inheritance with static print method

[vladimir mujakovic]

hello i am writing a person tester application with the following functionality

1. user is prompted to enter name, email address and depending on the selection (customer or employee) social sec number or customer number.
2. the data is printed to the console

the application needs to have an abstract person class with an abstract getdisplayText() method and the person class needs to be extended by a customer class and an employee class which will either append a cusotmer number (if customer) or a social security number (if employee).

additionally the application needs to have a static print method that prints said data to the console.

i have build most of the application but am having trouble printing the data to the console, and not sure what im doing wrong please help! i have hit a wall.

this is my code

  import java.util.Scanner;

public class CH08PR82App {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.print("Welcome to the Person Tester Application");
        System.out.println();

        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);


        String choice = "y";
        while (choice.equalsIgnoreCase("y")) {

            //prompt user to enter customer or employee
            System.out.print("Create customer or employee (c/e): ");
            String userType = sc.nextLine();

            if (userType.equalsIgnoreCase("c")) {
                Person c = new Customer();
                String fName = Validator.getStringInput(sc, "Enter first name: ");
                String lastName = Validator.getStringInput(sc, "Enter last name: ");
                String email = Validator.getStringInput(sc, "Enter email address: ");
                String custNumber = Validator.getStringInput(sc, "Customer number: ");
            System.out.print(c.toString());
            } else if (userType.equalsIgnoreCase("e")) {
                String firstName = Validator.getStringInput(sc, "Enter first name: ");
                String lastName = Validator.getStringInput(sc, "Enter last name: ");
                String email = Validator.getStringInput(sc, "Enter email address: ");
                int empSoc = Validator.getInt(sc, "Social security number: ");
            }
            choice = Validator.getStringContinue(sc, "Continue? (y/n): ");
        }
    }
    public static void print(Person person) {
    System.out.println(person.toString());
}
}
abstract class Person {

    private String firstName;
    private String lastName;
    private String eMail;

    public Person() {
        firstName = "";
        lastName = "";
        eMail = "";
    }

    public String getFirstName() {
        return firstName;
    }

    public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
    }

    public String getLastName() {
        return lastName;
    }

    public void setLastName(String lastName) {
        this.lastName = lastName;
    }

    public String geteMail() {
        return eMail;
    }

    public void seteMail(String eMail) {
        this.eMail = eMail;
    }

    public String toString() {
        return "Name: " + firstName + lastName + "\n"
                + "E-mail: " + eMail;
    }
public abstract String getDisplayText(Person person);

}

class Customer extends Person {

    private String customerNumber;

    public Customer() {
        super();
        customerNumber = "";
    }

    public void setcustomerNumber(String customerNumber) {
        this.customerNumber = customerNumber;
    }

    public String getcustomerNumber() {
        return customerNumber;
    }

    public String toString() {
        return super.toString() + "\n"
                + "Customer number: " + customerNumber + "\n";
    }
    @Override
public String getDisplayText(Person person) {
    return ((Customer)person).toString();
}
}

class Employee extends Person {

    private String socNumber;

    public Employee() {
        super.toString();
        socNumber = "";
    }

    public void setsocNumber(String socNumber) {
        this.socNumber = socNumber;
    }

    public String getsocNumber() {
        return socNumber;
    }

    
    public String toString() {
        return super.toString()
                + "Social Security number:      " + socNumber + "\n";
    }
    @Override
public String getDisplayText(Person person) {
    return ((Employee)person).toString();
}
}

class Validator {

    public static String getStringContinue(Scanner sc, String prompt) {
        boolean isValid = false;
        String s = "";
        while (isValid == false) {
            System.out.print(prompt);
            if (sc.hasNext("y")) {
                s = sc.nextLine(); // read entire line
                isValid = true;
            } else if (sc.hasNext("n")) {
                s = sc.nextLine();
                isValid = true;
            } else {
                s = sc.nextLine();
                isValid = false;
                System.out.println("Error! Invalid string value. Try again.");
            }
        }
        return s;
    }

    public static String getStringInput(Scanner sc, String prompt) {
        boolean isValid = false;
        String s = "";
        while (isValid == false) {
            System.out.print(prompt);
            if (sc.hasNext()) {
                s = sc.nextLine(); // read entire line
                isValid = true;
            } else {
                System.out.println("Error! Invalid string value. Try again.");
            }
        }
        return s;
    }

    public static int getInt(Scanner sc, String prompt) {
        int i = 0;
        boolean isValid = false;
        while (isValid == false) {
            System.out.print(prompt);
            if (sc.hasNextInt()) {
                i = sc.nextInt();
                isValid = true;
            } else {
                System.out.println("Error! Invalid integer value. Try again.");
            }
            sc.nextLine();  // discard any other data entered on the line
        }
        return i;
    }

    public static int getInt(Scanner sc, String prompt,
            int min, int max) {
        int i = 0;
        boolean isValid = false;
        while (isValid == false) {
            i = getInt(sc, prompt);
            if (i <= min) {
                System.out.println(
                        "Error! Number must be greater than " + min + ".");
            } else if (i >= max) {
                System.out.println(
                        "Error! Number must be less than " + max + ".");
            } else {
                isValid = true;
            }
        }
        return i;
    }

    public static double getDouble(Scanner sc, String prompt) {
        double d = 0;
        boolean isValid = false;
        while (isValid == false) {
            System.out.print(prompt);
            if (sc.hasNextDouble()) {
                d = sc.nextDouble();
                isValid = true;
            } else {
                System.out.println("Error! Invalid decimal value. Try again.");
            }
            sc.nextLine();  // discard any other data entered on the line
        }
        return d;
    }

    public static double getDouble(Scanner sc, String prompt,
            double min, double max) {
        double d = 0;
        boolean isValid = false;
        while (isValid == false) {
            d = getDouble(sc, prompt);
            if (d <= min) {
                System.out.println(
                        "Error! Number must be greater than " + min + ".");
            } else if (d >= max) {
                System.out.println(
                        "Error! Number must be less than " + max + ".");
            } else {
                isValid = true;
            }
        }
        return d;
    }
}

[James Boswell]

Where in your code are you attempting to call the getDisplayText method for the Person instance?

[vladimir mujakovic]

i wasnt sure which method to call, im new to working with inheritance, i tried calling the toString method with no result. when i tried calling the getDisplayText method i kept getting errors so i stopped trying. im not sure how to use the static print method to print out my data. thats the problem im facing

[vladimir mujakovic]

i need help please im still stuck