Scanner loop doesn't cycle when hitting enter twice - java

boolean loop = false;
double numberOfStudents;
System.out.print("Enter a number: ");
if ((scnr.nextLine().trim().isEmpty()) ) {
loop = true;
}
while (loop) {
System.out.println("Enter a number");
if (scnr.hasNextDouble() ){
System.out.println("Loop has stopped");
numberOfStudents = scnr.nextDouble();
loop = false;
}
}
System.out.println("You're outside the loop!");
I'm trying to get the program to say "Enter a number" until the user has entered an actual number (no white spaces or letters or signs). When the user has entered a number, it sets numberOfStudents equal to that number and breaks out of the loop.
But if you hit enter twice, it doesn't iterate. It only displays "Enter a number" once.
What is wrong with the loop logic? Why isn't it looping until valid input is taken?

For the actual answer to your question of "Why doesn't 'Enter a number' display more than once?" see Tom's comment (update: Tom's answer).
I've rewritten your loop in a way which preserves your code, but also makes it a little easier to handle format exceptions (though at the risk of silently swallowing an exception -- should be acceptable for this use case).
Can be up to you to use this design, here is an SO post on why empty catch blocks can be a bad practice.
public static void main(String args[])
{
boolean loop = true;
double numberOfStudents;
Scanner scnr = new Scanner(System.in);
while(loop){
System.out.print("Enter a number: ");
String input = scnr.nextLine();
try{
numberOfStudents = Double.parseDouble(input);
loop = false;
}catch(NumberFormatException e){
}
}
System.out.println("You're outside the loop!");
}
Output:
Enter a number:
Enter a number:
Enter a number:
Enter a number: 50
You're outside the loop!

First of all: Since you're reading from System.in a call to the input stream will block until the user entered a valid token.
So let's check first scan using your scnr variable:
scnr.nextLine()
nextLine() reads everything til the next line delimiter. So if you just press return, then it will successfully read it and will perform the next stuff.
The next call is:
scnr.hasNextDouble()
This call expects a "real" token and ignores white spaces, except as a delimiter between tokens. So if you just press return again it doesn't actually read that input. So it still waits for more (for the first token). That is why it stucks in your loop and you won't get another "Enter a number" output.
You can fix that by either enter a real token, like a number, or by changing the loop like trobbins said.
I hope you now understand your program flow a bit more :).

While trobbins code basically solves your problem, it's bad practice to use exceptions for flow control.
I used a small regexp to check if the value is a number. But this example is not complete, it will still crash it the user enters for example two decimal points. So you would need to create a proper number check or just use integers where the check is much easier.
Someone in the comments pointed out that people may want to enter scientific notation like 5e10, so this would also be another case to check for. If this is just some code you need as a proof of concept or something quick and dirty, you can go with the exception handling method but in production code you should avoid using exceptions this way.
double numberOfStudents;
Scanner scnr = new Scanner(System.in);
while(true) {
System.out.print("Enter a number: ");
String input = scnr.nextLine().trim();
if(input.matches("^[0-9\\.]{1,}$")) {
System.out.println("Loop has stopped");
numberOfStudents = Double.parseDouble(input);
break;
}
}
System.out.println("You're outside the loop!");

The following code should help you:
double numberOfStudents = 0;
Scanner scnr = new Scanner(System.in);
boolean readValue = false; //Check if the valid input is received
boolean shouldAskForNumber = true; //Need to ask for number again? Case for Enter
do {
if (shouldAskForNumber) {
System.out.print("Enter a number:");
shouldAskForNumber = false;
}
if (scnr.hasNextDouble()) {
numberOfStudents = scnr.nextDouble();
readValue = true;
} else {
String token = scnr.next();
if (!"".equals(token.trim())) { //Check for Enter or space
shouldAskForNumber = true;
}
}
} while (!readValue);
System.out.printf("Value read is %.0f\n", numberOfStudents);
System.out.println("You're outside the loop!");
Update
Understood the following statement in question different way:
But if you hit enter twice, it doesn't loop back. It only displays
"Enter a number" once.
The code is set to print "Enter a number" only once if the user hits RETURN/ENTER or enters space character. You may remove the special check and use the code if needed.

import java.util.Scanner;
public class Testing {
public static boolean checkInt(String s)
{
try
{
Integer.parseInt(s);
return true;
} catch (NumberFormatException ex)
{
return false;
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
boolean loop = false;
double numberOfStudents;
Scanner scnr = new Scanner(System.in);
String input = "";
while (!(checkInt(input))) {
System.out.println("Enter a number");
input = scnr.nextLine();
}
numberOfStudents = Integer.parseInt(input);
System.out.println("Number of students: " + numberOfStudents );
}
}
//this code is working fine, if you want you check it out.
//In your code your taking another input if the first is an int/double; if the first input is not a number then you have mentioned to take input again..

Use a debugger to see what the code is actually doing. Here's a guide on debugging in Eclipse. After you have finished debugging your code, you will probably know what the problem is.

Below code will help you
boolean loop = true;
double numberOfStudents;
Scanner scnr = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter a number: ");
String input = scnr.nextLine();
while(!scnr.hasNextDouble()){
System.out.print("Enter a number: ");
try{
numberOfStudents = Double.parseDouble(input);
break;
}catch(NumberFormatException e){
}
input = scnr.nextLine();
}
System.out.println("You're outside the loop!");

The following code is working,
boolean loop = true;
double numberOfStudents;
Scanner scnr=new Scanner(System.in);
while(loop) {
System.out.println("Enter a number");
if ((scnr.nextLine().trim().isEmpty()) ) {
loop = true;
}
if (scnr.hasNextDouble() ){
System.out.println("Loop has stopped");
numberOfStudents = scnr.nextDouble();
loop = false;
}
}
System.out.println("You're outside the loop!");
The output is,
run:
Enter a number
hj
po
Enter a number
lhf
Enter a number
o
Enter a number
p
Enter a number
a
Enter a number
34
Loop has stopped
You're outside the loop!

You have to scan the next line if you want to get more values form the scanner again. The code should be like:
while (loop) {
System.out.println("Enter a number");
if(!(scnr.nextLine().trim().isEmpty())){
if (scnr.hasNextDouble() ){
System.out.println("Loop has stopped");
numberOfStudents = scnr.nextDouble();
loop = false;
}
}
}

Related

JAVA scanner causes if statement problems when using bag

I am new to JAVA and have been using IDE, to cut it short whenever I try to check if bag contains a string thats the same as the given input JAVA counts it as FALSE, even if the if statements such as "is input equal to 1" and "is 1 inside the bag" pass as true. here is an excerpt from my code, I would appreciate any help and advice.
//user input
System.out.println("Please enter a string (to exit, enter 'exit'): ");
a=sc.next();
if (a.equals("1")) {System.out.println("adpkgnosıfbgojadnofabsndofgna");}
if (ValidAnswers1.contains("1")) {System.out.println("adpkgnosıfbgojadnofabsndofgna");}
//error detection. after I learn bag it will become if bag contains string s.
if (ValidAnswers1.contains(a)) {correct_input=1;} else {correct_input=0;}
while (correct_input==0)
{
System.out.println("you entered:"+ a+".");
System.out.println("Please enter a valid string (to exit, enter 'exit')");
a = sc.next();
if (ValidAnswers1.contains(a)) {correct_input=1;} else {correct_input=0;}
}
the console prints out both the keymashes and then diverts into the while loop. I have checked to make sure the while loop is correct by testing with fixed variables, but when scanner is used it seems to have an error.
I didn't understand, what you really want, i did the test and a yet is working fine. take a look at the class, maybe is some error in the variables or something
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args){
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
String a;
String ValidAnswers1 = "1";
int correct_input = 0;
//user input
System.out.println("Please enter a string (to exit, enter 'exit'): ");
a = sc.next();
if (a.equals("1")) {
System.out.println("adpkgnosıfbgojadnofabsndofgna");
}
if (ValidAnswers1.contains("1")) {
System.out.println("adpkgnosıfbgojadnofabsndofgna");
}
//error detection. after I learn bag it will become if bag contains string s.
if (ValidAnswers1.contains(a)) {
correct_input=1;
} else {
correct_input=0;
}
while (correct_input==0) {
System.out.println("you entered:"+ a+".");
System.out.println("Please enter a valid string (to exit, enter 'exit')");
a = sc.next();
if (ValidAnswers1.contains(a)) {
correct_input=1;
} else {
correct_input=0;
}
}
}
Here is the output:
Please enter a string (to exit, enter 'exit'):
a
adpkgnos?fbgojadnofabsndofgna
you entered:a.
Please enter a valid string (to exit, enter 'exit')
1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUILD SUCCESS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Create a new Object Scan in the memmory
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
String input;
String[] validAnswers = new String[]{"1","2","3","exit"};
boolean isCorrect = false;
//The method equalsIgnoreCase means that the text can be in uppercase too;
/*The number between the tags "[]" means the number in the array since arrays
starts with number "0" */
do{
System.out.println("Please enter a string (to exit, enter 'exit'): ");
input = scan.next();
if(input.equalsIgnoreCase(validAnswers[0])){
isCorrect = true;
System.out.println("Number 1");
}else if(input.equalsIgnoreCase(validAnswers[1])){
isCorrect = true;
System.out.println("Number 2");
}else if(input.equalsIgnoreCase(validAnswers[2])){
isCorrect = true;
System.out.println("Number 3");
}else if(input.equalsIgnoreCase(validAnswers[3])){
isCorrect = true;
System.out.println("EXIT!");
//You could use the method System.exit(0) to finish the program;
//If you put "1" in the exit value means that the prgram finished with some error;
//System.exit(0);
}else{
//If the Answers is different from all of the others;
System.out.println("you entered: " + input +".");
System.out.println("Please enter a valid string (to exit, enter 'exit')");
}
}while(isCorrect != true);
//I used the method do{}while because it's the only method that will exacute at least once;
}

How to validate that input to Scanner is an int?

System.out.println("Enter your age here:");
setAge(sc.nextInt());
How can I validate that users' age is not a char or a negative number?
Ideally, if the users input anything but an int, the program would ask for the input again.
I have tried using a do-while, but doesn't seem to be working.
I am a beginner. Any help is super appreciated.
Thanks!
What you are doing with sc.nextInt() will only allow the user to enter an int or the program will throw an InputMismatchException (thus that part behaves the way you want). If you want to make sure the number isn't negative though, do this:
System.out.println("Enter your age here:");
while (!sc.hasNextInt()) {
System.out.println("Please enter an integer.");
sc.next();
}
int age = sc.nextInt();
if(age < 0) {
//do what you want if the number is negative
//if you're in a loop at this part of the program,
//you can use the continue keyword to jump back to the beginning of the loop and
//have the user input their age again.
//Just prompt them with a message like "invalid number entered try again" or something to that affect
}
else {
setAge(age);
//continue execution
}
The following block will do what you need:
int age;
System.out.println("Please enter an integer");
while (true) {
try{
age= scan.nextInt();
if (age<=0) throw new Exception("Negative number");
break;
} catch(Exception e){
System.out.println("Please enter a positive integer");
}
scan.nextLine();
}
// below just call
setAge(age);
I hope this helps.

InputMismatchException for String input into integer field

I am having trouble with entering non-integers into an integer field. I am only taking precautions so that if another person uses/works on my program they don't get this InputMismatchException.
When I enter a non-digit character into the input variable, I get the above error. Is there any way to compensate for this like one could do for a NullPointerException when it comes to strings?
This code is redacted just to include the relevant portions causing the problem.
import java.util.Scanner;
class MyWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner user_input = new Scanner(System.in);
int input = 0;
System.out.println("What is your age? : ");
input = user_input.nextInt();
System.out.println("You are: " +input+ " years old");
}
}
You can use an if statement to check if user_input hasNextInt(). If the input is an integer, then set input equal to user_input.nextInt(). Otherwise, display a message stating that the input is invalid. This should prevent exceptions.
System.out.println("What is your age? : ");
if(user_input.hasNextInt()) {
input = user_input.nextInt();
}
else {
System.out.println("That is not an integer.");
}
Here is some more information about hasNextInt() from Javadocs.
On a side note, variable names in Java should follow the lowerMixedCase convention. For example, user_input should be changed to userInput.
You can add a try-catch block:
import java.util.Scanner;
class MyWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner user_input = new Scanner(System.in);
int input = 0;
System.out.println("What is your age? : ");
try{
input = user_input.nextInt();
}catch(InputMisMatchException ex)
System.out.println("An error ocurred");
}
System.out.println("You are: " +input+ " years old");
}
}
If you want to provide the user to enter another int you can create a boolean variable and make a do-while loop to repeat it. As follows:
boolean end = false;
//code
do
{
try{
input = user_input.nextInt();
end = true;
}catch(InputMisMatchException ex)
System.out.println("An error ocurred");
end = false;
System.out.println("Try again");
input.nextLine();
}
}while(end == false);
This is a try-catch block. You need to use this if you want to be sure of not making the program-flow stop.
try {
input = user_input.nextInt();
}
catch (InputMismatchException exception) { //here you can catch that exception, so program will not stop
System.out.println("Integers only, please."); //this is a comment
scanner.nextLine(); //gives a possibility to try giving an input again
}
Test using hasNextInt().
Scanner user_input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("What is your age?");
if (user_input.hasNextInt()) {
int input = user_input.nextInt();
System.out.println("You are " + input + " years old");
} else {
System.out.println("You are a baby");
}
Use Scanner's next() method to get data instead of using nextInt(). Then parse it to integer using int input = Integer.parseInt(inputString);
parseInt() method throws NumberFormatException if it is not int, which you can handle accordingly.

Java scanner adding variable conditions

I'd like to ask how do i exactly condition what my program does if my user types in a character or a string if i want him to type an integer instead? I tried to do it how i showed here in quotes and also tried with "equals". The second method didn't work the first seems to be behaving strangely the IF part works but ELSE is completely ignored.
public static void main(String[] args){
Scanner input=new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter first integer: ");
int number1 = input.nextInt();// prompt
if (number1 == (char)number1){
System.out.println("Ok.");
}
else{
System.out.println("You were supposed to type in an int..");
System.exit(1);
}
System.out.print("Enter second integer: ");
int number2 = input.nextInt();// prompt
int sum =(number1 + number2);
System.out.printf("Your sum is: %d%n", sum);
}
I suggest you to use the regular expression in the hasNext() function as follows to have a finer control, for example use the following pattern if you look for the numbers,
sc.hasNext("[0-9]+")
Here is the documentation for the hasNext(String pattern) function,
public boolean hasNext(Pattern pattern)
Returns true if the next complete token matches the specified pattern. A complete token is prefixed and postfixed by input that matches the delimiter pattern. This method may block while waiting for input. The scanner does not advance past any input.
Here is the simple code to perform the check,
Scanner sc=new Scanner(System.in);
int input = 0;
while(true) {
System.out.println("enter a number");
if(sc.hasNext("[0-9]+")) {
input = sc.nextInt();
break;
} else {
System.out.println("not a number, try again");
sc.next(); // just consume, but ignore as its not a number
}
}
System.out.println("Entered number is : "+input);
You can use a user defined function as shown below and call it
public static boolean isNum(String input)
{
try
{
int d = Integer.parseInt(input);
}
catch(NumberFormatException e)
{
return false;
}
return true;
}
Then you can call this method from your main function.
if(isNum(number1))
I am not sure if I understand your question, but I see this as follows:
Users will always type a sequence of characters from the input, then your program has to check if that String can be converted to Int, if it can not be converted it should prompt back to the user telling the typed data is not an int. In that case your nextInt will throw an InputMismatchException.
Probably a much more elegant solution is to use hasNextInt(10):
public static void main(String[] args){
Scanner input=new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter first integer: ");
if (input.hasNextInt(10)){
System.out.println("Ok. Typed number: " + input.nextInt());
}else{
System.out.println("You were supposed to type in an int..");
System.exit(1);
}
[...]
}
Try this,
try {
int number1 = sc.nextInt();// prompt
System.out.println("Ok.");
} catch (InputMismatchException ex) {
System.out.println("You were supposed to type in an int..");
System.exit(1);
}
Scanner.nextInt(); Scans the next token of the input as an int.
Program won't execute beyond this line if input is not int.
So it will never enter else part. Don't do any int validation.
I would suggest always use try/catch block to handle incorrect input and show useful message. Also don't forget to close Scanner object.

Java: Using scanner to read in boolean values failing.

import java.util.Scanner;
public class Cardhelp2{
private static String[] pairArray={"A,A","K,K","Q,Q","J,J","10,10","9,9","8,8","7,7","6,6","5,5","4,4","3,3","2,2"};
public static void generateRandom(int k){
int minimum = 0;
int maximum = 13;
for(int i = 1; i <= k; i++)
{
int randomNum = minimum + (int)(Math.random()* maximum);
System.out.print("Player " + i +" , You have been dealt a pair of: ");
System.out.println(pairArray[randomNum]);
}
} //reads array and randomizes cards
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("How many players would you like to play with? ");
int m = scan.nextInt();
generateRandom(m);
//displays the cards
___________________________________________________
System.out.println("Would you like to play?");
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
if(scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("y")||scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("yes")) {
System.out.println("This will be fun");
} else if(scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("n")||scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("no")) {
System.out.println("Maybe next time");
} else {
System.out.println("Invalid character");
}
}
}
Im having trouble understanding why the end part is not working, I've been told i need to change scanner.next(); to a variable but im not sure how to do it and get the code working. Is there a simple way of reading in the users answer then displaying a response to the user?
Thanks
Your conditional expression
if(scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("y")||scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("yes"))
calls scanner.next() twice, which means the second call will read/wait for more input. Instead you need to call it only once, store the result and use that in the comparison:
String tmp = scanner.next();
if(tmp.equalsIgnoreCase("y")||tmp.equalsIgnoreCase("yes"))
Let's assume the user inputs "yes".
At
if(scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("y")||scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("yes")) {
Scanner.next() produces "yes" in the first test. So the code is effectively
"yes".equalsIgnoreCase("y")
Which is false, so it moves to the next test:
scanner.next().equalsIgnoreCase("yes")
Here's where your issue is.
the "yes" entered has already been consumed by the first test. Now the Scanner has nothing in the buffer.
If you want to test the SAME input again, you must capture it, and use that in your tests.
So
String userReply= Scanner.next();
if(userReply.equalsIgnoreCase("y")||userReply.equalsIgnoreCase("yes")) {...
This is becauswe, with each call to scanner.next(), the Scanner returns the next value in the stream, and then MOVES PAST IT
If the user had entered "yes" and then "no", the tests would be performed like this:
if("yes".equalsIgnoreCase("y")||"no".equalsIgnoreCase("yes")) {...
You need change the way of Scanner's calls.
The user input \n and Scanner seems don't follow with the next token. Then you need read line by line.
:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("How many players would you like to play with? ");
int m = Integer.parseInt(sc.nextLine()); // May thrown NumberFormatException
generateRandom(m);
//displays the cards
System.out.print("Would you like to play? ");
String input = sc.nextLine();
if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("y") || input.equalsIgnoreCase("yes")) {
System.out.println("This will be fun");
} else if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("n") || input.equalsIgnoreCase("no")) {
System.out.println("Maybe next time");
} else {
System.out.println("Invalid character");
}
}

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