Can't resolve symbol in inheritance

[Dan Taylor]

OK
I don't understand why I get a can't resolve symbol on my constructors.
Here is the basics of my code
3 classes -
1st class 'A' is abstract
has a default empty constructor and a constructor with A's attributes
ex:
public A( int getX )
{ this.x = getX; }

2nd class B extends A
and has default empty constructor (with a call to super()) and a constructor that calls A's constructor and adds B's attributes
ex:
public B( int getX, int getY)
{
super( getX );
this.y = getY;
}
OK so far so good, these files with their attributes and methods compile.
Now I add class 'C'.
I follow the same format as above creating 2 constructors, a default calling super(); and another that takes the B constructor and adds C's attributes.
When I try to compile I get the following error:

C.java [17:1] cannot resolve symbol
symbol  : constructor B ()
location: class B
        super();
        ^

I also get this error on the second constructor. I don't understand why this is happening. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Dan

[chi Lin]

post your code so we can get the whole picture.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Check your definition of the no-argument constructor. Did you accidentally give it a return value, making it into an ordinary method?

[Dan Taylor]

OK the classes A and B were defined by my teacher. They are actually classes Person and Employee. Someone else has posted in this forum from my class so I wanted to avoid posting code. The class I defined is SalesEmployee.
Below is the Person class (the comments are from the teacher to the class):

/**
 * Person.java
 * An abstract class that defines a person object.
 * This class is meant to be extended
 * because it is Abstract!!
 */
public abstract class Person {
    /**
    *Defining the Person properties 
    *All are private
    */
    private String firstName;
    private String lastName;
    private String address;
    private String city;
    private String state;
    private String zip;
    
    /**
    * Class Constructors for Person
    */
    
    //Default Constructor
    public Person() {}
    
    //Constructor with attributes
    public Person(  String inFirstName,
                    String inLastName,
                    String inAddress,
                    String inCity,
                    String inState,
                    String inZip) {
        
        this.firstName = inFirstName;
        this.lastName = inLastName;
        this.address = inAddress;
        this.city = inCity;
        this.state = inState;
        this.zip = inZip;   
    }
    /**
    * Now define the set*
    * and get* methods
    */
    
    //Set* Methods
    public void setFirstName(String inFirstName) {
        this.firstName = inFirstName;   
    }
    public void setLastName(String inLastName) {
        this.lastName = inLastName; 
    }
    public void setAddress(String inAddress) {
        this.address = inAddress;   
    }
    public void setCity(String inCity) {
        this.city = inCity; 
    }
    public void setState(String inState) {
        this.state = inState;   
    }
    public void setZip(String inZip) {
        this.zip = inZip;   
    }
    
    //Get* Methods
    public String getFirstName() {
        return this.firstName;  
    }   
    public String getLastName() {
        return this.lastName;   
    }
    public String getAddress() {
        return this.address;    
    }
    public String getCity() {
        return this.city;   
    }
    public String getState() {
        return this.state;  
    }
    public String getZip() {
        return this.zip;    
    }
    
} // End of Person class

Here is the teacher defined Employee class with her comments:

/**
 * Employee.java 
 * A class which extends Person and adds
 * attributes to further define an Employee
 */
public class Employee extends Person {
    
    /**
     * We only need to define the attributes
     * of Employee here.  Since we have 
     * extended Person, we get the attributes of
     * Person for free!
     */
    
    protected short seniority;
    protected double baseSalary = 500.00;
    protected Company company;
    
    
    
    /**
     * The constructors are somewhat different here.
     * Whenever we call our Employee constructor,
     * we need to also call the superclass constructor
     * to create the part of Employee that was defined
     * with the Person class.
     */
    public Employee() {
        //This is calling the Person default constructor
        super();    
    }
    
    /**
     * For this constructor, we pass in values for the attributes that
     * Person defined. We still need to define those.
     */
    public Employee(String inFirstName,
                    String inLastName,
                    String inAddress,
                    String inCity,
                    String inState,
                    String inZip,
                    short  inSeniority,
                    double inBaseSalary,
                    Company inCompany) {
        //Call the Person superclass constructor with the parts
        //for the Person here
        super(inFirstName,inLastName,inAddress,inCity,inState,inZip);
        
        //Now we create the attributes unique to an Employee.
        this.seniority = inSeniority;
        this.baseSalary = inBaseSalary;
        this.company = inCompany;   
                        
    }
    
    /**
     * Our payroll method for our generic Employee class 
     * will simply return the baseSalary attribute
     * for our employee objects
     */
     
    public double payroll() {
        
        return this.baseSalary; 
    }
    
    public void setSeniority(short inSeniority) {
        //In case a user of our class tries to break
        //the rules of an employee not having a negative
        //seniority
        if (inSeniority < 0)    
            this.seniority = (short)(-(inSeniority));
        else
            this.seniority = inSeniority;   
    }
    
    public void setBaseSalary(double inBaseSalary) {
        //In case a user of our class tries to break
        //the rules of an employee not having a negative
        //salary!!
        if (inBaseSalary < 0)
            this.baseSalary = -inBaseSalary;
        else
            this.baseSalary = inBaseSalary; 
    }
    
    public void setCompany(Company inCompany) {
        this.company = inCompany;
    }
    
    public short getSeniority() {
        return this.seniority;  
    }
    
    public double getBaseSalary() {
        
        return this.baseSalary; 
    }
    
    public Company getCompany() {
        
        return this.company;    
    }   
} // End of Employee class

Lastly this is my code for SalesEmployee class:

/**
* HEADER:
* SalesEmployee.java
* Programmer: Dan Taylor - [e-mail]
* Last Modified 04/20/04
* CIS 163AA Section 3444 Spring 2004
*/
public class SalesEmployee extends Employee
{ //begin SalesEmployee
    
    private String managerName;
    
    public SalesEmployee() 
    {
        super(); //<----error here
    }//This is calling the Employee default constructor
    
    public SalesEmployee( String inFirstName, String inLastName,
        String inAddress, String inCity, String inState, String inZip,
        short inSeniority, double inBaseSalary, Company inCompany, 
        String inManagerName )
   {
        super( inFirstName, inLastName, inAddress, inCity, inState, inZip, 
        inSeniority, inBaseSalary, inCompany); //<----AND error here
                
        this.managerName = inManagerName;
        
   } //This constructor calls the Employee constructor with its attributes plus
      //The SalesEmployee attributes
    
    //Set and Get Method
    
    public void setManagerName( String inManagerName )
    {
        this.managerName = inManagerName;
    }
    
    public String getManagerName()
    {
        return this.managerName;
    }
    
} //end SalesEmployee

Thanks all

[Dan Taylor]

Any takers on this one? Please??

[chi Lin]

i try the code, it seems ok to me except the
Company variable was rejected by compiler.

[Gary Down]

Likewise,
I had no problems compiling your code.. had to create a dummy "Company" class.
Suggest you ensure that the .class files are in sync with your .java files
try compiling them again from the top down i.e. person first
Good luck.
Gary.