Array without ints

[eric elysia]

Hello,

I am working on a program and I am trying to figure out how to make sure there are no integers input into a character array.

I do understand that I need to step through each index of the array. I am just not sure how to test to make sure each index does not have an integer value.

Thank you,
Eric

[Jon Egan]

Since an int and a char are both just integral primitives in Java, within the range of a character's valid values, they are indistinguishable... except for the type of the variable. If the array is defined to be a char[], anything that the compiler KNOWS to be an int will give a compile error if you try to assign it directly into one of the char's in the array (without a cast - but a cast seems counter to your stated goal).

Anything the compiler sees as possibly being a char (like a char that has some math operation like multiplication, that would take it out of char range, will just lose precision and have only a min/max value of Character.MIN_VALUE and Character.MAX_VALUE. So once they're in the array, there's no way of knowing they were once int's.

-- Jon

[eric elysia]

Ah ha. You make a good point. I need to check before they are input into an array. I am using a string when I read the in the input. Then, I am converting the string into a character array with toCharArray(). So I need to check for integers before I make the conversion from the string.

Thank you,
Eric

[Matt Wilcko]

When you iterate through your array, extract each element to a string. Then create a patern Matcher and supply the regular expression '[0-9]?'. This should look for occurences of any digit and return a true or false. Just search for tutorials on regular expressions and pattern matchers.

[eric elysia]

What about using something like isLetter or isDigit?

Thanks,
Eric

[Jon Egan]

Regular expressions are powerful and flexible, but for doing what you describe, isDigit would be fine. Not sure which would be more efficient, but I suspect any difference wouldn't matter for your needs. You'd have to write a loop to iterate through the characters in the string.

-- Jon

[David Harkness]

If you are using 1.4 or later, you can use regex on your source Strings.

String source;
Pattern integers = Pattern.compile("[0-9]+");
while ( ... ) {
    source = ...;
    Matcher m = integers.matcher(source);
    if ( m.find() ) {
        // source contains an integer: m.group()
        ...
    }
}

[eric elysia]

Hello David,

I just sent you an e-mail. I was going to see if you can answer a few questions for me.

Thanks,
Eric

[eric elysia]

I just want to post my latest code so it makes things a little easier.

public class PalindromeCheck
{
String charString;
char[] a = new char[80];
int used = 0;
boolean charsMatch = true;

//!!! Write a loop that checks additional strings until the user requests that the program ends.

//INPUT-------------------------------------------------------------------------
public void getInput()
{
System.out.println("Input a string of characters followed by a period.");
System.out.println("You must make sure that you include the period at the end");
System.out.println("of the string or else you will not get correct results.\n");
charString = SavitchIn.readLine();  

displayInfo();
//Make sure the user can only enter 80 char max (79 plus the period).
//if(a.length > 80) ???
//Make sure the input is either letters or blank spaces

char input[] = charString.toCharArray();
for(int i = 0; i < (input.length); i++)
{
if(Character.isLetter(input[i]) || Character.isSpaceChar(input[i]))
{
//Maybe check for numbers instead so the if statement isn't empty.  
//What about symbols such as &, *, and #?
}
else
System.out.println("The input must be a letter or a white space.");
break;
}
a = charString.toUpperCase().toCharArray(); //converts a string to an array of characters
System.out.println("\nThe string of characters you entered is: ");
for(int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)//displays the array to the screen
{
System.out.print(a[i]);
}
System.out.println("\nIs this the correct string of characters?");
char choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar(); 
choice = Character.toUpperCase(choice);
if(choice == 'n')
{
//what should go here if I want to restart the getInput() method?
}


for(int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)//increments int used once for each array index that is used
{
used++;
}
}

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/******
//I MUST USE THIS METHOD:  public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used)
//Precondition:  The array a contains letters and blanks in positions a[0] through a[used-1].
//Returns true if the string is a palindrome and false otherwise.
//The program will call this method with the array and one other int variable.  
//The other int variable keeps track of how much of the array is used (partially filled array).

public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used)
{

}
******/

//ACTION----------------------------------------------------------------------------
public void checkInput()//checks for palindrome
{
int left = 0;
int right = a.length - 2;  // Subtracts 2 from length, one for index 0 and one for the period
while(left <= right && charsMatch)//compares characters in the characterString
{
if(a[left] == a[right])
{
left++;
right--;
}
else
{
charsMatch = false;
}
}
}

//RESULTS------------------------------------------------------------------------
public void giveOutput()//display charString and palindrome check results
{
if(charsMatch)
{
System.out.println("\n\n" + charString + " \nIS A PALINDROME.\n");
}
else
System.out.println("\n\n" + charString + " \nIS NOT A PALINDROME.\n");
}

//DISPLAY INFO------------------------------------------------------------------------
public void displayInfo()
{
System.out.println("\nThe length of the string without the period is " + (charString.length()-1));
System.out.println("The number of indexes already used is " + used + ".");//displays the number of indexes already used
System.out.println("The lowest index used is index a[0].");//displays the lowest index
System.out.println("The highest index used is index a[" + (a.length-1) + "].");//displays the highest index used
}

//STOP OR KEEP GOING--------------------------------------------------------------------
public void stopOrGo()//This is not working right
{
//boolean repeat = true; //Need a (do while?) loop to continue the program until the user wants to exit

System.out.println("Would you like to check another string of characters?\n");
char choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar(); 
choice = Character.toUpperCase(choice);
if(choice == 'n')//This needs some work
{
System.out.println("\nThe program is now exiting.\n");
System.exit(0);
}
else
{
}
}

//MAIN--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main(String[] args)
{
PalindromeCheck checkIt = new PalindromeCheck();
{
checkIt.getInput();
checkIt.checkInput();
checkIt.giveOutput();
checkIt.stopOrGo();
}
}
}

[eric elysia]

My main questions are:

How can I make sure the user can only input 80 characters?

Should I change the input error checking:
if(Character.isLetter(input[i]) || Character.isSpaceChar(input[])) ?

What is the best thing to have in the echo input error checking statement:
if(choice == 'n') ?

How do I use the method:
public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used) ?

Thank you,
Eric

[eric elysia]

OK, after much time and hard work, I have my program doing most of what I want it to do.

I still have these questions:

If the user inputs a 2 for the menu choice before a string is input, I get a NullPointerException error. How can I fix this?

The boolean palindrome(char, int) is not returning the correct result.

Thanks in advance,
Eric

public class PalindromeCheck
{
String charString;
char[] a = new char[80];
int i;
int count = 0;
boolean charsMatch = true;
boolean result;

//Do I want to add constructors?

//GET INPUT -------------------------------------------------
//PRECONDITION:
public void checkInput()
{
System.out.println("This program will check a string of characters");
System.out.println("and determine whether or not the string is a palindrome.");
System.out.println("Input a string of characters followed by a period.");
System.out.println("You must make sure that you include the period at the end");
System.out.println("of the string or else you will not get correct results.");
charString = SavitchIn.readLine();  

if(charString.length() > 80)//makes sure the user can only enter 80 char max (79 plus the period).
{
System.out.println("You cannot enter more than 79 characters (plus a period)\n");
System.out.println("\nThe program will now exit.\n");
System.out.println("Please run the program again and ");
System.out.println("input the correct string of characters.\n");
System.exit(0);//should this do something different?
}

char a[] = charString.toUpperCase().toCharArray();//converts a string to an array of characters

for(int i = 0; i < (a.length); i++)//makes sure the input is either letters or blank spaces
{
if(Character.isLetter(a[i]) || Character.isSpaceChar(a[i]))
{
//Maybe check for numbers instead so the "if" statement isn't empty.  
//What about symbols such as &, *, and #?
}
else
System.out.println("The input must be a letter or a white space.");
break;
}

System.out.println("\nThe string of characters you entered is: ");//error checking
for(int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)//displays the array to the screen
{
System.out.print(a[i]);
}
System.out.println("\nIs this the correct string of characters?");
char choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar(); 
choice = Character.toUpperCase(choice);
if(choice == 'N')
{
System.out.println("\nThe program will now exit.\n");
System.out.println("Please run the program again and ");
System.out.println("input the correct string of characters.\n");
System.exit(0);//should this do something different? 
}
else
for(int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)//increments int used once for each array index that is used
{
count++;
}

result = palindrome(a, count);
System.out.println("\n" + (result));
if(result)
{
System.out.println(charString + " IS A PALINDROME.\n");
}
else
System.out.println(charString + " IS NOT A PALINDROME.\n");
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
//PALINDROME
//PRECONDITION:  The array a contains letters and blanks in positions a[0] through a[used-1].
//Returns true if the string is a palindrome and false otherwise.
//The program will call this method with the array and one other int variable.  
//The other int variable keeps track of how much of the array is used (partially filled array).

public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used)
{ 
int i;
for(i = 0; i < used/2 ;i++)
{
if(a[i] != a[used - i - 1])
return false;
}
return true;
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
//DISPLAY ARRAY INFO
//PRECONDITION:
public void displayArrayInfo(int used)
{
System.out.println("\nCount = " + count);
System.out.println("Used = " + used);
System.out.println("\nThe length of the string without the period is " + (charString.length()-1));
System.out.println("The number of indexes already used is " + count + ".");//displays the number of indexes already used
System.out.println("The lowest index used is index a[0].");//displays the lowest index
System.out.println("The highest index used is index a[" + (a.length-1) + "].");//displays the highest index used
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
//EXIT PROGRAM
//PRECONDITION:
public void exitProgram()
{
//boolean repeat = true; //Need a (do while?) loop to continue the program until the user wants to exit
System.out.println("\nThe program is now exiting.\n");
System.exit(0);
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
//MAIN MENU
//PRECONDITION:
public void mainMenu()
{
char choice;
do
{
System.out.println("\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------This is the main menu.  Please make a selection.------\n");
System.out.println("Please press [1] to input a character string.");
System.out.println("Please press [2] to display array info.");
System.out.println("Please press [3] to exit the program.");

choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar();

switch(choice)
{
case '1':checkInput();
break;

case '2':  displayArrayInfo(count);//gives NullPointerException if this is chosen first
break;

case '3':exitProgram();
break;

default:System.out.println("Options 1-3 only please.");
System.out.println("Please enter a selection.\n");
//break;
}
}while(choice != '4');
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//----------------------------------------------------------------------
//MAIN
//PRECONDITION:
public static void main(String[] args)
{
PalindromeCheck checkIt = new PalindromeCheck();
checkIt.mainMenu();
}
//POSTCONDITION:
}

[eric elysia]

OK, I have gotten rid of the NullPointerException error.

I am getting this error:
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 9
at PalindromeCheck.palindrome(PalindromeCheck.java:89 )
at PalindromeCheck.checkInput(PalindromeCheck.java:67 )
at PalindromeCheck.mainMenu(PalindromeCheck.java:155)
at PalindromeCheck.main(PalindromeCheck.java:177)

How is my array getting full? I do not see what I am doing wrong.

I cannot figure out why boolean palindrome is not returning the correct results.

Thanks,
Eric

Latest code:

 char[] a = new char[80];
int i;
int count = 0;
//boolean charsMatch = true;
boolean result;

//Do I want to add constructors?

//GET INPUT -------------------------------------------------
//PRECONDITION:
public void checkInput()
{
System.out.println("This program will check a string of characters");
System.out.println("and determine whether or not the string is a palindrome.");
System.out.println("Input a string of characters followed by a period.");
System.out.println("You must make sure that you include the period at the end");
System.out.println("of the string or else you will not get correct results.");
charString = SavitchIn.readLine();  

if(charString.length() > 80)//makes sure the user can only enter 80 char max (79 plus the period).
{
System.out.println("You cannot enter more than 79 characters (plus a period)\n");
System.out.println("\nThe program will now exit.\n");
System.out.println("Please run the program again and ");
System.out.println("input the correct string of characters.\n");
System.exit(0);//should this do something different?
}

char a[] = charString.toUpperCase().toCharArray();//converts a string to an array of characters

for(int i = 0; i < (a.length); i++)//makes sure the input is either letters or blank spaces
{
if(Character.isLetter(a[i]) || Character.isSpaceChar(a[i]))
{
//Maybe check for numbers instead so the "if" statement isn't empty.  
//What about symbols such as &, *, and #?
}
else
System.out.println("The input must be a letter or a white space.");
break;
}

System.out.println("\nThe string of characters you entered is: ");//error checking
for(int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)//displays the array to the screen
{
System.out.print(a[i]);
}
System.out.println("\nIs this the correct string of characters?");
char choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar(); 
choice = Character.toUpperCase(choice);
if(choice == 'N')
{
System.out.println("\nThe program will now exit.\n");
System.out.println("Please run the program again and ");
System.out.println("input the correct string of characters.\n");
System.exit(0);//should this do something different? 
}
else
for(int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)//increments int used once for each array index that is used
{
count++;
}

result = palindrome(a, count);
System.out.println("\n" + (result));
if(result)
{
System.out.println(charString + " IS A PALINDROME.\n");
}
else
System.out.println(charString + " IS NOT A PALINDROME.\n");
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
//PALINDROME
//PRECONDITION:  The array a contains letters and blanks in positions a[0] through a[used-1].
//Returns true if the string is a palindrome and false otherwise.
//The program will call this method with the array and one other int variable.  
//The other int variable keeps track of how much of the array is used (partially filled array).

public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used)
{ 
int i;
for(i = 0; i < used / 2 ;i++)
{
if(a[i] != a[used - i - 1])
return false;
}
return true;

/*
int left = 0;
int right = a.length - 2;

while(left <= right && charsMatch)
{
if(a[left] == a[right])
{
left++;
right--;
}
else
{
charsMatch = false;
}
}
*/
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
//DISPLAY ARRAY INFO
//PRECONDITION:
public void displayArrayInfo(int used)
{
System.out.println("\nCount = " + count);
System.out.println("Used = " + used);
System.out.println("\nThe length of the string without the period is " + (charString.length()-1));
System.out.println("The number of indexes already used is " + count + ".");//displays the number of indexes already used
System.out.println("The lowest index used is index a[" + ((a.length-1)-(a.length-1)));//displays the lowest index
System.out.println("The highest index used is index a[" + (a.length-1) + "].");//displays the highest index used
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
//EXIT PROGRAM
//PRECONDITION:
public void exitProgram()
{
//boolean repeat = true; //Need a (do while?) loop to continue the program until the user wants to exit
System.out.println("\nThe program is now exiting.\n");
System.exit(0);
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------
//MAIN MENU
//PRECONDITION:
public void mainMenu()
{
char choice;
do
{
System.out.println("\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------This is the main menu.  Please make a selection.------\n");
System.out.println("Please press [1] to input a character string.");
System.out.println("Please press [2] to display array info.");
System.out.println("Please press [3] to exit the program.");

choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar();

switch(choice)
{
case '1':checkInput();
break;

case '2':  if(charString == null)
{
System.out.println("\nYou must use option 1 first.\n");
break;
}
displayArrayInfo(count);//gives NullPointerException if this is chosen first
break;

case '3':exitProgram();
break;

default:System.out.println("Options 1-3 only please.");
System.out.println("Please enter a selection.\n");
//break;
}
}while(choice != '3');
}
//POSTCONDITION:
//----------------------------------------------------------------------
//MAIN
//PRECONDITION:
public static void main(String[] args)
{
PalindromeCheck checkIt = new PalindromeCheck();
checkIt.mainMenu();
}
//POSTCONDITION:
}

[eric elysia]

Can anyone please help me figure out what I am doing wrong here?

[eric elysia]

How is my array going out of bounds? I am trying to learn this, but it is not coming easy at times.

Thank you,
Eric

[eric elysia]

Can anyone help me figure this out?

Thanks,
Eric

[David Harkness]

When you don't get a response here at the Ranch, you've got to look over what you've posted and see if you can provide more information. Simply posting again asking for help won't make a difference. There are a lot of posts here, and often instead of replying that we cannot help people will skip your post if it involves too much work to help. We want to help as many people as possible.

So, what have we got? You've given us a couple hundred lines of code and a stack trace. Where exactly is line 89? I see it must be in palindrome(), and most of that is commented out.

public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used)
{ 
int i;
for(i = 0; i < used / 2 ;i++)
{
[B]if(a[i] != a[used - i - 1])[/B]
return false;
}
return true;
}

Since the bolded line is the only one accessing the array, I must assume that used is set larger than a.length. Have you verified that used has the correct value you expect? Put some println()'s in there to verify your assumptions.

I recommend you try out some of these ideas as this is the kind of detective work you need to practice so you can find solutions yourself. I'll let you find the actual problem, but post more information if you cannot find it.

[eric elysia]

OK, sorry about that. I am in the process or rewriting it.
When I run it more than once, it is giving me some weird output when I echo back the input to the user the second time.

public class Palindrome7 
{
String charString; 
int i;
int count = 0;

//checkInput method
public void checkInput() 
{
System.out.println("This program will check a string of characters");
System.out.println("and determine whether or not the string is a palindrome.");
System.out.println("Input a string of characters followed by a period.");
System.out.println("You must make sure that you include the period at the end");
System.out.println("of the string or else you will not get correct results.");
charString = SavitchIn.readLine();  

if(charString.length() > 80)//makes sure the user can only enter 80 char max (79 plus the period).
{
System.out.println("You cannot enter more than 79 characters (plus a period)\n");
System.out.println("\nThe program will now exit.\n");
System.out.println("Please run the program again and ");
System.out.println("input the correct string of characters.\n");
System.exit(0);//should this do something different?
}
 
charString = charString.toLowerCase(); //this makes the string all lower case.
 
char[] a = new char[80]; 


//Puts the charString into the array.
for(i = 0; charString.charAt(i) != '.'; i++) //the loop stops when you encounter a period.
{
if(charString.charAt(i) != ' ') //ignore the space
{
a[count] = charString.charAt(i); //use count as the array index
count++;
}
}

//Echos back input
System.out.println("\nThe string of characters you entered is: ");//error checking
for(i = 0; i < count; i++)//displays the array to the screen
{
System.out.print(a[i]);
}

System.out.println("\nIs this the correct string of characters?");
char choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar(); 
choice = Character.toUpperCase(choice);
if(choice == 'N')
{
System.out.println("\nThe program will now exit.\n");
System.out.println("Please run the program again and ");
System.out.println("input the correct string of characters.\n");
System.exit(0);//should this do something different? 
}

//Checks for palindrome
boolean isPalindrome = palindrome(a,count);
System.out.println(isPalindrome);
if(isPalindrome)
{
System.out.println(charString + " IS A PALINDROME.\n");
}
else
System.out.println(charString + " IS NOT A PALINDROME.\n");
}

//palindrome method
public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used)
{ 
int i;
for(i = 0; i < (used / 2); i++)
{
if(a[i] != a[used-i-1])
return false;
}
return true;
}

//exitProgram method
public void exitProgram()
{
System.out.println("\nThe program is now exiting.\n");
System.exit(0);
}

//mainMenu method
public void mainMenu()
{
char choice;
do
{
System.out.println("\n\n------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------This is the main menu.  Please make a selection.------\n");
System.out.println("Please press [1] to input a character string.");
System.out.println("Please press [2] to display array info.");
System.out.println("Please press [3] to exit the program.");

choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar();

switch(choice)
{
case '1':checkInput();
break;

case '2':  if(charString == null)
{
System.out.println("\nYou must use option 1 first.\n");
break;
}
//displayArrayInfo(a, used, count);//gives NullPointerException if this is chosen first
break;

case '3':exitProgram();
break;

default:System.out.println("Options 1-3 only please.");
System.out.println("Please enter a selection.\n");
//break;
}
}while(choice != '3');
}

//main method
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Palindrome7 checkIt = new Palindrome7();
checkIt.mainMenu();
}
}

[eric elysia]

OK, fixed that part. I forgot to reset count.

[eric elysia]

OK, now I have a few questions.

How do I:

Make sure the input is only letters and blank spaces?
Make sure there is a period at the end of the charString?
If the user inputs the wrong string, how do I allow the user to stay in the program to reinput the correct string?

[David Harkness]

The Character class has several static methods that will analyze an individual char. Check the JavaDocs.

The String class has a static method that will tell you if a String ends with another String. Check the JavaDocs.

For this you'll want to use a loop (e.g. while) that keeps going until the user's input passes your tests. One pattern that doesn't require you to create a boolean to store the result is this:

while ( true ) {
    ...
    if ( <passes-tests> )
        break;
}

This will loop forever until the break is hit.

[eric elysia]

OK, I am still having some problems.

I am getting this error:
java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException: String index out of range: 3
at java.lang.String.charAt(Unknown Source)
at Palindrome7.checkInput(Palindrome7.java:29)
at Palindrome7.mainMenu(Palindrome7.java:127)
at Palindrome7.main(Palindrome7.java:158)
Exception in thread "main"

public class Palindrome7 
{
String charString; 
int i;
int count;
//int used;
char[] a = new char[80];

//checkInput method-----------------------------------------------------------
public void checkInput() 
{
count = 0;//Gives ArrayIndexOutOfBounds error if this is not here
System.out.println("This program will check a string of characters");
System.out.println("and determine whether or not the string is a palindrome.");
System.out.println("Input a string of characters followed by a period.");
System.out.println("You must make sure that you include the period at the end");
System.out.println("of the string or else you will not get correct results.");
charString = SavitchIn.readLine();  

if(charString.length() > 80)//makes sure the user can only enter 80 char max (79 plus the period).
{
System.out.println("\n\nPlease input the correct string of characters.\n ");
   error();
}
 
charString = charString.toLowerCase(); //this makes the string all lower case.

//Puts the charString into the array.
[B]for(i = 0; charString.charAt(i) != '.'; i++)[/B] //the loop stops when you encounter a period.
{
if(charString.charAt(i) != ' ') //ignore the space
{
a[count] = charString.charAt(i); //use count as the array index
count++;
}
}

if(charString.charAt(i) != '.')
{
System.out.println("\n\nPlease input the correct string of characters.\n ");
  error();
}

for(i = 0; i < count; i++)//makes sure the input is only letters and blank spaces
{
if(Character.isDigit(a[i]))
{
System.out.println("\n\nPlease input the correct string of characters.\n ");
   error();
}
}

//Echos back input
System.out.println("\nThe string of characters you entered is: ");//error checking
for(i = 0; i < count; i++)//displays the array to the screen
{
System.out.print(a[i]);
}

System.out.println("\nIs this the correct string of characters?");
char choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar(); 
choice = Character.toUpperCase(choice);
if(choice == 'N')
{
System.out.println("\n\nPlease input the correct string of characters.\n ");
   error(); 
}

//Checks for palindrome
boolean isPalindrome = palindrome(a,count);
System.out.println("\n");
if(isPalindrome)
{
System.out.println((isPalindrome) + "  THE STRING: " + charString + " IS A PALINDROME.\n");
}
else
System.out.println((isPalindrome) + "  THE STRING: " + charString + " IS NOT A PALINDROME.\n");
}

//palindrome method-----------------------------------------------------------
public static boolean palindrome(char[] a, int used)
{ 
int i;
for(i = 0; i < (used / 2); i++)
{
if(a[i] != a[used-i-1])
return false;
}
return true;
}

//displayArrayInfo method-----------------------------------------------------
public void displayArrayInfo(char[] a, int used)
{
System.out.println("\nThe length of the string without the period is " + (used));
System.out.println("The number of indexes already used is " + (used + 1) + ".");//displays the number of indexes already used
System.out.println("The lowest index used is index a[" + ((a.length-1)-(a.length-1)) + "].");//displays the lowest index
System.out.println("The highest index used is index a[" + (a.length-1) + "].");//displays the highest index used
}

//exitProgram method----------------------------------------------------------
public void exitProgram()
{
System.out.println("\nThe program is now exiting.\n");
System.exit(0);
}

//mainMenu method-------------------------------------------------------------
public void mainMenu()
{
char choice;
do
{
System.out.println("\n\n------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------------------------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("------This is the main menu.  Please make a selection.------\n");
System.out.println("Please press [1] to input a character string.");
System.out.println("Please press [2] to display array info.");
System.out.println("Please press [3] to exit the program.");

choice = SavitchIn.readLineNonwhiteChar();

switch(choice)
{
case '1':checkInput();
break;

case '2':  if(charString == null)
{
System.out.println("\nYou must use option 1 first.\n");
break;
}
displayArrayInfo(a, count);//gives NullPointerException if this is chosen first
break;

case '3':exitProgram();
break;

default:System.out.println("Options 1-3 only please.");
System.out.println("Please enter a selection.\n");
//break;
}
}while(choice != '3');
}

//error method----------------------------------------------------------------
public void error()
{
checkInput();
}

//main method-----------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Palindrome7 checkIt = new Palindrome7();
checkIt.mainMenu();
}
}

[ April 26, 2005: Message edited by: eric elysia ]

[David Harkness]

I can't tell which line is 29 (please bold the line in the future or mark it in some other way), but this is a problem:

for(i = 0; charString.charAt(i) != '.'; i++)
    //the loop stops when you encounter a period.

What happens when charString doesn't have a period?

[eric elysia]

Sorry that I didn't mark line 29.

The user is required to put a period at the end of the input string.

[David Harkness]

Okay, but what happens when the user doesn't put in a period? Is that line 29, by the way? If not, please edit your previous post and bold line 29.

[eric elysia]

I have bolded line 29 in my previous post.

I am trying to write code that makes sure the user does enter a period.

[David Harkness]

Originally posted by eric elysia:
I am trying to write code that makes sure the user does enter a period.

Yes, but do you see what happens if the user enters a String without a period? Let's see what happens when you enter "hi" without the quotes.

i  "hi"  charAt(i)
0   ^    'h'

Since 'h' is not a period, the loop body is executed, placing 'h' into the array a.

i  "hi"  charAt(i)
1    ^   'i'

Since 'i' is not a period, the loop body is executed, placing 'i' into the array a.

i  "hi"  charAt(i)
2     ^  !

Since i is now outside the bounds of legal values for the String, you get a StringIndexOutOfBoundsException.

I recommend thoroughly reading the java.lang.String JavaDocs as there are several methods in that class that would be very helpful here. Since String is such a core class, it's a very good idea to become familiar with all of its methods.

For example, you want to remove all spaces from the String and test to see if it ends in a period. trim() will remove leading and trailing whitespace (not spaces between words), and endsWith() will tell you if one String ends with another String. Or you could use charString.charAt(charString.length()-1) to check the last char of the String.

Also, if you're using JDK 1.4 or later and you're allowed to use the regular expression methods, you could remove all non-letters with a single line of code using replaceAll().

[ Grrrrrrammar is goooooood! ]
[ April 26, 2005: Message edited by: David Harkness ]