Currently I am having a hard time trying to figure out if there is a better way to refactor the following code.
Given the following:
String detail = "POTATORANDOMFOOD";
Lets say I want to assign variables with different parts of detail, the end result would look something like this.
String title = detail.substring(0, 6); // POTATO
String label = detail.substring(6, 12); // RANDOM
String tag = detail.substring(12, 16); // FOOD
Now lets say the string detail length constantly changes, sometimes it only contains "POTATORANDOM" and no "FOOD", sometimes it contains even more characters "POTATORANDOMFOODTODAY", so another variable would be used.
String title = detail.substring(0, 6); // POTATO
String label = detail.substring(6, 12); // RANDOM
String tag = detail.substring(12, 16); // FOOD
...
String etc = detail.substring(30, 40); // etc value from detail string
The issue with this, is that since the string sometimes is shorter or longer, we would run into the StringIndexOutOfBoundsException which is not good.
So currently I have a naive way to handle this:
if (detail != null || !detail.isEmpty()) {
if (detail.length() >= 6) {
title = detail.substring(0, 6);
if (detail.length() >= 12) {
label = detail.substring(6, 12);
if (detail.length() >= 16) {
tag = detail.substring(12, 16);
.
.
.
}
}
}
}
This can get really messy, especially if lets say the string were to grow even more.
So my question is, what would be a good design pattern that would fit for this type of problem? I have tried the chain of responsibility design pattern but, the issue with this one is that it only returns a single value, while I am trying to return multiple ones if possible. This way I can assign multiple variables depending on the length of the string.
Any help/hints is greatly appreciated!
Edited:
The order and length are always the same. So title will always be first and it will always contain 6 characters. label will always be second and it will always contain 6 characters. tag will always be third and it will always contain 4 characters, etc.
If I was you, I would do the following:
Define a class to hold a Word definition
public class Word {
private final String name;
private final int startIndex;
private final int endIndex;
public Word(String name, int startIndex, int endIndex) {
this.name = name;
this.startIndex = startIndex;
this.endIndex = endIndex;
}
public String getName() { return name; }
public int getStartIndex() { return startIndex; }
public int getEndIndex() { return endIndex; }
}
Create a static list which holds all the possible words
public static final List<Word> WORDS = List.of(
new Word("title", 0, 6),
new Word("label", 6, 12),
new Word("tag", 12, 16),
...
);
Create a function that parses the String detail by walking this list until when the size of the string is exhausted
... and of course storing the elements into a Map<String, String> so that you can access them later.
public Map<String, String> parseDetail(String detail) {
Map<String, String> receivedWords = new LinkedHashMap<>(); //<-- map respecting insertion order
if (detail.isEmpty()) {
return receivedWords;
}
int parsedLength = 0;
for (Word word : WORDS) {
receivedWords.put(word.getName(), detail.substring(word.getStartIndex(), word.getEndIndex()); //<-- store the current word
parsedLength += word.getEndIndex() - word.getStartIndex(); //increase the parsedLength by the length of your word
if (parsedLength >= detail.length()) {
break; //<-- exit the loop when you're done with the parsing
}
}
return receivedWords;
}
To sum up:
Map<String, String> receivedWords = parseDetail(detail);
receivedWords.forEach((k, v) -> {
System.out.println("Key: " + k + ", value: " + v);
});
Output:
Key: title, value: POTATO
Key: label, value: RANDOM
Key: tag, value: FOOD
...
Tip 1: The input you receive looks pretty weird. I understand that you cannot change it but I would try to negotiate with the caller (if possible) a better way to send you their input (ideally a structured object, if not possible at least a string with some separator so that you can simply split by that character).
Tip 2: I have defined the list of words statically in the code. But I would instead define an external file (e.g. a Json file, or an Xml, or even a simple text file) that you parse dynamically to create the list. That will allow someone else to configure this file with the words/start index/end index without you having to do it in the code each time there is a change.
You could simply check the length of the total string to see if it has the RANDOM and the FOOD attributes before using substring()
String title = "", label = "", tag = "";
if (detail.length() >= 6)
title = detail.substring(0, 6);
if (detail.length() >= 12)
label = detail.substring(6, 12);
if (detail.length() == 16)
tag = detail.substring(12,16);
I would suggest a regex aproach:
public static void main(String[] args) {
String detail = "POTATORANDOMFOODTODAY";
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("(.{0,6})(.{0,6})(.{0,4})(.{0,5})");
Matcher m = p.matcher(detail);
m.find();
String title = m.group(1);
String label = m.group(2);
String tag = m.group(3);
String day = m.group(4);
System.out.println("title: " + title + ", lable: " + label + ", tag: " + tag + ", day: " + day);
}
//output: title: POTATO, lable: RANDOM, tag: FOOD, day: TODAY
If you have a lots of groups I would suggest to use named captured groups. The approach above can particularly be difficult to maintain as adding or removing a group in the middle of the regex upsets the previous numbering used via Matcher#group(int groupNumber). Using named capturing groups:
public static void main(String[] args) {
String detail = "POTATORANDOMFOODTODAY";
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("(?<title>.{0,6})(?<label>.{0,6})(?<tag>.{0,4})(?<day>.{0,5})");
Matcher m = p.matcher(detail);
m.find();
String title = m.group("title");
String label = m.group("label");
String tag = m.group("tag");
String day = m.group("day");
System.out.println("title: " + title + ", lable: " + label + ", tag: " + tag + ", day: " + day);
}
//output: title: POTATO, lable: RANDOM, tag: FOOD, day: TODAY
If the string is dynamic then it can essentially contain basically anything and since there can possibly be no whitespace(s) in the string the only way to know what a specific word (substring) might be is to play the string against a 'word list'. You can quickly come to realize how pivotal even a single whitespace (or separator character) can be within a string. Using the String#substring() method is only good if you already know what all the words within the detail string happen to be.
The simple solution would be to set acceptable rules as to how a specific string should be received. After all, why would you want to accept a string that contains multiple words without a separator character of some type to begin with. If the string has whitespaces in it, to separate the words contained within that string, a mere:
String[] words = string.split("\\s+");
line of code would do the trick. Bottom line, get rid of that nonsense of accepting strings containing multiple words with no separation mechanism included, even if that separation mechanism is by making use of the underscore ( _ ) character (or some other character). Well...if you can.
I suppose sometimes we just can't modify how we're dealt things (something like taxes) and how we receive specific strings is simply out of our control. If this is the case then one way to deal with this dilemma is to work against an established Word-List. This word list can in in the size of a few words to hundreds of thousands of words. The situation you need to deal with will determine the word list size. If small enough the word list can be contained within a String Array or a collection like an ArrayList or List Interface. If really large however then the word list would most likely be contained within a Text file. The word list I most commonly use contains well over 370,000 individual words.
Here is an example of using a small Word-List contained within a List Interface:
String detail = "POTATORANDOMFOODTODAY";
List<String> wordList = Arrays.asList(new String[] {
"pumpkin", "carrot", "potato", "tomato", "lettus", "radish", "bean",
"pea", "food", "random", "today", "yesterday", "tomorrow",
});
// See if the detail string 'contains' any word-list words...
List<String> found = new ArrayList<>();
for (int i = 0; i < wordList.size(); i++) {
String word = wordList.get(i);
if (detail.toLowerCase().contains(word.toLowerCase())) {
found.add(word.toUpperCase());
}
}
/* Ensure the words within the list are in proper order.
That is, the same order as they are received within the
detail String. This is necessary since words from the
word-List can be found anywhere within the detail string. */
int startIndex = 0;
List<String> foundWords = new ArrayList<>();
String tmpStrg = "";
while (!tmpStrg.equals(detail)) {
for (int i = 0; i < found.size(); i++) {
String word = found.get(i);
if (detail.indexOf(word) == startIndex) {
foundWords.add(word);
startIndex = startIndex + word.length();
String procStrg = foundWords.toString().replace(", ", "");
tmpStrg = procStrg.substring(1, procStrg.length() - 1);
}
}
}
//Format and Display the required data
if (foundWords.isEmpty()) {
System.err.println("Couldn't find any required words!");
return; // or whatever...
}
String title = foundWords.get(0);
String label = foundWords.size() > 1 ? foundWords.get(1) : "N/A";
String[] tag = new String[1];
if (foundWords.size() > 2) {
tag = new String[foundWords.size()-2];
for (int i = 0; i < foundWords.size() - 2; i++) {
tag[i] = foundWords.get(i + 2);
}
}
else {
tag[0] = "N/A";
}
System.out.println("Title:\t" + title);
System.out.println("Label:\t" + label);
System.out.println("Tags:\t"
+ Arrays.toString(tag).substring(1, Arrays.toString(tag).length() - 1));
When the above code is run the console window would display:
Title: POTATO
Label: RANDOM
Tags: FOOD, TODAY
You can use the Stream API and use filter() method.
Then you use map() to apply your existing logic, that should do the trick.
Switch-cases could be an alternative but it adds more LoC but reduces the arrow code of all the nested ifs
I am writing a hangman program and one of the requirements to a hangman game is preventing the user from entering the same letter twice.
I have written the code for that, but the problem is every time I enter a letter it says it is already entered. I need to only say it when it is entered the second time. You guys have any suggestions? I've been trying to fix this for the past few hours, I figured I could ask on here to find some help. I already looked at another Stackoverflow question regarding something similar to this but all those solutions have the same result.
In Java, how can I determine if a char array contains a particular character?
I've tried something like this but it won't work either:
boolean contains = false;
for (char c : store) {
if (c == character) {
System.out.println("Already Entered");
contains = true;
break;
}
}
if (contains) {
// loop to top
continue;
}
SECOND CLASS-
public void hangman(String word, int life) {
KeyboardReader reader = new KeyboardReader();
char[] letter = new char[word.length()];
char[] store = new char[word.length()];
String guess;
int i = 0, tries = 0, incorrect = 0, count = 1, v = 0;
while (i < word.length()) {
letter[i] = '-';
I would just use the String.contains() method:
String aString = "abc";
char aChar = 'a';
return aString.contains(aChar + "");
To keep track of guessed letters you can use a StringBuffer, appending them using a StringBuffer.append() to append new letters (maintaining state) and use the StringBuffer.toString() method to get the String representation when you need to do the comparison above.
Since Java 1.5 the class String contains the method contains(). My idea is to collect all entered letters into a string variable and using above method:
// My code line
String letterAlreadyEntered = "";
// Your code line
char character = reader.readLine().charAt(0);
// My code line
if (letterAlreadyEntered.contains("" + character) == true) {
//Put code here what ever you want to do with existing letter
} else {
letterAlreadyEntered += character;
}
In my opinion, this is an easier way to check for occurrences than in arrays, where you have to write your own check method.
I need to get inputs to fill an array. My problem is I also need to check if the value I input does not exist already in the array. If exists I need to show a message that says bad grade. I believe I get stuck on the search loop I and Im not able no assign the value to the array If is not already there.
String[] course = new String[9];
int index = 0;
if (menu == 1) {
boolean found = true;
do {
value = (JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter course " + (index + 1)));
int pos = 0;
while (pos< course.length&& !found) {
if (value == course[index]) {
found = true;
} else {
pos++;
}
} // while
if(found == true) {
course[index] = value;
} else {
course[index]="";
}
if (course[index].equals("")) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Bad Course Name");
} else{
course[index] = (JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter course " + (index + 1)));
}
} while(course[index].equals("")); //last
}
The problem with your implementation is that once found is set to true, you never reset it back to false: it's a one-way street. That is why entering the first duplicate value prevents other non-duplicated values from being entered.
You can fix this by moving the declaration/initialization of found inside your do/while loop. However, a better approach would be defining a helper method that searches the array for you up to the specific position, and returns true if a duplicate is found:
private static boolean isDuplicate(String[] course, int maxIndex, String entry) {
...
}
Now the loop searching for duplicates would be hidden, along with the variable indicating the result. The code becomes more readable, too, because the name of the method tells the reader what happens inside.
Of course, you need to fix your string comparison: your code uses ==, which is not the way it is done in Java.
I have following code that needs something smart to deal with typed in chars and detection:
private final MultiWordSuggestOracle mySuggestions = new MultiWordSuggestOracle();
private final Set<String> mySuggestionsData = new HashSet<String>();
#UiHandler("suggestBox")
public void onKeyPress(KeyDownEvent event) {
if (Character.isLetterOrDigit(event.getCharCode())) {
char[] text = suggestBox.getText().trim().toCharArray();
if (text.length != 1) return;
for (char ch : text) {
if (!Character.isLetterOrDigit(ch)) {
return;
}
}
//load data from server into mySuggestionsData
}
}
The question has 3 parts:
How do you test pressed key against alphanumeric chars. Keep in mind this is GWT so I would rather not use regex ( but if there is no other option ...).
What is the best way to detect the length of text typed into the SuggestBox?
Is KeyDownEven the best choise? And why is it triggered twice when any key is pressed?
Instead of handling events, you should make your own SuggestOracle (possible wrapping a MultiSuggestOracle used as an internal cache) and check the query's length and "pattern" there to decide whether to call the server or not (and then give an empty list of suggestions as the response, or maybe a single suggestion being the exact query).
As a side note, I don't understand why you don't want to use a regex; either using the java.lang.String methods taking a regex as a String, or the com.google.gwt.regexp.shared.RegExp class.
1. I'd use KeyPressHandler instead of Up/Down handler.
As far as I understand, you are more interested to get what the user has typed but not the key that was actually pressed on the keyboard. Also, you can use Character.isDigit(c) and Character.isLetter(c) since KeyPressEvent.getCharCode() will return char (c).
2. Likely you want to check text length at some point (e.g. when user presses Enter), then
// handler block
if (c == KeyCodes.KEY_ENTER) {
int length = ((SuggestBox) event.getSource()).getText().length();
// take an action depending on length
}
// handler block continued
should fit.
3. See [1] and perhaps it's browser specific.
Edit: [1],[2] and [3] combined (using KeyUpHandler):
private static final int THREASHOLD = 2;
private String phrase = "";
...
searchBox.addKeyUpHandler(new KeyUpHandler() {
#Override
public void onKeyUp(KeyUpEvent event) {
String text = ((SuggestBox) event.getSource()).getText();
if (!phrase.equals(text)) {
if (text.length() >= THREASHOLD) {
boolean alphanum = true;
for (int i = 0; i < THREASHOLD; i++) {
char c = text.charAt(i);
if (!Character.isDigit(c) && !Character.isLetter(c)) {
alphanum = false;
break;
}
}
if (alphanum) {
//RPC (won't be called twice)
}
}
phrase = text;
}
}
});
I have here a String that contains the source code of a class. Now i have another String that contains the full name of a method in this class. The method name is e.g.
public void (java.lang.String test)
Now I want to retieve the source code of this method from the string with the class' source code. How can I do that? With String#indexOf(methodName) i can find the start of the method source code, but how do i find the end?
====EDIT====
I used the count curly-braces approach:
internal void retrieveSourceCode()
{
int startPosition = parentClass.getSourceCode().IndexOf(this.getName());
if (startPosition != -1)
{
String subCode = parentClass.getSourceCode().Substring(startPosition, parentClass.getSourceCode().Length - startPosition);
for (int i = 0; i < subCode.Length; i++)
{
String c = subCode.Substring(0, i);
int open = c.Split('{').Count() - 1;
int close = c.Split('}').Count() - 1;
if (open == close && open != 0)
{
sourceCode = c;
break;
}
}
}
Console.WriteLine("SourceCode for " + this.getName() + "\n" + sourceCode);
}
This works more or less fine, However, if a method is defined without body, it fails. Any hints how to solve that?
Counting braces and stopping when the count decreases to 0 is indeed the way to go. Of course, you need to take into account braces that appear as literals and should thus not be counted, e.g. braces in comments and strings.
Overall this is kind of a thankless endeavour, comparable in complexity to say, building a command line parser if you want to get it working really reliably. If you know you can get away with it you could cut some corners and just count all the braces, although I do not recommend it.
Update:
Here's some sample code to do the brace counting. As I said, this is a thankless job and there are tons of details you have to get right (in essence, you 're writing a mini-lexer). It's in C#, as this is the closest to Java I can write code in with confidence.
The code below is not complete and probably not 100% correct (for example: verbatim strings in C# do not allow spaces between the # and the opening quote, but did I know that for a fact or just forgot about it?)
// sourceCode is a string containing all the source file's text
var sourceCode = "...";
// startIndex is the index of the char AFTER the opening brace
// for the method we are interested in
var methodStartIndex = 42;
var openBraces = 1;
var insideLiteralString = false;
var insideVerbatimString = false;
var insideBlockComment = false;
var lastChar = ' '; // White space is ignored by the C# parser,
// so a space is a good "neutral" character
for (var i = methodStartIndex; openBraces > 0; ++i) {
var ch = sourceCode[i];
switch (ch) {
case '{':
if (!insideBlockComment && !insideLiteralString && !insideVerbatimString) {
++openBraces;
}
break;
case '}':
if (!insideBlockComment && !insideLiteralString && !insideVerbatimString) {
--openBraces;
}
break;
case '"':
if (insideBlockComment) {
continue;
}
if (insideLiteralString) {
// "Step out" of the string if this is the closing quote
insideLiteralString = lastChar != '\';
}
else if (insideVerbatimString) {
// If this quote is part of a two-quote pair, do NOT step out
// (it means the string contains a literal quote)
// This can throw, but only for source files with syntax errors
// I 'm ignoring this possibility here...
var nextCh = sourceCode[i + 1];
if (nextCh == '"') {
++i; // skip that next quote
}
else {
insideVerbatimString = false;
}
}
else {
if (lastChar == '#') {
insideVerbatimString = true;
}
else {
insideLiteralString = true;
}
}
break;
case '/':
if (insideLiteralString || insideVerbatimString) {
continue;
}
// TODO: parse this
// It can start a line comment, if followed by /
// It can start a block comment, if followed by *
// It can end a block comment, if preceded by *
// Line comments are intended to be handled by just incrementing i
// until you see a CR and/or LF, hence no insideLineComment flag.
break;
}
lastChar = ch;
}
// From the values of methodStartIndex and i we can now do sourceCode.Substring and get the method source
Have a look at:- Parser for C#
It recommends using NRefactory to parse and tokenise source code, you should be able to use that to navigate your class source and pick out methods.
You will have to, probably, know the sequence of the methods listed in the code file. So that, you can look for the method closing scope } which may be right above start of next method.
So you code might look like:
nStartOfMethod = String.indexOf(methodName)
nStartOfNextMethod = String.indexOf(NextMethodName)
Look for .LastIndexOf(yourMethodTerminator /*probably a}*/,...) between a string of nStartOfMethod and nStartOfNextMethod
In this case, if you dont know the sequence of methods, you might end up skipping a method in between, to find an ending brace.