non-static method cannot be referenced from a static context

[Dustin Schreader]

I'm getting this error

I know that I can't get to the non static method in that class so how do I use it?mainProgVideoStore.java:80: non-static method newCVideo(java.lang.String,int) cannot be referenced from a static context
Customer.newCVideo(title, vAmount);

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;

public class mainProgVideoStore
{
    static Scanner console = new Scanner(System.in);

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
      VideoList videoList = new VideoList();
		CustomerList customerList = new CustomerList(); 
		Customer newCVideo = new Customer();
		int choice;
		int vAmount = 1;
      String title;
		String customerNum;
		String temp;

		 try
		 {
            Scanner infileTwo =
               new Scanner(new FileReader("customerDat.txt"));

            createCustomerList(infileTwo, customerList);


            Scanner infile =
               new Scanner(new FileReader("videoDat.txt"));

            createVideoList(infile, videoList);

            displayMenu();
            System.out.print("Enter the choice: ");
            choice = console.nextInt();
            console.nextLine();
            System.out.println();

            while (choice != 9)
            {
                switch (choice)
                {
                case 1: System.out.print("Enter the title: ");
                        title = console.nextLine();
                        System.out.println();

                        if (videoList.videoSearch(title))
                            System.out.println("The store "
                                  + "carries " + title);
                        else
                            System.out.println("The store does "
                                  + "not carry " + title);
                        break;
                case 2: //print out list of ID's
					 			customerList.print();
					 
					 			System.out.print("Enter Customer ID: ");
                        customerNum = console.next();
                        System.out.println();

                        if (customerList.customerSearch(customerNum))
                        {
									customerList.printInformation(customerNum); 
                        }
                        else
                            System.out.println("There is no Customer" + customerNum);
					 
					 			System.out.print("Enter the title: ");
                        title = console.nextLine();
                        System.out.println();

                        if (videoList.videoSearch(title))
                        {
                            if (videoList.isVideoAvailable(title))
                            {
                                videoList.videoCheckOut(title);
                                System.out.println("Enjoy your "
                                        + "movie: " + title);
													 
											Customer.newCVideo(title, vAmount);
													 
                            }
                            else
                                System.out.println("Currently "
                                        + title
                                        + " is out of stock.");
                        }
                        else
                            System.out.println("The store does "
                                        + "not carry" + title);
                        break;
                case 3: customerList.print();
					 
					 			System.out.print("Enter Customer ID: ");
                        customerNum = console.nextLine();
                        System.out.println();

                        if (customerList.customerSearch(customerNum))
                        {
									customerList.printInformation(customerNum); 
                        }
                        else
                            System.out.println("There is no Customer" + customerNum);
					 
					 			System.out.print("Enter the title: ");
                        title = console.nextLine();
                        System.out.println();

                        if (videoList.videoSearch(title))
                        {
                            videoList.videoCheckIn(title);
									 
                            System.out.println("Thanks for "
                                   + "returning " + title);
                        }
                        else
                            System.out.println("The store does "
                                   + " not carry " + title);
                        break;
                case 4: System.out.print("Enter the title: ");
                        title = console.nextLine();
                        System.out.println();

                        if (videoList.videoSearch(title))
                        {
                            if (videoList.isVideoAvailable(title))
                                System.out.println(title
                                          + " is currently "
                                          + "in stock.");
                            else
                                System.out.println(title
                                          + " is not in the "
                                          + "store.");
                        }
                        else
                            System.out.println("The store does "
                                          + "not carry "
                                          + title);
                    break;
                case 5: videoList.videoPrintTitle();
                        break;
                case 6: videoList.print();
                        break;
                default: System.out.println("Invalid "
                                          + "selection");
                }//end switch

                displayMenu();
                System.out.print("Enter the choice: ");
                choice = console.nextInt();
                console.nextLine();
                System.out.println();
            }//end while
        }
        catch (FileNotFoundException fnfe)
        {
            System.out.println(fnfe.toString());
        }
    } // end main

    public static void createVideoList(Scanner infile,
                                       VideoList videoList)
    {
        String  vTitle;
        String  mStar1;
        String  mStar2;
        String  mProducer;
        String  mDirector;
        String  mProductionCo;
        int vInStock;

        Video newVideo;

        while (infile.hasNext())
        {
            vTitle = infile.nextLine();
            mStar1 = infile.nextLine();
            mStar2 = infile.nextLine();
            mProducer = infile.nextLine();
            mDirector = infile.nextLine();
            mProductionCo = infile.nextLine();
            vInStock = infile.nextInt();
            infile.nextLine();
            newVideo = new Video();
            newVideo.setVideoInfo(vTitle, mStar1, mStar2,
                                  mProducer, mDirector,
                                  mProductionCo,vInStock);
            videoList.insertFirst(newVideo);
        }//end while
    }//end createVideoList
	
    public static void createCustomerList(Scanner infileTwo,
                                       CustomerList customerList)
    {
        String  cNum;
        String  cFirst;
        String  cLast;

        Customer newCustomer;

        while (infileTwo.hasNext())
        {
            cNum = infileTwo.next();
            cFirst = infileTwo.next();
            cLast = infileTwo.next();
				
            newCustomer = new Customer();
            newCustomer.setCustomerInfo(cNum, 
											cFirst, cLast);
            customerList.insertFirst(newCustomer);
        }//end while
    }//end createCustomerList

    public static void displayMenu()
    {
        System.out.println("Select one of the following: ");
        System.out.println("1: To check if a particular video "
                         + "is in the store");
        System.out.println("2: To check out a video");
        System.out.println("3: To check in a video");
        System.out.println("4: To see if a particular video "
                         + "is in the store");
        System.out.println("5: To print the titles of all "
                         + "the videos");
        System.out.println("6: To print a list of all the "
                         + "videos");
        System.out.println("9: To exit");
    }
}

And this is the method I want to use. in my Customer class

	 public Object newCVideo(String title, int vAmount)
	 {
	 	newCVideo.setVideoInfo(title, "", "", "", "", "", vAmount);
   	cVList.insertFirst(newCVideo);
		return cVList;
	 }

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

You have a non static method- newCVideo in Customer class- So to access this you need to create an instance of Customer Class. Or you have to declare the method as static in Customer class.

[Dustin Schreader]

When you say I have to create an instance of Customer Class do you mean something like this

		Customer customer = new Customer();

[Rob Spoor]

Yes, but you've already done that:

Customer newCVideo = new Customer();

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

So if you have an instance method (or a non static method) - How do you access that method? Via the class name or via the instance name?

[Rob Spoor]

Instance name.

[Dustin Schreader]

So now I have to make the newCVideo visible I have to make it static, ok well when I try that the compiler doesn't like that either and gives me the same error message because I'm using other nonstatic methods in that method. Would I have to make all of those methods static too?

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

You have created an Instance of Customer in line 12. You can used that to invoke the method. Rarely do we use static methods.

[Dustin Schreader]

How do I use it because I thought I already was when I did the Customer.newCVList.....

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

Ok, let me take a simpler example (your code is huge to explain).

class Customer
{
    public String getName()
    {
       return "Customer";
    }
    public static int getCount()
    {
        return 5;
    }
}

Customer myCustomer = new Customer();
myCustomer.getName() //This is how you invoke a instance method
Customer.getCount() //This is how you invoke a Static method

So you can see in the above code- how instance method and static method are accessed. So in your context- you should be using the instance newCVideo created in line 12.

PS: This is not a fully working code- Made it simpler to understand for the OP.

Update: I have been talking about the line 80 in mainProgVideoStore. Because that's where the exception is seen.

[Dustin Schreader]

so this works only because you put my in front of class Customer?

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

Dustin Schreader wrote:so this works only because you put my in front of class Customer?

myCustomer is the name of the Customer instance- It can be anything- ourCustomer, customer, theCustomer, oneCustomer (any name which doesnt violate the naming convention, is not a keyword,reserved word and not the name of the Class).

In your case- You have a non-static method- newCVideo in Customer class. So to call/invoke this method(line 80) you would have to use an instance of Customer class (which you have created in line 12 of mainProgVideoStore). So the line 80 would now be:

newCVideo.newCVideo(title, vAmount) 

Note: Pretty confusing to have the method and object name to be similar.

[Dustin Schreader]

ok I understand, to lessen the confusion I changed it to myCustomer instead, thank you!