wont display selected array

When im searching for a particle name details in an array it keeps displaying the all details in it even if the name is not in the array....please help

Code:

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private static void searchAthleteName(athlete[]ath, int size)
        {
                String athSurname = null;
                String athForename = null;
               
                My.p("\n\t\t\tS E A R C H  B Y  N A M E ");
               
                My.p("\n\n\tEnter Athlete Surname : "); athSurname = key.nextLine();
                My.p("\n\tEnter Athlete Forename : "); athForename = key.nextLine();
               
                My.p("\nAthlete No    Surname      Forename    Date of Birth    Best Time");
               
                for(int x = 0; x < size; x++)
                {
                        if (athSurname.equals(athSurname) && athForename.equals(athForename))
                        {
                                My.p(ath[x].toString());
                        }
                        else
                        {
                                My.p("\n\t\tNot a Valid Name ");
                        }
                }               
                My.pressKey(2);
        }

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Code:

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if (athSurname.equals(athSurname) && athForename.equals(athForename))

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It is impossible for this statement to ever be false. Tell when athSurname will not be equal to athSurname. Perhaps you should be comparing to a value in the array instead.

not sure what you mean?
im pretty new to programming sorry

Oh come on. In the if statement you are comparing a variable to itself. It has to be true. It cannot be false.

Code:

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athSurname.equals(athSurname)

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The above code will always be true. For some reason, you are checking to see if the athSurname object is equal to itself. Not sure why you would do that.

try something like this instead:

Code:

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for (String s:ath) {
  if (s == athSurname || s == athForename) {
    //name matched
  }
}

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as everyone else is saying... you should search for the name in your athlete array 'ath' rather than search for the athlete name in your variable which holds the search term 'athSurname'

like i said im new to programming

i thought when i compare the athSurname.equals(athSurname) && athForename.equals(athForename) it will only display if the surname and forename match what id asked/

the thing you need to understand is that when you declare a variable, e.g.

Code:

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athSurname = key.nextLine();

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say the user typed "Doe" as the surname, so when you write what you did:

Code:

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athSurname.equals(athSurname)

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you are asking the java virtual machine to find out if "Doe" equals "Doe", which it always will. you need to ask the computer if you have an athlete called "Doe" in your Athlete array instead, and if yes, then load the rest of "Doe"'s records