Classes with Different States/Modes

[purestr999]

Hello, I am looking for a good way to make a class with different states/modes. I am pretty sure the correct way to do this is with enums. My problem is that enums can't be used in nested classes (due to enums being static).
For example:

public class Zoo {
	private enum ZooState {OPEN, CLOSED, MAINTENANCE};
	private ZooState zooState;
	
	public void openZoo(){
		switch(zooState){
		case CLOSED: zooState = OPEN;
		...
		}
	}
	...
	public class Animal {
		private enum AnimalState {SLEEPING,EATING,PLAYING};
		private AnimalState state;
		public void petAnimal(){
			switch(state){
			case SLEEPING: petWake();
			...
			}
		}
		...
	}
}

The enum ZooState works exactly as I want it to work. The problem is that AnimalState in this example is illegal in Java. I could put the enum definition (AnimalState) inside the outer class (Zoo), but is there a better way to do this when the enum is only relevant to the nested class?
Thanks for helping me :)
P.S. I know that perhaps Animal does not need to be a nested class, this was just an example.

[jlczuk]

I would first ask if you REALLY need the nested class. But beyond that, there's no way around the enums all having to be in the outer class other than making the inner class static, which I don't think you really want or need.

[purestr999]

Ok thanks for the reply
I know that in this example you wouldn't need a nested class, but obviously sometimes you need nested classes and sometimes those classes will need different states/modes. I just thought that maybe Java had some better way to solve this problem.

[Tolls]

Non-static non-anonymous nested classes are quite a rare thing.
In most of the stuff I produce, if it is a class that can leave its parent then it shouldn't be a non-static nested one.
In your case I really wouldn't nest it.
It's part of your Zoo model, so stick all the bits into a zoo.model package.