Java Inheritance - Getting a Parameter from Parent Class - java

I'm trying to take one parameter from the parent class of Car and add it to my array (carsParked), how can i do this?
Parent Class
public class Car
{
protected String regNo; //Car registration number
protected String owner; //Name of the owner
protected String carColor;
/** Creates a Car object
* #param rNo - registration number
* #param own - name of the owner
**/
public Car (String rNo, String own, String carColour)
{
regNo = rNo;
owner = own;
carColor = carColour;
}
/** #return The car registration number
**/
public String getRegNo()
{
return regNo;
}
/** #return A String representation of the car details
**/
public String getAsString()
{
return "Car: " + regNo + "\nColor: " + carColor;
}
public String getColor()
{
return carColor;
}
}
Child Class
public class Carpark extends Car
{
private String location; // Location of the Car Park
private int capacity; // Capacity of the Car Park - how many cars it can hold
private int carsIn; // Number of cars currently in the Car Park
private String[] carsParked;
/** Constructor for Carparks
* #param loc - the Location of the Carpark
* #param cap - the Capacity of the Carpark
*/
public Carpark (String locations, int room)
{
location = locations;
capacity = room;
}
/** Records entry of a car into the car park */
public void driveIn()
{
carsIn = carsIn + 1;
}
/** Records the departure of a car from the car park */
public void driveOut()
{
carsIn = carsIn - 1;
}
/** Returns a String representation of information about the carpark */
public String getAsString()
{
return location + "\nCapacity: " + capacity +
" Currently parked: " + carsIn +
"\n*************************\n";
}
}
Last Question Method
public String getCarsByColor (String carColour)
{
for (int num = 0; num < carsParked.length; num++)
{
if ( carColour.equals(carsParked[num]) )
{
System.out.print (carsParked[num]);
}
}
return carColour;
}
I have this so far so that if "red" is put in the parameters, it would list all the cars with the color red and it's corresponding information but does not seem to work ~_~.

You seem to have the wrong relationship here: a car park is not a car. I would recommend against using inheritance in either direction between these classes. And Carpark should probably just have an array or collection of cars.
Also note that the parameter carsIn isn't necessary - just get the length of the array of cars (or size() if it's a Collection).
Edit: Okay, ignoring the inheritance part, it seems like it makes sense to add cars when driveIn is called, and remove them when driveOut is called.
driveIn should probably take a Car as an argument, so the method can access the parameter you want to store (personally I would just store Car references, but fine). Since we're going to be adding and removing these parameters, it'll be much easier to use a List that can resize itself instead of an array, like ArrayList. For example:
private final List<String> carsRegNosParked = new ArrayList<String>();
public void driveIn(Car car) {
carsRegNosParked.add(car.getRegNo());
}
It's less clear what driveOut should do. It could take a specific registration number to remove:
public void driveOut(String regNo) {
carsRegNosParked.remove(regNo);
}
Or it could just indiscriminately remove a car, say the first car added:
public void driveOut() {
if (!carsRegNosParked.isEmpty()) {
carsRegNosParked.remove(0);
}
}
Note the difference between remove(Object) and remove(int).

First change carsParked to a list. So:
private String[] carsParked;
becomes
private List<String> carsParked;
Then in you constructor initialize it to an empty list by doing:
carsParked = new ArrayList();
Then in your drive in method, make it take a car parameter and pull the param you want:
public void driveIn(Car car) {
carsParked.add(car.getRegNo());
}
Also you do not need to keep track of the number of cars this way. Since you could always do carsParked.size() to find out.
Now I would probably change that list to be List<Car> instead of string and just dump the whole car in there. Sure you may only need one item right now, but who knows down the road, maybe you will need something else.
EDIT:
Sure you could do it with an simple array. The issue with that is sizing. Say you initially create an array of size 5, when you go to add the 6 item you will need to create a new larger array, copy the original data, then add the new item. Just more work. Now if the idea is you have a carpark, and it can have X number of spots then you initilize your array to that size from the begining.
public Carpark (String locations, int room){
location = locations;
capacity = room;
//this creates an array with the max number of spots
carsParked = new String[capacity];
//also good idea to init
carsIn = 0; //initial number of cars parked
}
then in your driveIn() method:
public void driveIn(Car car) {
carsParked[carsIn] =car.getRegNo();
carsIn=carsIn+1;
}
now driveOut()
public void driveOut(Car car) {
//loop through the array until we find the car
for (int i=0; i < carsParked.length; i=i+1){
if (car.getRegNo().equals(carsParked[i])){
//we found the car, so set the space null
carsParked[i] = null;
carsIn=carsIn-1;
//stop looping now
break;
}
}
}
Looks nice doesn't it. Well no it is not. Now the driveIn will not work, since we have null spots scattered all over the place. How do we fix it:
public void driveIn(Car car) {
//loop through the array until we find a null spot,
//then park the car
for (int i=0; i < carsParked.length; i=i+1){
if (carsParked[i] == null){
//we found the car, so set the space null
carsParked[i] = car.getRegNo();
carsIn=carsIn+1;
//stop looping now
break;
}
}
}
It could still be improved further. I would probably still change String[] carsParked to Car[] carsParked as to not throw away information.
I would also change the driveIn and driveOut methods to return booleans to indicate if the successfully parked or un-parked a car.
Final Edit:
Okay, if you want to keep track of what cars are parked in the car park and which spot they are in you need to know enough about each car to make it unique. In your case you may only need regNo. So when you call driveIn or driveOut you have to pass that information so we can store it at the appropriate index (parking spot) in the array. Otherwise all you will know is a car was parked somewhere, or that a car left. Not which spots are open.
So in short the parameter Car car in those two methods contain the information needed to uniquely identify each car that is being parked, or is leaving. Without it the car park instance would have no clue who is currently parked, or where they are parked.

Related

How to call a method on an array from the same class

I have a ParkingLot class with a getEmptySpaces() method that applies to ParkingLot objects, which are arrays of Car objects.
I want to call lot.getEmptySpaces(), but my IDE, Netbeans, throws a fit if I give it an array rather than a specific item. lot[1].getEmptySpaces() compiles fine, but crashes when it runs, as expected, since it's supposed to receive an array, not a null.
How do I call a method on an array defined by the same class?
// Main
ParkingLot[] lot = new ParkingLot[10];
lot[1].getEmptySpaces(); // compiles but doesn't run
lot.getEmptySpaces(); // what i want to run but doesn't
// Car class
public class Car {
private String color;
private String licensePlate; // lp #
public Car(String color, String licensePlate) {
this.color = color;
this.licensePlate = licensePlate;
}
/**
* #return the color
*/
public String getColor() {
return color;
}
/**
* #param color the color to set
*/
public void setColor(String color) {
this.color = color;
}
/**
* #return the licensePlate
*/
public String getLicensePlate() {
return licensePlate;
}
/**
* #param licensePlate the licensePlate to set
*/
public void setLicensePlate(String licensePlate) {
this.licensePlate = licensePlate;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return "Car{" + "color=" + color + ", licensePlate=" + licensePlate + '}';
}
}
// ParkingLot class
public class ParkingLot {
private Car[] spaces; // lp=000000 color=none will represent an empty space
private int currentIndex;
/**
* Creates a parkingLot object
*
* #param size how many spaces are needed in the parking lot
*/
public ParkingLot(int size) {
// Array Example: String[] arr = new String[20];
this.spaces = new Car[size];
this.currentIndex = 0;
}
public int getEmptySpaces(){
int emptySpaces = 0;
for(int i = 0; i < spaces.length; i++){
if (spaces[i] == null){
emptySpaces++;
}
}
return emptySpaces;
}
/**
* Adds a car to the parking lot
*
* #param car the car to be added to the parking lot
*/
public void addCar(Car car){
spaces[currentIndex] = car;
currentIndex++;
}
}
ParkingLot[] lot = new ParkingLot[10];
It feels like you imagine this creates a single parking lot with 10 spaces.
It doesn't.
It creates a plot of land upon which up to 10 parking lots can be placed, though none are there yet (a ParkingLot is an object, if you want one to exist, somebody, somewhere, must invoke new ParkingLot(), or no parking lot objects exist).
lot[1].getEmptySpaces()
This goes to the second lot (java is 0-indexed, so, lot[1] is the second lot), and asks it: Oi, how much free space is there? Given that you're yelling this at an empty space where a parking lot can be, but isn't, you get a NullPointerException.
lot.getEmptySpaces();
This makes no sense at all. How can you ask 10 parking lots at once? Even worse, how can you ask a bit of terrain reserved for 10 parking lots, but where no lots exist right now?
Relevant:
for (int i = 0; i <lots.size; i++) lots[i] = new ParkingLot();
The problem I was having was that I created an array of ParkingLot objects. I only needed one ParkingLot, not 10.
My code should have been:
ParkingLot lot = new ParkingLot[10];
Instead of:
ParkingLot[] lot = new ParkingLot[10];
It was just a typo, like usual.

Using arrayList pointers instead of multiple loops?

I am trying to write a program that contains many classes and in one class called "Dorm",I have an arrayList of Blocks,and in the "Block" class,I have an arrayList of Rooms,and in the "Room" class,I have an arrayList of "Students".
I am trying to access the number of available rooms(the rooms that at least have one empty space) through another class called the "Manager class". I have been told that I can just create another arrayList in the manager class to be used as a pointer and search up the empty rooms of the whole dormitory.
My question is,how is this going to work?
ps:This is what I wrote:
public static void availableRooms() { //Shows the available rooms in the dormitory.
Dorms dormitory = new Dorms();
Room room1 = new Room();
for(int i=0;i<dormitory.getBlocks().size();i++)
for(int j=0;j<Block.getRoomList().size();j++) {
if(!(room1.getStudentList().get(room1.getRoomCapacity()).equals(null)))
System.out.print("/t" + room1.getStudentList().get(i) + "/t");
}
}
My code isn't complete yet,so I'm not sure if it works...
Could you share your code/tentative? and clearly specify what's not working?
This being said, unless tied to specific constraints, one should make use of encapsulation and single responsibility principle (see SOLID on wiki) by keeping implementation details private and delegating tasks to the more relevant classes.
You may have something like:
class Dorm {
private List<Block> blocks = ...
...
public int getAvailableRooms() {
int total = 0;
for (Block b : blocks) {
total += b.getAvailableRooms();
}
return total;
}
}
class Block {
private List<Room> rooms = ....
...
public int getAvailableRooms() {
int total = 0;
for (Room r : rooms) {
if (! r.isFull()) {
total++;
}
}
}
class Room {
private int capacity = ...
private List<Student> students = ..
...
public boolean isFull() {
return capacity == students.size();
}
}
Where the Manager class, holding (an) instance(s) of Dorm, just make use of the getAvailableRooms() method which behind the scene delegate to the underlining Blocks and aggregate result... and so on.

Fundamental misunderstanding of objects and attributes in Java

I'm sitting on an assignment for university and I'm at a point, where I fear I haven't really understood something fundamental in the concecpt of Java or OOP altogether. I'll try to make it as short as possible (maybe it's sufficient to just look at the 3rd code segment, but I just wanted to make sure, I included enough detail). I am to write a little employee management. One class within this project is the employeeManagement itself and this class should possess a method for sorting employees by first letter via bubblesort.
I have written 3 classes for this: The first one is "Employee", which contains a name and an ID (a running number) , getter and setter methods and one method for checking whether the first letter of one employee is smaller (lower in the alphabet) than the other. It looks like this:
static boolean isSmaller(Employee source, Employee target) {
char[] sourceArray = new char[source.name.length()];
char[] targetArray = new char[target.name.length()];
sourceArray = source.name.toCharArray();
targetArray = target.name.toCharArray();
if(sourceArray[0] < targetArray[0])
return true;
else
return false;
}
I tested it and it seems to work for my case. Now there's another class called EmployeeList and it manages the employees via an array of employees ("Employee" objects). The size of this array is determined via constructor. My code looks like this:
public class EmployeeList {
/*attributes*/
private int size;
private Employee[] employeeArray;
/* constructor */
public EmployeeList(int size) {
this.employeeArray = new Employee[size];
}
/* methods */
public int getSize() {
return size;
}
public void setSize(int size) {
this.size = size;
}
/* adds employee to end of the list. Returns false, if list is too small */
boolean add(Employee m) {
int id = m.getID();
if (id > employeeArray.length) {
return false;
} else {
employeeArray[id] = m;
return true;
}
}
/* returns employee at certain position */
Employee get(int index) {
return employeeArray[index];
}
/* Sets employee at certain position. Returns null, if position doesn't exist. Else returns old value. */
Employee set(int index, Employee m) {
if (employeeArray[index] == null) {
return null;
} else {
Employee before = employeeArray[index];
employeeArray[index] = m;
return before;
}
}
Now comes my real problem: In a third class called "employeeManagement" I am supposed to implement the sorting algorithm. The class looks like this:
public class EmployeeManagement {
private EmployeeList ml = new EmployeeList(3);
public boolean addEmployee(Employee e) {
return ml.add(e);
}
public void sortEmployee() {
System.out.println(ml.getSize()); // I wrote this for debugging, exactly here lies my problem
for (int n = ml.getSize(); n > 1; n--) {
for (int i = 0; i < n - 1; i++) {
if (Employee.isSmaller(ml.get(i), ml.get(i + 1)) == false) {
Employee old = ml.set(i, ml.get(i + 1));
ml.set(i+1, old);
}
}
}
}
The "println" before my comment returns "0" in console... I am expecting "3" as this is the size I gave the "EmployeeList" as parameter of the constructor within my "EmployeeManagement" class. Where is my mistake ? And how can I access the size of the object I created in the "EmployeeManagement" class (the "3") ? I'm really looking forward to your answers!
Thanks,
Phreneticus
You are not storing size in your constructor. Something like,
public EmployeeList(int size) {
this.employeeArray = new Employee[size];
this.size = size; // <-- add this.
}
Also, setSize isn't going to automatically copy (and grow) the array. You will need to copy the array, because Java arrays have a fixed length. Finally, you don't really need size here since employeeArray has a length.
The size variable you are calling is the class field. If you take a quick look at your code, the getter is getting the field (which is initialized as zero when created). The size you are using it. The good way of doing it would be to get the size of the array in the getter like this:
public int getSize() {
return employeeArray.length;
}
This would return the size of the array in the object.

Error: Constructor Room in class Room cannot be applied to given types

I am completely new to java. I have searched for hours upon hours for the solution to this problem but every answer involves passing args or using a void which I do not do in this situation.
I have two java files, one for Room class, and one for TourHouse class. I am trying to create a new Room in the TourHouse class. Here is my error, it's driving me nuts, I've tried everything I am capable of understanding. Thank you in advance.
HouseTour.java:15: error: constructor Room in class Room cannot be applied to given
types;
{
^
required: String, String
found: no arguments
reason: actual and formal arguments differ in length
Here is the Room class, will have 7 rooms total once I can figure this out
// Room.java
import java.util.*;
public class Room
{
// Define Instance Variables
private String name;
private String description;
// Define Constructor
public Room(String theName, String theDescription)
{
name = theName;
description = theDescription;
}
public String toString( )
{
return "The " + name + "\n" + description + "\n";
}
}
Here is the HouseTour class
import java.util.*;
public class HouseTour extends Room
{
// Define Variables
public Room[ ] rooms = new Room[7];
//Define Constructor
public HouseTour( )
{
rooms[0] = new Room("Living Room", "Mayonnaise and Brill Grates, Michaelsoft");
rooms[1] = new Room("Basement", "Hopefully no dead bodies down here...");
}
// this is horrible and not right
public String rooms( )
{
for (int i = 0; i <=7; i++)
{
String output = "House Rooms included in tour\n";
String output2 = output + rooms.toString() + "\n";
return output2;
}
}
}
EDIT: Solved but still need help here because I am complete n00b, :(
// this is horrible and not right
public String rooms( )
{
output = "House Rooms included in tour\n";
for (int i = 0; i <=7; i++)
{
output += rooms[i]; // I can't do this but how do i?
}
return output.toString(); // do I do this?
}
}
What I am doing is trying to learn java by converting the ruby projects I have created. So in ruby you say:
def rooms
output = "House Rooms included in tour\n"
#rooms.each do |r|
output += r.to_s + "\n"
end
return output
end
Edit: Still trying, any ideas?
added public String s; and public String output; to declarations
// this is horrible and not right
public String rooms( )
{
s = ""
output = "House Rooms included in tour\n";
for (int i = 0; i <=7; i++)
{
s += rooms[i];
}
s.toString() // I don't know
return output + s; // do I do this?
}
}
Edit: Solved thanks to Hovercraft Full Of Eels
Ah, I see your problem: HouseTour extends Room. Don't do this! HouseTour is not a more specific case of a Room type and so should not extend this class. It does not fulfill the "is-a" rule, and would be similar to trying to define Bus as a child class of SchoolKid. Just like a Bus isn't a type of SchoolKid but rather contains SchoolKids, a HouseTour isn't a Room but rather contains Rooms. It fulfills the has-a relationship, not the is-a relationship.
If the inheritance were proper in this situation, your HouseTour constructor would need to call the Room super constructor and pass in two String parameters:
// Don't do this!!!
public class HouseTour extends Room {
public HouseTour() {
super("foo", "bar");
....
}
But having said that, again inheritance is not proper here -- just get rid of extends Room, and you're home free.
e.g.,
public class HouseTour { // no extends!
private Room[] rooms; // has-a not is-a
public HouseTour() {
// don't call super here
}
Also, as per my comment, this will give you ugly output: rooms.toString()
Instead iterate through the Array and get the toString() result from each Room item in the array.
Edit
Suggestions on your rooms() method:
Create a String or StringBuilder before the loop.
Build up the String or StringBuilder inside the loop.
Return the String or StringBuilder#toString after the loop.
Inside of the loop get the toString() from the current Room item in the list.
You will need to check that the rooms[i] item isn't null before calling a method on it.
Edit 2
You state that this:
public String rooms( )
{
output = "House Rooms included in tour\n";
for (int i = 0; i <=7; i++)
{
output += rooms[i]; // I can't do this but how do i?
}
return output.toString(); // do I do this?
}
is causing problems, but you don't specify the problem.
Myself, I'd do something like:
public String rooms( ) {
// declare your String locally, not globally in the class
String output = "House Rooms included in tour\n";
// again, avoid using "magic" numbers like 7
for (int i = 0; i < rooms.length; i++) {
output += rooms[i].toString(); // **** you must extract Room's String
}
return output; // no need to call toString() on a String
}

Java: How do i create objects in a static method and also call for methods from another class?

I am doing this Java assignment for hours and stuck with this tester class for very almost 5 hours.
In this assignment, I have created a Product class, a Money class, a LineItem class and an Inventory class. Now i need to create a test class to test the program by putting new lineitems into the inventory array.
In the tester class, I am trying to create a static method public static void addTestItems(Inventory theInventory) which suppose to add 4 items. For each item I will need to create a product object followed by a LineItem object to contain the newly created product. next i need to use a method from the inventory class to add the items into the array in the inventory class.
What i have tried too so far:
private static void addTestItems(Inventory theInventory)
{
Inventory[] _items;
Product product1 = new Product("Book","Objects first with Java"," An excellent introductory Java textbook");
Product product2 = new Product("CD","The dark side of the moon","The all-time classic Pink Floyd album");
Product product3 = new Product("DVD", "Transformers","Robots in disguise");
Product product4 = new Product("Laptop","Lenovo T42","A good yet affordabble laptop");
Money unitPrice1 = new Money(29,99);
Money unitPrice2 = new Money(4,99);
Money unitPrice3 = new Money(9,99);
Money unitPrice4 = new Money(450,0);
_items[0] = new LineItem(product1,5,unitPrice1);
_items[1] = new LineItem(product2,8,unitPrice2);
_items[2] = new LineItem(product3,200,unitPrice3);
_items[3] = new LineItem(product4,9,unitPrice4);
}
The current error is incompatible types- found LineItem but expected Inventory so i tried changing Inventory[] _items; to LineItem[] _items;. But the error was variable _items may not be initialise.
Sorry guys I am a real noob in Java, I tried searching on-line for ages but I do not quite understand most results. The only one i understand was http://forums.devshed.com/java-help-9/bluej-compiler-error-cannot-find-symbol-variable-object-688573.html but i tired putting into my context but failed. I also found lot of results but they had constructors and instance variables in them which my teacher specifically mentioned that I will not need them.
Wonder if expert could guide me along like let me know my mistakes. Thanks thanks.
The inventory class:
/**
* In the Inventory class, it is merely to create a list / array of product which allows the information from the linitem to be put with an index.
* For example, for the first product, we can use the inventory class to input it into the index 1. and he next product into index 2 and so on.
* It is suse to create an array and inputing the lineitem information into it.
*
* #author (your name)
* #version (a version number or a date)
*/
public class Inventory
{
// instance variables - replace the example below with your own
private LineItem[] _items;
private int _numItems;
/**
* Constructor for objects of class Inventory
*/
public Inventory()
{
// initialise instance variables
_items = new LineItem[1000];
_numItems = 0;
}
/**
* An example of a method - replace this comment with your own
*
* #param y a sample parameter for a method
* #return the sum of x and y
*/
public void addItem(LineItem item)
{
_items[_numItems]= item;
_numItems++;
}
public String toString()
{
String result="";
int i=0;
while (i < _numItems)
{
result = result + _items[i] + "/n";
i++;
}
return result;
}
public void print()
{
String myResult=this.toString();
System.out.println(myResult);
}
public Money getTotalValue()
{
int i=0;
Money total= new Money(0);
while (i<_items.length)
{
total = total.add(Money.NO_MONEY);
i++;
}
return total;
}
public LineItem getItem(String productName)
{
int i = 0;
LineItem itemDetails = null;
while (i<_items.length)
{
if (_items[i].equals(productName))
{
itemDetails= _items[i];
}
else
{
//do nothing
}
i++;
}
return itemDetails;
}
}
I have yet to comment on the methods yet but will do so once i understand it.
Your array is of type Inventory[] - but you're trying to assign references of type LineItem. You're also not initializing it. Change this:
Inventory[] _items;
to this:
LineItem[] _items = new LineItem[5];
And all should be well - although you're not using index 0 (which is why you need it to be size 5) and you're not doing anything with the array afterwards either...
Another alternative to using an array is to use a List:
List<LineItem> items = new ArrayList<LineItem>();
items.add(new LineItem(product1, 5, unitPrice1));
items.add(new LineItem(product2, 8, unitPrice2));
items.add(new LineItem(product3, 200, unitPrice3));
items.add(new LineItem(product4, 9, unitPrice4));
... next think about what you actually want to do with the items variable.
LineItem[] _items = new LineItem[4];
then the index starts from 0 not from 1,
_items[4]
will return indexoutofbounds error
A few things:
incompatible types- found LineItem but expected Inventory
is caused by the fact that your array is supposed to contain Inventory objects but you're assigning LineItems to it instead
variable _items may not be initialise
means that you have your _items object but you haven't initialized it to anything. You want to do
LineItem[] _items = new LineItem[4];
PS: If you want dynamically sized arrays, don't know how many line items you'll potentially load, etc etc use a vector or a collection or something along those lines.
Also,
_items[1] = new LineItem(product1,5,unitPrice1);
_items[2] = new LineItem(product2,8,unitPrice2);
_items[3] = new LineItem(product3,200,unitPrice3);
_items[4] = new LineItem(product4,9,unitPrice4);
In Java, array elements start with index 0 and not 1
_items
is a wonky variable name that makes your team mates sneeze in your coffee

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