Why is my type unexpected? required variable found value

[Tiffany Walker]

I'm trying to sort an array of object by the name of the Artist. But I keep getting an error message. Why am I getting this message?

//Program to Display Inventory
/*Tiffany Walker
IT215 Java Programming
October 6, 2011*/

import java.util.Scanner;  //allows user input
import java.util.Arrays;  //allows us to add to the array

public class InventoryDisplay
{
	//Main Method
	public static void main( String args[] )
	{
		//Create a product
		Product CD = new Product( "0000", "Band", 0, 0.00, 0.00 );

		//Create a Scanner
		Scanner input = new Scanner( System.in );

		double total = 0.00;

		//Greeting
		System.out.print( "Welcome to Inventory Control\n" );
		System.out.print( 
		   "This program displays inventory stock and value\n\n" );
		
		//Get the length of the array
		System.out.printf( "%s%s",
		   "Before we begin,", 
		   "how many CD's titles do you want to inventory? " );
		int count = input.nextInt();

		System.out.printf( "%s%s", "Thank you.", 
		   " Please fill in product information.\n\n" );
		
		//Create an array
		Product inventory[] = new Product[ count ];
				
		//Using inventory.length as a counter, loop input and output
		for ( int counter = 0; counter < inventory.length; counter++ )
		{
			System.out.print( "What is the name of the Artist? ");
			String theArtist = input.next();
			CD.setArtist( theArtist );
			System.out.println();

			System.out.print( "What is the product number of the CD? ");
			String theNumber = input.next();
			CD.setNumber( theNumber );
			System.out.println();

			System.out.print( "How many of this CD are in stock? ");
			int theUnits = input.nextInt();
			CD.setUnits( theUnits );
			System.out.println();

			System.out.print( "How much does this CD cost? ");
			double thePrice = input.nextDouble();
			CD.setPrice( thePrice );
			System.out.println();

			inventory[ counter ] = new Product( theArtist, theNumber, theUnits, thePrice, CD.value( CD.getPrice(), 

CD.getUnits() ) );
			
			total += inventory[counter].value(
			   CD.getPrice(), CD.getUnits());
			
         	}
  
         	for ( int a = 0; a < inventory.length; a++)
		{
			for ( int b = 0; b < inventory.length; b++)
			{
				if ( inventory[b].getArtist().compareToIgnoreCase( inventory[a].getArtist()) < 0)
				{
					String c = inventory[a].getArtist();
					inventory[a].getArtist() = inventory[b].getArtist();
					inventory[b].getArtist() = c;
				}
			}
		}

		System.out.println( inventory[a] );
	
        	System.out.printf( "\n\nThe total value of the inventory is %.2f\n\n", total );

		//Closing
		System.out.print( "Thank you for using Inventory Control" );		
 	   	   	
	}

}

[Bear Bibeault]

Showing us the exact wording of the message might be helpful.

[Tiffany Walker]

error: unexpected type lines 76 and 77 for .getArtist Required Variable Found Value

[Campbell Ritchie]

You are using the getArtist() method to the left of a =. That won’t work. What are you trying to do? Copy the artist from one object to another?

foo.setFoo(foooooo.getFoo());

[Tiffany Walker]

Thanks guys I have the fixed, but now I'm getting a bad operand types for operator <. first String. second string.
I get want the error means, so I'm assuming that I can't use this operator to sort my array of objects. Is there some other way for me to sort this array out. I need to sort the array by the Artist name.
Here's my new code

public class Product
{
			//DECLARE VARIABLES
	private String number;     //Item Number of product( used String as item 
				   // numbers sometimes contain alphabet characters)
	private String name;      //Name of the product
	private int units;         //How many of the product are in stock
	private double price;      //How much one item costs
	private double value;      //How much the stock is worth


			//CONSTRUCTOR
	public Product( String productName, String itemNumber, 
	   int instockUnits, double costPerUnit, double costOfStock )
	{
		name = productName;
		number = itemNumber;
		units = instockUnits;
		price = costPerUnit;
		value = 0.00;
	}

			
			//METHODS OF THE CLASS
	//Set the item number
	public void setNumber( String itemNumber )
	{
		number = itemNumber;
	}
	//End set item number

	
	//Get item number
	public String getNumber()
	{
		return number;
	}
	//End get item number


	//Set name
	public void setName( String productName )
	{
		name = productName;
	}
	//End set name

	//Get name
	public String getName()
	{
		return name;
	}
	//End get name

	//set units
	public void setUnits( int instockUnits )
	{
		units = instockUnits;
	}
	//end set units

	
	//Get units
	public int getUnits()
	{
		return units;
	} 
	//End get units

	
	//Set price
	public void setPrice( double costPerUnit )
	{
		price = costPerUnit;
	}
	//End set price


	//Get price
	public double getPrice()
	{
		return price;
	}
	//End get price

	

	//Set Value
	public double value( double price, int units )
	{
		return value = price * units;
	}
	//end set value


	//String output of Product
	public String toString()
	{
		return "Product " + number + "  Type " + name + ".   Cost..." + price + ".   Units..." + units + ".   Value..." + (price * units);
	}

	
	
}

public class CD extends Product   
{
			//Declare variable not inherited
	private String artist;  //name of band or artist
	private final double restockFee = .05;   //5% restocking fee



			//Constructor
	public CD( String productName, String itemNumber, int instockUnits, double costPerUnit, double costOfStock, String artistName )
	{
		super( productName, itemNumber, instockUnits, costPerUnit, costOfStock );

		artist = artistName;
	}

			//METHODS NOT INHERITED
	//Set artist name
	public void setArtist( String artistName )
	{
		artist = artistName;
	}
	//End set artist name

	//Get artist name
	public String getArtist()
	{
		return artist;
	}
	//End get artist name

	//calculate new price with restocking fee
	public double price()
	{
		return ( super.getPrice() + ( super.getPrice() * restockFee ) );	 
	}	

	//Set Value
	public double value()
	{
		return ( price() * super.getUnits() );
	}
	//end set value

	//String output of Product
	public String toString()
	{
		return String.format( "%s %s   %s\n%s...%.2f\n\n", "Artist", getArtist(), super.toString(), "Value with Restocking Fee...", ( price() * super.getUnits() ) ); 
	}

}

import java.util.Scanner;  //allows user input
import java.util.Arrays;  //allows us to add to the array
import java.util.Comparator;

public class InventoryDisplay
{
	//Main Method
	public static void main( String args[] )
	{
		//Create a product
		CD myCD = new CD( "0000", "Type", 0, 0.00, 0.00, "Band" );

		//Create a Scanner
		Scanner input = new Scanner( System.in );

		double total = 0.00;

		//Greeting
		System.out.print( "Welcome to Inventory Control\n" );
		System.out.print( 
		   "This program displays inventory stock and value\n\n" );
		
		//Get the length of the array
		System.out.printf( "%s%s",
		   "Before we begin,", 
		   "how many CDs do you want to inventory? " );
		int count = input.nextInt();

		System.out.printf( "%s%s", "Thank you.", 
		   " Please fill in CD information.\n\n" );
		
		//Create an array
		CD inventory[] = new CD[ count ];
				
		//Using inventory.length as a counter, loop input and output
		for ( int counter = 0; counter < inventory.length; counter++ )
		{
			String theName = "CD";  //Product Type is already determined as CD, so no input required
			myCD.setName( theName );
			
			System.out.print( "What is the product number of the CD? ");
			String theNumber = input.next();
			myCD.setNumber( theNumber );
			System.out.println();

			System.out.print( "How many of this CD is in stock? ");
			int theUnits = input.nextInt();
			myCD.setUnits( theUnits );
			System.out.println();

			System.out.print( "How much does this CD cost? ");
			double thePrice = input.nextDouble();
			myCD.setPrice( thePrice );
			System.out.println();

			System.out.print( "Who is the artist of the CD? ");
			String theArtist = input.next();
			myCD.setArtist( theArtist );
			System.out.println();

			//Fills the array with the user input
			inventory[ counter ] = new CD( theName, theNumber, theUnits, thePrice, myCD.value( myCD.getPrice(), myCD.getUnits() ), theArtist );
			

			//Totals the value of all the items
			/*This snippet of code taken Dream.In.Code
			http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/251302-loop-not-incrementing-my-variable/page__p__1460738__fromsearch__1&#entry1460738
			ChrisKellyDev
			Retrieved October 15th 2011*/
			
			total += inventory[counter].value();
			
         	}
		
		System.out.println( "The restocking fee is 5%\n" );
		
		for ( int a = 0; a <= inventory.length; a++ )
		{
			for ( int b = 1; b <= inventory.length; b++ )
			{
				if ( inventory[a].getArtist() < inventory[b].getArtist() )
				{
					CD swapCD = new CD( "0000", "Type", 0, 0.00, 0.00, "Band" );
			
					swapCD = inventory[a];
					inventory[a] = inventory[b];
					inventory[b] = swapCD;
				}
			}
		}		
		
		System.out.println(Arrays.toString( inventory ) );
		
  		
		

				

	
        	System.out.printf( "The total value of the inventory is %.2f\n\n", total );

		//Closing
		System.out.print( "Thank you for using Inventory Control" );		
 	   	   	
	}

}

error occurs for line 86

[Tiffany Walker]

I apologize the lines are different here. The error occurs at line 81

[Tiffany Walker]

Never mind folks,

someone suggested the compareTo() method at that works just fine for me.