singleAddress.add("Makebelieveland");
addresses.add(singleAddress);
Because in Java, Array is a fixed length data structure so you should try java List which supports dynamically insertion and deletion of elements. An example using java.util.ArrayList is following:
java.util.List<String[]> out = new java.util.ArrayList<String[]>();
String[] temp = {"A","AA"};
out.add(temp);//insertion
And using index (started from 0), we can get element like out.get(0); and can remove element like out.remove(0);

Add multiple numbered objects to ArrayList

Suppose I have a lot of String Variables(100 for example):
String str1 = "abc";
String str2 = "123";
String str3 = "aaa";
....
String str100 = "zzz";
I want to add these String variables to ArrayList, what I am doing now is
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
list.add(str1);
list.add(str2);
list.add(str3);
...
list.add(str100);
I am curious, is there a way to use a loop? For example.
for(int i = 1; i <= 100; i++){
list.add(str+i)//something like this?
}
Use an array:
String[] strs = { "abc","123","zzz" };
for(int i = 0; i < strs.length; i++){
list.add(strs[i]); //something like this?
}
This idea is so popular that there's built-in methods to do it. For example:
list.addAll( Arrays.asList(strs) );
will add your array elements to an existing list. Also the Collections class (note the s at the end) has static methods that work for all Collection classes and do not require calling Arrays.asList(). For example:
Collections.addAll( list, strs );
Collections.addAll( list, "Larry", "Moe", "Curly" );
If you just want a list with only the array elements, you can do it on one line:
List<String> list = Arrays.asList( strs );
Edit: Many other classes in the Java API support this addAll() method. It's part of the Collection interface. Other classes like Stack, List, Deque, Queue, Set, and so forth implement Collection and therefore the addAll() method. (Yes some of those are interfaces but they still implement Collection.)
If you are using Java 9 then easily you can add the multiple String Objects into Array List Like
List<String> strings = List.of("abc","123","zzz");
If you want to stick to good practice, declare your Strings in an array:
String[] strs = new String[]{ "abc", "123", "aaa", ... };
for (String s : strs) // Goes through all entries of strs in ascending index order (foreach over array)
list.add(s);
If strX would be class fields then you could try using reflection - link to example of accessing fields and methods.
If it is local variable then you can't get access to its name so you will not be able to do it (unless str would be array, so you could access its values via str[i] but then you probably wouldn't need ArrayList).
Update:
After you updated question and showed that you have 100 variables
String str1 = "abc";
String str2 = "123";
String str3 = "aaa";
//...
String str100 = "zzz";
I must say that you need array. Arrays ware introduced to programming languages precisely to avoid situation you are in now. So instead of declaring 100 separate variables you should use
String[] str = {"abc", "123", "aaa", ... , "zzz"};
and then access values via str[index] where index is value between 0 and size of your array -1, which in you case would be range 0 - 99.
If you would still would need to put all array elements to list you could use
List<String> elements = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(str));
which would first
Arrays.asList(str)
create list backed up by str array (this means that if you do any changes to array it will be reflected in list, and vice-versa, changes done to list from this method would affect str array).
To avoid making list dependant on state of array we can create separate list which would copy elements from earlier list to its own array. We can simply do it by using constructor
new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(str));
or we can separate these steps more with
List<String> elements = new ArrayList<>();//empty list
elements.addAll(Arrays.asList(str));//copy all elements from one list to another
Yes. The way to use a loop is not to declare 100 string variables. Use one array instead.
String[] str = new String[101];
str[1] = "abc";
str[2] = "123";
str[3] = "aaa";
....
str[100] = "zzz";
(I made the indexes go from 1 to 100 to show how it corresponds to your original code, but it's more normal to go from 0 to 99 instead, and to initialize it with an array initializer as in #markspace's answer.)
The following creates the ArrayList on the specific String values you have:
ArrayList<String> list1 = new ArrayList<String>() {{addAll(Arrays.asList(new String[]{"99", "bb", "zz"}));}};
Or, if it's just some distinct values you want, use this for say - 10 of them:
ArrayList<String> list2 = new ArrayList<String>() {{for (int i=0; i<10; i++) add(""+System.currentTimeMillis());}};

Arraylist of classes

In my hw assignment my professor says to create a data field of type ArrayList. He wants them to be instances of a class.
I'm not exactly sure what that means, but my guess is
ArrayList<CLassName> list = ArrayList<ClassName>();
Can anyone confirm this for me?
You can use something like this:
List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
Since Java SE 1.7, it can a little simpler:
List<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
Yes.
NOTE: The rest is background knowledge about ArrayLists.
Let's say you want an ArrayList of Strings. Keep in mind Strings are Objects.
// Creates ArrayList
ArrayList<String> list = ArrayList<String>();
// Adds elements to ArrayList
list.add("Hello");
list.add("world!");
// Iterate through ArrayList
for (String str : list) {
// Print the String in the list.
System.out.print(str + " ");
}
// Print newline character.
System.out.print("\n");
The for (String str : list) is a for each loop which allows you to iterate through each element in the list.
Yes, that's right. I do, however, recommend this instead:
List<ClassName> list = new ArrayList<ClassName>();
That way you can change the type of list in just one place instead of two.

Is there a way to use an enhanced for loop to copy an array?

I just started using the enhance for-loop. I want to know if I can use this loop to copy an array. I want to iterate through every element of a certain array and copy it to a new one. It would also be nice to use the enhanced for-loop to instantiate my new array (instead of a typical for-loop). In my current implementation I do know how big I want the array to be, but for future reference I would like to know if I can do this, and if so, how.
My specific plans for what I'm doing might help to answer my question. What I am doing is retrieving a line of text from a text file then calling split( "," ) on that string - this returns an array of Strings. I want to store this array in memory so I can play with it later.
The way I understand the enhanced for-loop to work is that the first value is assigned the current position in the array and the second value is the array that is to be traversed.
I was wondering if there are other formats for for-loops, besides: for ( initialization; termination; iterate ) and for ( Object o : list[] ).
If you want to keep to the enhanced for loop for copying an array, there is one mayor problem: the enhanced for loop doesn't have a counter. Inserting elements into an array however requires a counter. So you could of course do this manually like so:
String[] array = {"A", "Bb", "c", "dD"};
String[] newArray = new String[array.length];
int i=0;
for(String stuff : array) {
newArray[i++] = stuff;
}
This is entirely possible but not really the idea behind the enhanced for loop.
More in line with the intention would be something like this:
String[] array = {"A", "Bb", "c", "dD"};
List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
for(String stuff : array) {
list.add(stuff);
}
String[] newArray = new String[list.size()];
list.toArray(newArray);
That way not only do you follow the idea behind the enhanced for loop, you also allow for the possibility that array.length() != newArray.length() (because, say, you filtered the array).
EDIT: as of Java 7, there are indeed only the two for loops you mentioned. This may change in future versions though if it seems sensible; after all, the enhanced for loop was only added in Java 5 (as can be seen here).
To my knowledge, there are only standard for(init; termination; iterataion) loops and for-each for(type o : iterable) loops.
First, knowing the size ahead of time shouldn't be a concern. For instantiating the new array use the original array's .length field: new String[original.length]; as shown below.
Moving along, for what you are doing, the standard for loop is appropriate for two reasons:
You would need to nest two for-each loops in order to iterate both
loops, making it more hassle than a standard for loop. (or add an externally defined counter, as in blalasaadri's solution)
More importantly, in the case of a primitive data type or a String, the variable declared before the : in the for-each loop represents the value of each successive element, and is not a reference to the actual element. As such, any changes to the variable are gone once the loop iterates. I'm not sure if this holds for 'normal' objects (ie: not String), as I've not tried, though I want to find out now.
To illustrate:
String[] sArr = {"foobar"};
for(String s : sArr){
s = "openbar";
}
is the equivalent of:
String[] sArr = {"foobar"};
String s = sArr[0];
s = "openbar";
Sadly, for sArr[0], there is no open bar, same old foobar.
As for solutions, if you can import java.util.Arrays; then try:
String[] copyStrings = Arrays.copyOf(arrStrings, arrStrings.length);
Or, if you need to roll your own:
public String[] copyArray(String[] original){
String[] dupe = new String[original.length]; //I assume you want equal length
for(int i = 0; i < original.length; i++){
dupe[i] = original[i]; //single iterator traverses both arrays
}
return dupe;
}
// copy contents of Object[] arr1 into Object[] arr2
arr2 = new int[arr1.length];
int i=0;
for(Object c:arr1){ //store an element of arr1 in c iteratively
arr2[i] = c;
i++;
}

Why do I get an UnsupportedOperationException when trying to remove an element from a List?

I have this code:
public static String SelectRandomFromTemplate(String template,int count) {
String[] split = template.split("|");
List<String> list=Arrays.asList(split);
Random r = new Random();
while( list.size() > count ) {
list.remove(r.nextInt(list.size()));
}
return StringUtils.join(list, ", ");
}
I get this:
06-03 15:05:29.614: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(7737): java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException
06-03 15:05:29.614: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(7737): at java.util.AbstractList.remove(AbstractList.java:645)
How would be this the correct way? Java.15
Quite a few problems with your code:
On Arrays.asList returning a fixed-size list
From the API:
Arrays.asList: Returns a fixed-size list backed by the specified array.
You can't add to it; you can't remove from it. You can't structurally modify the List.
Fix
Create a LinkedList, which supports faster remove.
List<String> list = new LinkedList<String>(Arrays.asList(split));
On split taking regex
From the API:
String.split(String regex): Splits this string around matches of the given regular expression.
| is a regex metacharacter; if you want to split on a literal |, you must escape it to \|, which as a Java string literal is "\\|".
Fix:
template.split("\\|")
On better algorithm
Instead of calling remove one at a time with random indices, it's better to generate enough random numbers in the range, and then traversing the List once with a listIterator(), calling remove() at appropriate indices. There are questions on stackoverflow on how to generate random but distinct numbers in a given range.
With this, your algorithm would be O(N).
This one has burned me many times. Arrays.asList creates an unmodifiable list.
From the Javadoc: Returns a fixed-size list backed by the specified array.
Create a new list with the same content:
newList.addAll(Arrays.asList(newArray));
This will create a little extra garbage, but you will be able to mutate it.
Probably because you're working with unmodifiable wrapper.
Change this line:
List<String> list = Arrays.asList(split);
to this line:
List<String> list = new LinkedList<>(Arrays.asList(split));
The list returned by Arrays.asList() might be immutable. Could you try
List<String> list = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(split));
I think that replacing:
List<String> list = Arrays.asList(split);
with
List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(split));
resolves the problem.
Just read the JavaDoc for the asList method:
Returns a {#code List} of the objects
in the specified array. The size of
the {#code List} cannot be modified,
i.e. adding and removing are
unsupported, but the elements can be
set. Setting an element modifies the
underlying array.
This is from Java 6 but it looks like it is the same for the android java.
EDIT
The type of the resulting list is Arrays.ArrayList, which is a private class inside Arrays.class. Practically speaking, it is nothing but a List-view on the array that you've passed with Arrays.asList. With a consequence: if you change the array, the list is changed too. And because an array is not resizeable, remove and add operation must be unsupported.
The issue is you're creating a List using Arrays.asList() method with fixed Length
meaning that
Since the returned List is a fixed-size List, we can’t add/remove elements.
See the below block of code that I am using
This iteration will give an Exception Since it is an iteration list Created by asList() so remove and add are not possible, it is a fixed array
List<String> words = Arrays.asList("pen", "pencil", "sky", "blue", "sky", "dog");
for (String word : words) {
if ("sky".equals(word)) {
words.remove(word);
}
}
This will work fine since we are taking a new ArrayList we can perform modifications while iterating
List<String> words1 = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList("pen", "pencil", "sky", "blue", "sky", "dog"));
for (String word : words) {
if ("sky".equals(word)) {
words.remove(word);
}
}
Arrays.asList() returns a list that doesn't allow operations affecting its size (note that this is not the same as "unmodifiable").
You could do new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(split)); to create a real copy, but seeing what you are trying to do, here is an additional suggestion (you have a O(n^2) algorithm right below that).
You want to remove list.size() - count (lets call this k) random elements from the list. Just pick as many random elements and swap them to the end k positions of the list, then delete that whole range (e.g. using subList() and clear() on that). That would turn it to a lean and mean O(n) algorithm (O(k) is more precise).
Update: As noted below, this algorithm only makes sense if the elements are unordered, e.g. if the List represents a Bag. If, on the other hand, the List has a meaningful order, this algorithm would not preserve it (polygenelubricants' algorithm instead would).
Update 2: So in retrospect, a better (linear, maintaining order, but with O(n) random numbers) algorithm would be something like this:
LinkedList<String> elements = ...; //to avoid the slow ArrayList.remove()
int k = elements.size() - count; //elements to select/delete
int remaining = elements.size(); //elements remaining to be iterated
for (Iterator i = elements.iterator(); k > 0 && i.hasNext(); remaining--) {
i.next();
if (random.nextInt(remaining) < k) {
//or (random.nextDouble() < (double)k/remaining)
i.remove();
k--;
}
}
This UnsupportedOperationException comes when you try to perform some operation on collection where its not allowed and in your case, When you call Arrays.asList it does not return a java.util.ArrayList. It returns a java.util.Arrays$ArrayList which is an immutable list. You cannot add to it and you cannot remove from it.
I've got another solution for that problem:
List<String> list = Arrays.asList(split);
List<String> newList = new ArrayList<>(list);
work on newList ;)
Replace
List<String> list=Arrays.asList(split);
to
List<String> list = New ArrayList<>();
list.addAll(Arrays.asList(split));
or
List<String> list = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(split));
or
List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(split));
or (Better for Remove elements)
List<String> list = new LinkedList<>(Arrays.asList(split));
Yes, on Arrays.asList, returning a fixed-size list.
Other than using a linked list, simply use addAll method list.
Example:
String idList = "123,222,333,444";
List<String> parentRecepeIdList = new ArrayList<String>();
parentRecepeIdList.addAll(Arrays.asList(idList.split(",")));
parentRecepeIdList.add("555");
You can't remove, nor can you add to a fixed-size-list of Arrays.
But you can create your sublist from that list.
list = list.subList(0, list.size() - (list.size() - count));
public static String SelectRandomFromTemplate(String template, int count) {
String[] split = template.split("\\|");
List<String> list = Arrays.asList(split);
Random r = new Random();
while( list.size() > count ) {
list = list.subList(0, list.size() - (list.size() - count));
}
return StringUtils.join(list, ", ");
}
*Other way is
ArrayList<String> al = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(template));
this will create ArrayList which is not fixed size like Arrays.asList
Arrays.asList() uses fixed size array internally.
You can't dynamically add or remove from thisArrays.asList()
Use this
Arraylist<String> narraylist=new ArrayList(Arrays.asList());
In narraylist you can easily add or remove items.
Arraylist narraylist=Arrays.asList(); // Returns immutable arraylist
To make it mutable solution would be:
Arraylist narraylist=new ArrayList(Arrays.asList());
Following is snippet of code from Arrays
public static <T> List<T> asList(T... a) {
return new ArrayList<>(a);
}
/**
* #serial include
*/
private static class ArrayList<E> extends AbstractList<E>
implements RandomAccess, java.io.Serializable
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = -2764017481108945198L;
private final E[] a;
so what happens is that when asList method is called then it returns list of its own private static class version which does not override add funcion from AbstractList to store element in array. So by default add method in abstract list throws exception.
So it is not regular array list.
Creating a new list and populating valid values in new list worked for me.
Code throwing error -
List<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
for (String s: list) {
if(s is null or blank) {
list.remove(s);
}
}
desiredObject.setValue(list);
After fix -
List<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
List<String> newList= new ArrayList<>();
for (String s: list) {
if(s is null or blank) {
continue;
}
newList.add(s);
}
desiredObject.setValue(newList);

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