Using the return statement to display a string

[Hoverboy]

I was assigned this program for homework, and everything works fine, except where I try to use return to display the words " is stopping." I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. Here's the code, and some background on the purpose of the assignment below:

public class Elevators
	{
		public static void main (String[] args)
		{
			ElevatorController eastelevator = new ElevatorController();
			ElevatorController westelevator = new ElevatorController();
			ElevatorController northelevator = new ElevatorController();

			
			eastelevator.move_up();
			westelevator.move_down();
			ElevatorController.stop_elevator(eastelevator);
			northelevator.move_up();
			ElevatorController.stop_elevator(westelevator);
			ElevatorController.stop_elevator(northelevator);			

		}
			
	}


class ElevatorController
{
	public static String stop_elevator(ElevatorController elevator_name)
		{
		elevator_name.report_elevator_name();
		String stopper = " is stopping!";
		return stopper;
		}
	

	public void move_up()
		{
		System.out.println(this + " moving up!");
		}
	

	public void move_down()
		{
		System.out.println(this + " moving down!");
		}
	

	private void report_elevator_name()
		{
		System.out.println(this);
		}
}

I'm incredibly new to both programming and java, so I'm sure this question seems ridiculous, but I'm stuck!

My homework assignment was to make a program which displayed this text:

ElevatorController@72e3b895 moving up!
ElevatorController@446b7920 moving down!
ElevatorController@72e3b895 is stopping!
ElevatorController@6bdd46f7 moving up!
ElevatorController@446b7920 is stopping!
ElevatorController@6bdd46f7 is stopping!

The professor provided the method signatures he wanted us to use, and when I finished the code everything displayed properly except the parts that say " is stopping!" I've been stuck trying to figure out why forever.

Thanks so much for your help!

[venerik]

Stop_elevator is a static class method and you are using it as such as well. As static class method can be invoked without needing an instance of that class. But that also means you cannot use attributes or non static methods of that class.

Where this all comes down to is: ElevatorController.stop_elevator(eastelevator) will not work.

Why did you declare stop_elevator as static and why is the inner working of this method completely different from the other methods?

Cheers,
Erik

[Hoverboy]

Thanks for responding! My professor instructed us to declare it as static, and to make it different from the others. He wrote in the assignment:

In the class ElevatorController, provide the following methods with the following signatures:

public static String stop_elevator(ElevatorController elevator_name)
public void move_up()
pulic void move_down()
priavte void report_elevator_name() // the reason this method is private will be discussed at a later date

Then he wrote:

# stop_elevator(). The static method stop_elevator() has the name of an ElevatorController object as its argument. That name is elevator_name and it will (temporarily) hold the same reference as the ElevatorController object we "send" to the method each time we invoke it. Within the method, you must invoke the report_elevator_name() method. Because the method is Static you cannot use this. So, you would use the the syntax elevator_name.report_elevator_name(); then, on the next line of your program, your method will conclude with the statement: return " is stopping!";

Right now my output looks like this:

ElevatorController@72e3b895 moving up!
ElevatorController@446b7920 moving down!
ElevatorController@72e3b895
ElevatorController@6bdd46f7 moving up!
ElevatorController@446b7920
ElevatorController@6bdd46f7

[mine0926]

Try to add String that will hold the returned value of stop_elevator(ElevatorController elevator_name)

String east_stop = ElevatorController.stop_elevator(eastelevator);
System.out.println(east_stop);

[Hoverboy]

Thanks so much, that worked really well!

Is it possible to make " is stopping" display on the same line as the reference to the elevator? I keep trying to find ways to make two pieces of output display on one line, but all I find is how to concatenate two strings. I missed a couple classes and it's a compressed half-semester course, so I'm struggling hard to catch up! I

[mine0926]

Thanks so much, that worked really well!

Is it possible to make " is stopping" display on the same line as the reference to the elevator? I keep trying to find ways to make two pieces of output display on one line, but all I find is how to concatenate two strings. I missed a couple classes and it's a compressed half-semester course, so I'm struggling hard to catch up! I

Your welcome.

I am not sure but I think there is no way to print them since you printed it already when you call report_elevator_name(). Unless report_elevator_name() will return a String just like stop_elevator(...). Also its is the instruction right.

[Tolls]

Changing from println() to print() in the report_elevator_name method will cure that problem.
You can also then call report_elevator_name() within the other methods, to maintain consistency, rather than concatenating strings together.

Also, I would point out to your tutor that their naming convention is non-standard, which is not helpful. That should be reportElevatorName() (and similar with the other methods).