help with methods!!!!

[jb1991]

I am in a java class and I have figured out everything for what we need to do besides one part, which might just be because I am not understanding so I will show what the questions are (only because I am not sure if they will help to make the question I need help on more clear) and I will put the one I need help on in bold. And then I will show what I have so far just for that part.
**Hopefully I am approaching getting help on this in the right way, up until this point I have been figuring everything out on my own and have never used a forum for java before! :)

The methods to be implemented are listed below. Note that using the right case is extremely important.
a constructor that takes the department and number (in that order) and creates a new instance of a course.
String toString() that returns a String with the department name, followed by the number, colon, space, crn, dash, and course name. For example, "CS160: 32456-Foundations in Programming"
get methods:
String getDepartment(): returns the department as a String
int getNumber(): returns the number as an int
String getName(): returns the name as a String
int getCrn(): returns the number as an int
int getMaxEnrollment(): returns the number as an int
int getActualEnrollment(): returns the number as an int
set methods:
void setName(String name): sets the course name
void setCrn(int crn): sets the crn
void setMaxEnrollment(int n): sets the max enrollment forthe course
boolean isSpaceAvailable(): returns true if actual enrollment is less than max enrollment, false otherwise
addStudent(): increments actual enrollment by 1. It is the caller's responsibility to first check if there is space.
removeStudent(): decrements actual enrollment by 1. It is the method's responsibility to check if there is a student to remove.

I just do not understand what is supposed to be checked by the method...?

Here is what I have:

public int removeStudent()
{
int remove;
if(actualEnrollment > 0)
{
remove = actualEnrollment - 1;
actualEnrollment = remove;
}
return actualEnrollment;
}


If you need to see more of what I have, just let me know!

Thanks in advance!!!!

[Norm]

Does the method do what is required? Have you tested it? What happens?

[VanGo]

? check to make sure there is a least one student in the list ? if there are no students you cannot remove one

[jb1991]

I know that the method I have there will "remove student", but I am not sure how to test to make sure the method is checking it opposed to the caller checking it (like in the part about "addStudent")

[jb1991]

VanGo..
that makes sense, I did not even think of that.
I will try that approach
Thanks

[Norm]

ow to test to make sure the method is checking

Add an else clause to the if and have it print out a message saying there are no students left.

[jb1991]

Add an else clause to the if and have it print out a message saying there are no students left.

I got it working, thank you!!

[jb1991]

? check to make sure there is a least one student in the list ? if there are no students you cannot remove one

I got it to work, thank you for clearing that up for me!