Need help with scanner.

[mainy]

Hello Java Forums, I need your help once again ^^

I have finally given up with this. I know exactly what is going wrong but I can't work out a solution. I have a text file called names.txt with the following information:

John 18
Richard 22
Harry 21

I need to make a method that when sent the word "John" will return the number "18". So far I have been trying to do this using scanner without much luck. Here is the code I have so far:

public double search (String nameEnter){
         double age = 0;

        File fis = new File("C:/.....names.txt");

          try{
              Scanner sc = new Scanner(fis);
        while (sc.hasNext()) {


           if (sc.hasNext(nameEnter))      {


                   if (sc.hasNextDouble()){
                       age = sc.nextDouble();
                   }
           }

            String draft = new String();
            draft = sc.next();
           }


          }
          catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
          e.printStackTrace();
        }



        return age;

}

I think I know why it isnt working, but It's hard to explain. I have tried all different combinations including a second loop inside. The more I think about it I dont know if this approach is even possible. If this way is too messy and complicated, what alternatives do I have? I was thinking of either using a SQL database or using array lists.

Thank you

[Fubarable]

This sounds like you need to use a HashMap<String, Integer> collection. This works like a dictionary. You look up the String "John" and it should return 18 if this pair was entered.

[CJSLMAN]

Here are some links to help you....
HashMap API = HashMap (Java Platform SE 6)
HashMap example = Java HashMap Example
ANother example = Creating a Hash Table (Java Developers Almanac Example)

Luck,
CJSL

[mainy]

Thats great, i'll have a look at them and see what I can find.

Thank you