arrayList iterator problems

[celine scarlett]

Hi,

With a little help I've finally managed to add an arrayList to my swing program. The problem is now with iteration through this list. When I try to go through the list, it simply jumps straight to the beginning or end of the list, depending on whether I click the backwards or forwards button.

The arrayList is printing out correctly, so I'm guessing the problem must be with the code for the iteration methods.

My code so far is as follows,

public class BackwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            Double d;
            ListIterator e = theList.listIterator(theList.size()-1);
            while (e.hasPrevious())
            {
                tempCelsius.setText(e.previous() + "");
                //System.out.println(e.previous()+"");
            }            
        }
    }
 
    public class ForwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            Double d;
            Iterator e = theList.iterator();
            while (e.hasNext())
            {
                d = (Double)e.next();
                tempCelsius.setText(d + "");
            }            
        }
    }

I can't seem to see the problem. Any advice or help appreciated.

Many thanks.

[Garrett Rowe]

In this part of your code:

while (e.hasPrevious())
{
   tempCelsius.setText(e.previous() + "");
   //System.out.println(e.previous()+"");
}

The while loop will continue until you get the beginning of the list. Instead use an if in place of the while statement:

if (e.hasPrevious())
{
   tempCelsius.setText(e.previous() + "");
   //System.out.println(e.previous()+"");
}   

and it will only execute once if the condition is true.

[celine scarlett]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. That works correctly for one click of the backwards button, but it will not go back beyond one position.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

Many thanks for the help.

[Garrett Rowe]

Thinking of this problem a little more, I'm not sure if an Iterator is the best way to go. Maybe if you defined a class level (or less if appropriate) int variable

int currentPosition = 0;

Then if you want to go forward you could put this int your method

if (currentPosition < theList.size() - 1)
{
   currentPosition ++;//increment the current position
   theList.get(currentPosition);
}    

[ January 28, 2006: Message edited by: Garrett Rowe ]

[celine scarlett]

Hi,

I've tried that solution. The problem is that by setting currentPosition to 0, for some reason it is ignoring the arrayList, and starting at 0. It then increments the value from 1 upwards and does not go through the arrayList.

Maybe there's a way to link this to the arrayList, but I'm getting really confused at the moment.

Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks.

[Layne Lund]

Please post some code to show us what you tried. Garrett's suggestion should work, if you implement it properly. We need to see your code in order to help you figure out what you did differently.

Layne

[Michael Dunn]

you don't need an iterater.

just keep a 'positionCounter', it's initial value will be 0;

in the constructor, disable the back button

the 'back' actionPerformed
positionCounter--
textField.setText(list.get(positionCounter)+"")
forwardButton enable
if(positionCounter == 0) backButton disable

the 'forward' actionPerformed
positionCounter++
textField.setText(list.get(positionCounter)+"")
backButton enable
if(positionCounter == list.size()-1) forwardButton disable

[celine scarlett]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I have tried implementing the actionPerformed methods as suggested above, and I get a really weird result. It outputs an error saying 'ArrayIndexOutofBoundsException: -1'. Any ideas why this is happening?

My current is as follows,

public class BackwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            theListCurrentIndex--;
            tempCelsius.setText(theList.get(theListCurrentIndex) + "");
            forwardButton.setEnabled(true);
            if (theListCurrentIndex==0) 
                backwardButton.setEnabled(false);
        }
    }
    
    public class ForwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            
            theListCurrentIndex++;
            tempCelsius.setText(theList.get(theListCurrentIndex) + "");
            backwardButton.setEnabled(true);
            
            if (theListCurrentIndex == theList.size()-1)
                forwardButton.setEnabled(false);
        }
    }

I really can't see where the problem is with these methods. It's all very strange.

Any help or advice really appreciated at this stage.

[ January 29, 2006: Message edited by: celine scarlett ]
[ January 29, 2006: Message edited by: celine scarlett ]

[Garrett Rowe]

I dont see the error myself. One thought would be to make sure that when the current index is 0, the back button is always disabled. And anytime you add a new value to the ArrayList, the current index should be set to (theList.size - 1).

[celine scarlett]

Hi,

I've managed to get the buttons to alternate between decrementing and incrementing the index values. However, they only jump backwards and forwards to the first and last values in the list.

eg: a list contains 22,32,42,52 and a user presses the backwards button, it will go back to 22 and not 42 from 52 and vice versa

Current code for the two actionPerformed methods is as follows,

public class BackwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            tempCelsius.setText(theList.get(theListCurrentIndex) + "");
            theListCurrentIndex--;
            forwardButton.setEnabled(true);
            if (theListCurrentIndex < 0) 
                theListCurrentIndex = theList.size()-1;
                backwardButton.setEnabled(false);
        }
    }
    
    public class ForwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            tempCelsius.setText(theList.get(theListCurrentIndex) + "");
            theListCurrentIndex++;
            
            backwardButton.setEnabled(true);
            if (theListCurrentIndex == theList.size())
                theListCurrentIndex = 0;
                forwardButton.setEnabled(false);     
        }
    }

I've checked the actionPerformed method for the convert button, but I don't see how that would affect the other buttons. Anyway, the code for that method is as follows,

 public class ClickAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            // Parse degrees Celsius as a double
            // and convert to Fahrenheit.
            
            String celsiusAsText = tempCelsius.getText();
            try { //start of the exception handling
            Double celsiusAsDouble = Double.parseDouble(celsiusAsText);
            double fahrenheitAsDouble = celsiusAsDouble*1.8+32;
            fahrenheitLabel.setText(fahrenheitAsDouble + " Fahrenheit");
            theList.add(celsiusAsDouble);
            } catch(Exception e)
            {fahrenheitLabel.setText("? Fahrenheit");}   
        }
    }

Any ideas what is causing this problem?

Thanks for the help!

[celine scarlett]

Hi,

With alot of help, I've managed to get the actionPerformed methods of the backward and forward buttons going through the arrayList correctly, with the exception of one small problem.

When a user enters a sequence of numbers eg: 22,32,42,52 and then presses the back button, they are taken back to 22, instead of 52. Then the user has to press the forward button. From this point on, the buttons work perfectly, and go backwards and forwards through the list.

Does anybody know why this error might be occurring?

My current code for the actionPerformed methods is as follows,

 public class BackwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
         
            celsiusListCurrentIndex--;
            fahrenheitListCurrentIndex--;
            
            if (celsiusListCurrentIndex <= 0 &&
               fahrenheitListCurrentIndex <=0)
            {
                celsiusListCurrentIndex = 0;
                fahrenheitListCurrentIndex = 0;
                backwardButton.setEnabled(false);
            }
             tempCelsius.setText(celsiusList.get(celsiusListCurrentIndex) + "");
             fahrenheitLabel.setText(fahrenheitList.get(fahrenheitListCurrentIndex) + " Fahrenheit");
             forwardButton.setEnabled(true);
        }
    }
    
    public class ForwardAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            celsiusListCurrentIndex++;
            fahrenheitListCurrentIndex++;
            
            if (celsiusListCurrentIndex >= celsiusList.size()-1 &&
                fahrenheitListCurrentIndex >= fahrenheitList.size()-1)
            {
                celsiusListCurrentIndex = celsiusList.size()-1;
                fahrenheitListCurrentIndex = fahrenheitList.size()-1;
                forwardButton.setEnabled(false);
            }
            tempCelsius.setText(celsiusList.get(celsiusListCurrentIndex) + "");
            fahrenheitLabel.setText(fahrenheitList.get(fahrenheitListCurrentIndex) + " Fahrenheit");
            backwardButton.setEnabled(true);
        }
    }

Any help or advice appreciated!

[Tony Morris]

Java collections are poorly implemented as you are observing.
I sympathise with your frustrations and assure you that you are not entirely at fault for being confused.

Use a Sequence and a BidirectionalIterator. Still broken (ala Java), but simpler from a client perspective. ContractualJ
[ January 29, 2006: Message edited by: Tony Morris ]

[Garrett Rowe]

In this section of code.

 
 public class ClickAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            // Parse degrees Celsius as a double
            // and convert to Fahrenheit.
            
            String celsiusAsText = tempCelsius.getText();
            try { //start of the exception handling
            Double celsiusAsDouble = Double.parseDouble(celsiusAsText);
            double fahrenheitAsDouble = celsiusAsDouble*1.8+32;
            fahrenheitLabel.setText(fahrenheitAsDouble + " Fahrenheit");
            theList.add(celsiusAsDouble);//<--new value added to list
            } catch(Exception e)
            {fahrenheitLabel.setText("? Fahrenheit");}   
        }
    }    

When you add a new value to the list, it is added to the end of the list (which means you are now at the end of the list). The currentPosition variable should be updated to reflect this fact.

 
 public class ClickAction implements ActionListener {
        
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
            
            // Parse degrees Celsius as a double
            // and convert to Fahrenheit.
            
            String celsiusAsText = tempCelsius.getText();
            try { //start of the exception handling
            Double celsiusAsDouble = Double.parseDouble(celsiusAsText);
            double fahrenheitAsDouble = celsiusAsDouble*1.8+32;
            fahrenheitLabel.setText(fahrenheitAsDouble + " Fahrenheit");
            theList.add(celsiusAsDouble);//<--new value added to list
            theListCurrentPosition = theList.size() - 1;//reflects that you are at the end of the list
            } catch(Exception e)
            {fahrenheitLabel.setText("? Fahrenheit");}   
        }
    }    

[ January 29, 2006: Message edited by: Garrett Rowe ]

[celine scarlett]

Hi,

That's brilliant. Thank you so much for your help. I now have working backwards and forwards buttons.

It's been a long weekend, but I've finally got there.

Have a great week!