Trouble will calling a method

[jonsamwell]

hi,

I'm fairly new to java and have been playing about with arrays, the below code inputs some details in an array then prints them out on screen the problem being i can't call the 'stockitem("a",1,2);' function from the main method.

Netbeans produces the error 'cannot find symbol' when i try to call the 'stockitem' function from the main method.

What am i doing wrong?

Any help will be great as i can't seem to figure it out.

Thanks very much

Jon

public class Main {

    class stockitem {
        
        String prod_id;
        int wieght;
        int cost;
     
        public void displaystockitem()
    {

        System.out.println("Product ID: "+prod_id);

        System.out.println("Wieght: "+wieght);

        System.out.println("Cost: "+cost);

    }
     
       public stockitem(String p,int w, int c) 
       {
           //creates stock list
   stockitem sl[] = new stockitem[3];  
           
           sl[0] = new stockitem("product_A", 3, 9);
           sl[1] = new stockitem("product_B", 1, 4);
           sl[2] = new stockitem("product_C", 5, 3);
           sl[3] = new stockitem("product_D", 2, 2);
           
           for(int i=0;i<2;i++)

    sl[i].displaystockitem();
    }

    }
    
   
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
         stockitem("a",1,1);      //error here?? 
            
        }
    }

[hardwired]

public class StockItem {
    String prod_id;
    int wieght;
    int cost;

     public StockItem(String p,int w, int c) {
         prod_id = p;
         wieght = w;
         cost = c;
    }
     
    public void displayStockItem() {
        System.out.println("Product ID: "+prod_id);
        System.out.println("Wieght: "+wieght);
        System.out.println("Cost: "+cost);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        //creates stock list
        StockItem[] sl = new StockItem[4];
        sl[0] = new StockItem("product_A", 3, 9);
        sl[1] = new StockItem("product_B", 1, 4);
        sl[2] = new StockItem("product_C", 5, 3);
        sl[3] = new StockItem("product_D", 2, 2);

       for(int i=0; i < sl.length; i++) {
           sl[i].displayStockItem();
       }
    }
}

[fishtoprecords]

What am i doing wrong?

you need StockItem to be the outer class.
Proper style says it should be stored in a file named StockItem.java

[jonsamwell]

Thanks,

So how do i call the class from the main method of the main.java file?

because at the moment nothing it happening its just compiling?

[fishtoprecords]

You need to (1) call the object from the standard main() function and (2) execute the compiled code.

You need something like:

public class StockItem {
  public StockItem ();
  public doSomething() {
   System.out.println("Hello world");
}

    /**
     * usual shell program entry point
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        StockItem si = new StockItem();
        si.doSomething();
    }
}

[jonsamwell]

cool got that

so i can't call this funciton from another *.java class then?

say main.java?

[Rooneyz]

You certainly can... As long as they are in the same package. When this isn't the case you can also do this but you will need an import statement.

Try to create a second class in the same project en compile both. Then try to access one class from the other one. Let us know if it's working

[udayadas]

Hi fellas,

Just replace the line which is giving compiler error with the following.(on the original post)

stockitem ss=new Main().new stockitem("a",1,1);

Hope compiles good.But I fear for a stack overflow exception in runtime.

[fishtoprecords]

Just replace the line which is giving compiler error with the following....

That might work, but its better to use the standard style, which I posted up thread, and is in every Java book that I've ever seen.

Using a common pattern makes it easier for the next programmer to figure out.

We don't want Java to be like AP/L, a write once, throw it away language

[udayadas]

You are right,

Further

public stockitem(String p,int w, int c)
{
//creates stock list
stockitem sl[] = new stockitem[3];

sl[0] = new stockitem("product_A", 3, 9);
sl[1] = new stockitem("product_B", 1, 4);
sl[2] = new stockitem("product_C", 5, 3);
sl[3] = new stockitem("product_D", 2, 2);

This is criminal....