HELP - Creating OPTIONS in program and LOOPS

[whateverme]

Hi I'm writing a program that offers several options including booking, quitting and posting a comment about a concert.
The comment is then printed the next time someone chooses that group and replacing any earlier comment. This program will run continuously until the user clicks quit option.

So far this is what I have written

for booking option I did this

public static void main (String[] param)
	{
	
	    
	    //System.out.println(JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "yes", "title", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION ));
		orderTickets();
		System.exit(0);
	}
	
	public static void orderTickets()
	{	
		
		String ordertickets = getText("Order tickets now.\nType in the number of a band\n\n 1. Vampire Weekend \n 2. Of Montreal \n 3. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin");
		int ticketnum = Integer.parseInt(ordertickets);
		
		String[] bands = {"Vampire Weekend","Of Montreal","Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin"};
		int[] prices = {10,8,6};
		
		int tickets = Integer.parseInt(getText("Please type in the number of tickets."));
	
		if (ticketnum <= bands.length) 
		{
			int price = prices[ticketnum-1]*tickets;
			
          	JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, price + " pounds - General Admission");
		} 
		else 
		{
   			JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Error. Please type in the number of the group listed.");
		}
		
		int accounts = accountNumber();
	 }	
	 
	 // asking the user to input their account number and returning 
	 public static int accountNumber() 
	 {	int accountNumber = -1;
	 	int tocontinue = -1;
		do
		{
		String accountNumString = getText("Please provide your account number.");
		accountNumber = Integer.parseInt(accountNumString);
  
		int accountIndex = validateAccount(accountNumber);
	
			if (accountIndex >= 0) 
			{
			JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "BOOKED");
			} 
			else 
			{
				tocontinue = wantToCarryOn();
				
			}
		  }
		  while(tocontinue == 0);
		return accountNumber;
	  } 

	  public static int validateAccount(int accountNumber)
	  {		int[] arrayOfAccounts = {1000,1234,1337,1066};
			for (int i = 0; i<arrayOfAccounts.length; i++) 
			{
 				if (arrayOfAccounts[i] == accountNumber) 
				{
					return i;
				}
				else
				{
				//Not a valid account
					   return -1;
				}
	  		}
	    return -1;
	  } 
	  
	  
	  
	  public static int wantToCarryOn()
	  {
	  	return JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Invalid account number. Do you want to try a different account number ?", "", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION );
	  
	  }
	  
	  public static String getText(String msg)
		{
			String txt = null;
			while (txt == null || txt.trim().equals(""))
			{
				txt = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(msg);
			}
			return txt;
		}

But I'm not sure whether this is the best way to do it

and for comment and quitting option I did this

class testing
{
     boolean quit    = false;
     int SlotsFilled = 0;
     String ListOfBands[]   = new String [1000];
	 String ListOfComment[] = new String [1000];
     String ListOfMessages[]= new String [1000];
	
    public static void main (String[] param)
    {
       testing launch = new testing();
       launch.goToBands();
       System.exit(0);
       
    } // END main

	public void goToBands()
	{
		while (!quit)
		{
         popGroups();
      	}
	}

	
    public void popGroups()
    {
 		String band; 
       	int band1;
       
       band = getText("Please type the number of group according the list below: \n 1. Vampire Weekend \n 2. Of Montreal \n 3. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin");
       band1 = Integer.parseInt(band);
       
       String CurrentComment;
       String NamesOfBand; 
       int tocontinue = -1;
       do
       {
       	switch (band1)
       	{
       		case 1: JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "date = 10 Nov 2010,\nlocation = O2 Academy Brixton");      
                NamesOfBand ="Vampire Weekend";
                CurrentComment = getText("Comment");
                //System.out.println(getComment(NamesOfBand,CurrentComment));
                JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, getComment(NamesOfBand,CurrentComment), "", JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION);
                break;
       
       	    case 2: JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "date = 3 Dec 2010,\nlocation = Alexandra Palace");
                NamesOfBand ="Of Montreal";
                CurrentComment = getText("Comment");
                //System.out.println(getComment(NamesOfBand,CurrentComment));
                JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, getComment(NamesOfBand,CurrentComment), "", JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION);
                break;
       
       	    case 3: JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "date = 11 Nov 2010,\nlocation = O2 Academy Brixton");
                NamesOfBand ="Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin";
                CurrentComment = getText("Comment");
                //System.out.println(getComment(NamesOfBand,CurrentComment));
                JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, getComment(NamesOfBand,CurrentComment), "", JOptionPane.OK_CANCEL_OPTION);
                break;
       
       	    default: JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, " Error. Please type in the number of group listed.");
                NamesOfBand ="";
                break;
       }
		tocontinue = wantToCarryOn();
	  } while (tocontinue == 0);
	}
	
	
	public String getComment(String namesofbands,String usercomment)
    {
      
     	this.ListOfBands[SlotsFilled] =  namesofbands;
     	this.ListOfComment[SlotsFilled] = usercomment;
      	ListOfMessages[SlotsFilled] = "The Band you Chose is :" + ListOfBands[SlotsFilled] + "\n Your Comment = " + ListOfComment[SlotsFilled];
      	String PreviousReview = ListOfMessages[SlotsFilled];
      	//this.SlotsFilled++;  
      
      return PreviousReview;
    }
   
   public static int wantToCarryOn()
	{
	  	return JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Do yo want to continue","", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION);
	  
	}
    public String getText(String msg)
	{
			String txt = null;
			while (txt == null || txt.trim().equals(""))
			{
				txt = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(msg);
			}
			return txt;
	}
} // END

For this second program, I'm not quite sure How to make the comment to appear after someone new comments on a band, and I tried to make it quit when the user clicks no, but it is still running. How do I make it quit when the user clicks No.


And one more thing, How Do I make the program to run continuously, I know I have to use a loop, probably while loop. But where should I put it?


Any help would greatly appreciate.

[Eranga]

Ok, lets take the fist scenario.

What's the procedure you have design when booking a ticket?

[whateverme]

Okay so basically, the first program is for the user to book concert tickets.
It will first ask the user which band he would like to see, once he chooses the band he likes, the program will then ask for how many he would like to buy, once he types in the number of tickets, it will calculate the total and, then it will ask the user to input his account number, which will be checked against a series of accounts.
if it is a valid account, a box(a receipt) will pop up "BOOKED", otherwise he will have to input again, or he can choose to stop.

[whateverme]

For the second program I did, was supposed to give a several options to the user including booking, quitting and posting a comment about the concert.
The comment is then printed the next time someone chooses that group replacing any earlier comment.
It will run continuously until the quit option is chosen.

[Eranga]

Yes, I've looked into your code. Seems fine, but only for a single instance. So basically you've to continue this from,

public static int wantToCarryOn()
	  {
	  	return JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Invalid account number. Do you want to try a different account number ?", "", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION );
	  
	  }

isn't it?

So what you can do is, use a status field and set it here. Then in a continuous loop (while, etc..) you can invoke the same procedure.

[whateverme]

I'm really sorry I don't really get it.
could you be more detailed.

[Eranga]

For the second program I did, was supposed to give a several options to the user including booking, quitting and posting a comment about the concert.
The comment is then printed the next time someone chooses that group replacing any earlier comment.
It will run continuously until the quit option is chosen.

So where you keep those comments? Since you want to display the previous messages you have to keep them in a permanent storage.

[whateverme]

so basically I have to do an arraylist for the comments?

[Eranga]

I'm really sorry I don't really get it.
could you be more detailed.

Okay, I think you've done the same in the second program. What I'm saying is that you have to maintain a global status to track that user wants to exit the program of continue. And that you can set in the code segment that I've pointed in previous post. Is that clear?

[Eranga]

so basically I have to do an arraylist for the comments?

For the temporary storing, yes, ArrayList is the most suitable. Since you are not worried about them after the program exit, then it's fine. Otherwise you may write them to a database or a text file.

[whateverme]

I just read about textfields,
is it suitable to use it for comments?
if yes how would I use it?

[Eranga]

JTextArea is easy, mainly you can provide enough space, while the user can type on it freely. Try a sample first of all.

How to Use Text Areas (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing > Using Swing Components)

[whateverme]

how do I apply this for comments on the concert the user has chosen?

[whateverme]

I'm basically stuck, I need a specific solution, so basically,
all I want to do is to make my second program runs continuously and as for the comments part, I need the user to write a comment about the concert, and once a new user chooses the same group and comments on the concert it will replace any earlier comment.

[Eranga]

I'm basically stuck, I need a specific solution, so basically

If you clearly explain, then we can help you.

all I want to do is to make my second program runs continuously

So invoke your process in an infinite loop

while(true) {
     // rest of the stuff
}

I need the user to write a comment about the concert, and once a new user chooses the same group and comments on the concert it will replace any earlier comment.

Your commenting is not bind with the user, but with the convert. So each concert you've an ID, all what you've to do is maintain a map with the ID and the comment.

Or else, seems to me you have three bands, which are treated as convert. So simply maintain three global status. But personally I'm not encourage you to do that, maintain lots of global status (variables) not a good programming practice.