Why do I need to declare a new Scanner object here?

[Chase]

I've been working on a lab assignment for my introductory java class at ASU.

I will post the full source code for the small program below, but the segment that's causing me problems is:

//# Part C:
	
	   //1. Get a string from the user. Find and print if the 3rd character in that string is a capital letter.
	   Scanner scan2 = new Scanner(System.in);
	   String usermsg,CAPusermsg;
	   System.out.print(username+", please enter a string: ");
	   usermsg = scan2.nextLine();
	   CAPusermsg = usermsg.toUpperCase();
	   
	   
	   char msgthird = usermsg.charAt(2);
	   
	   char capthird = CAPusermsg.charAt(2);
	   
	   if (msgthird == capthird) {
	   	System.out.println(username+", the third character in the string, \""+msgthird+"\", is a capital letter!");
	   }
	   else {
	   	System.out.println(username+", the third character in the string, \""+msgthird+"\", is NOT a capital letter!");
	   }

Right after:

System.out.print(username+", please enter a string: ");

is executed, an exception is thrown, reporting that the string at character 2 (which I try to assign to a variable a few lines down) is out of the range of the string. However, if I declare a new Scanner object (scan2), I don't get the error. What is wrong with my code that requires me to create another Scanner object?

Thanks.

	   // Import the Scanner class from the util package.
import java.util.Scanner;

public class lab4 {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Part A:

	   // Print the string "Please enter your name: ". Use System.out.print and not System.out.println.
	   System.out.print("Please enter your name: ");
	   // Instantiate a Scanner object.
	   Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);a
	   // Get a string from the user, and save it in a string variable called "username".
	   String username = scan.nextLine();
	   // Print a welcome message using the username you obtained.
	   System.out.println("Welcome "+username+".");
        

	//# Part B:
	
	   //1. Prompt the user to enter two numbers, and print "the larger of the two numbers is: " ...
	   int num1, num2;
	   System.out.print(username+", please enter an integer: ");
	   num1 = scan.nextInt();
	   System.out.print(username+", please enter another integer: ");
	   num2 = scan.nextInt();
	   
	   if (num1 > num2) {
		  	 System.out.println("The larger of the two numbers is: " + num1);
		  }
		  else if (num1 < num2) {
		  	System.out.println("The larger of the two numbers is: " + num2);
		  }
		  else {
		  	System.out.println("The numbers are the same!");
		  }
	   
	//# Part C:
	
	   //1. Get a string from the user. Find and print if the 3rd character in that string is a capital letter.
	   Scanner scan2 = new Scanner(System.in);
	   String usermsg,CAPusermsg;
	   System.out.print(username+", please enter a string: ");
	   usermsg = scan2.nextLine();
	   CAPusermsg = usermsg.toUpperCase();
	   
	   
	   char msgthird = usermsg.charAt(2);
	   
	   char capthird = CAPusermsg.charAt(2);
	   
	   if (msgthird == capthird) {
	   	System.out.println(username+", the third character in the string, \""+msgthird+"\", is a capital letter!");
	   }
	   else {
	   	System.out.println(username+", the third character in the string, \""+msgthird+"\", is NOT a capital letter!");
	   }
	   
	        
	
	//# Part D:
	
	   //1. Print all the numbers from 1 to 20.
	   int count = 1;
	   while (count <= 20) {
	   		System.out.print(count+"  ");
	   		count++;
	   }
	   System.out.println();
	   //2. Print all the even numbers from 1 to 20.
	   int count2 = 1;
	   while (count2 <= 20) {
	   		if (count2*2 <= 20) {
	   				System.out.print(count2*2+"  ");
	   				count2++;
	   		} else
	   			count2 = 21;	
	   }
	   
    }
}

[Fubarable]

Your problem likely stems form the fact that just prior to getting this String, you were getting ints using the nextInt() method. Now this Scanner method will get the next token available and will not throw a fit if it's an int, but it doesn't eat the end of line character. For that you need a call to nextLine():

  //# Part C:
  
     //1. Get a string from the user. Find and print if the 3rd character in that string is a capital letter.
     //scan = new Scanner(System.in);
     scan.nextLine(); // swallow the end of line character
     
     String usermsg,CAPusermsg;
     System.out.print(username+", please enter a string: ");
     usermsg = scan.nextLine();

[Chase]

That fixed it. Thank you!

[Fubarable]

Cool. Glad it helped.