Newbie can't spot his mistake :(

[naxalyte]

Hi all,

Basically I am designing a virtual 2Dimensional grid, made up of cells, and an object that will be able to simulate moving from cell to cell.

So far I've got four classes:
1 main
2 GridBot
3 Grid
4 Cell

My question is how do I allow an instance of GridBot to set a variable in an instance of Cell. I have tried objectname.method() but it doesnt work.

I've taken the time to slim down my coding so that you can see more easily what my problem is.

Code:

public class main(){
	public gridBot aGridBot = new gridBot();
	public Grid theGrid = new Grid();
	
	public static void main(String args[]){
		main theMainProgram = new main();
	}
	
	public main(){
		//link gridBot to cell 1,1 and set its occupied state to true
		aGridBot = new gridBot();
		aGridBot.CellCoordinateX = 1;
		aGridBot.CellCoordinateY = 1;
		theGrid.setCell(1, 1, true);
	}
	
}


public class Grid{
	public Cell aCell[][] = new Cell[4][4];
	
	public Grid(){
		this.InitializeCells();
	}
	
	public void InitializeCells(){
		for (int x=0; x<4; x++){
			for (int y = 0; y<4; y++){
				aCell[x][y] = new Cell();
			}
		}
	}
	
	public void setCell(int x, int y, boolean YesNoOccupied){
		aCell[x][y].Occupied = YesNoOccupied;
	}
}
	
public class Cell{
	boolean Occupied;
	
	public Cell(){
		Occupied = false;
	}
}


public class gridBot{
	public int CellCoordinateX;
	public int CellCoordinateY;
	
//this is the method I am trying to develop, currently not called by anything
	public void VirtualMove(){
		CellCoordinateX = CellCoordinateX + 1;
		CellCoordinateY = CellCoordinateY + 1;
		//I want to invoke method setCell in 'theGrid'
	}

}

[hardwired]

how do I allow an instance of GridBot to set a variable in an instance of Cell
Pass it a reference to the Grid instance.

Code:

public class main(){
    public Grid theGrid = new Grid();
    // Pass a copy of the reference theGrid to aGridBot.
    // This will instantiate the Grid instance/member
    // variable in that class and allow it to call
    // methods in the Grid class.
    public gridBot aGridBot = new gridBot(theGrid);

    public static void main(String args[]){
        main theMainProgram = new main();
    }

    public main(){
        //link gridBot to cell 1,1 and set its occupied state to true
        // the gridBot member variable was instantiated above so
        // we don't need to do it again here.
//        aGridBot = new gridBot();
        aGridBot.CellCoordinateX = 1;
        aGridBot.CellCoordinateY = 1;
        theGrid.setCell(1, 1, true);
    }
}

public class gridBot{
    public int CellCoordinateX;
    public int CellCoordinateY;
    Grid theGrid;

    public gridBot(Grid theGrid) {
        this.theGrid = theGrid;
    }

    //this is the method I am trying to develop, currently not called by anything
    public void VirtualMove(){
        CellCoordinateX = CellCoordinateX + 1;
        CellCoordinateY = CellCoordinateY + 1;
        //I want to invoke method setCell in 'theGrid'
        theGrid.setCell(args...);
    }

}

[naxalyte]

Thanx for your reply hardwired. So if I have an array of gridBots, each one having a reference to theGrid, would they all be able to see the same grid or each their own individual copy of the grid? Is this the standard way to create 'relations' between classes?

[hardwired]

would they all be able to see the same grid or each their own individual copy of the grid?
If each bot had their own grid it would be like each one was playing in a different game. If you make one instance of Grid and pass the reference to each bot then they can all play in the same grid together. So, one instance for all bots.
Is this the standard way to create 'relations' between classes?
Generally, yes. Of course it depends on what you're doing.

[naxalyte]

Thanx so much