Problem with looping... Arg

[Debra Simeroth]

I have a problem that seems all too familiar, I have gotten quite a bit of help for this in the forums already. But try as I might, I cannot declare the variable employeeName at the beginning of the file, which I suspect is part of my problem. When I try to declare the string as private, I am given a "illegal start of expression" error message. I cannot figure out what my problem is here, and am not able to get the employeeName entered at the end of the loop, or to have it be read properly. What I have this far compiles, but I am not able to re-enter the employee name again to re-evaluate the loops condition.

// Program name PayrollTest.java
// Program to calculate payroll
// Author Debra Simeroth
// Date May28, 2009
// Time 6 42 pm

import java.util.Scanner;


public class PayrollTest 
{

    // main method begins execution of Java application
    public static void main ( String args[] )
    {

       
        // create Scanner to obtain input from command window
        Scanner input = new Scanner( System.in );

          
        // display prompt and get employee name
        System.out.print( "Enter employee name or stop to quit: "); //prompt
        String employeeName = input.nextLine(); // read a line of text
        
        while(!employeeName.equalsIgnoreCase("stop"))
        {
        
            // establish variables and data type
            double hourlyRate = 0; // hourly rate of pay
            double noOfHours = 0; // number of regular hours worked
            double pay = 0; // hourlyRate * no
        
        
            // get hourly rate of pay
            System.out.print( "Enter hourly rate of pay: $"); //prompt
            hourlyRate = input.nextDouble(); // read hourly rate of pay
        
               while (hourlyRate <= 0 )
               {
                   System.out.print( "Re-enter hourly rate of pay, enter a positive number: ");
                   hourlyRate = input.nextDouble();
                }//end while
        
            // get number of regular hours worked
            System.out.print( "Enter number of regular hours worked this week: "); //prompt
            noOfHours = input.nextDouble(); // read number of regular hours
        
                while (noOfHours <= 0 )
                {
                    System.out.print( "Re-enter hourly rate of pay, enter a positive number: ");
                    noOfHours = input.nextDouble();
                }//end while

            pay = hourlyRate * noOfHours; // calculate pay
             
            System.out.printf("%s's pay is: $ %.2f\n ", employeeName, pay); //display pay
        
            System.out.print( "Enter employee name or stop to quit: "); //prompt
            employeeName = input.nextLine(); // read a line of text
        
       }//end while


        
    } // end method main

} // end class PayrollTest

Any help would be extremely appreciated. This is still last weeks homework and I am stuck!

Thanks!

[Henry Wong]

I cannot figure out what my problem is here, and am not able to get the employeeName entered at the end of the loop, or to have it be read properly. What I have this far compiles, but I am not able to re-enter the employee name again to re-evaluate the loops condition.

It is a good idea -- for debugging purposes -- to print out what you actually got from the scanner, so you have an idea of what is going on. Can I assume that you tried that already?

If I had to guess at the problem though, I am guessing that you are getting a blank employee (after the first one) -- probably caused by the fact that you are reading the CR/LF at the end of the last double that was read.

Henry

[Debra Simeroth]

Henry Wong wrote:

I cannot figure out what my problem is here, and am not able to get the employeeName entered at the end of the loop, or to have it be read properly. What I have this far compiles, but I am not able to re-enter the employee name again to re-evaluate the loops condition.

It is a good idea -- for debugging purposes -- to print out what you actually got from the scanner, so you have an idea of what is going on. Can I assume that you tried that already?

If I had to guess at the problem though, I am guessing that you are getting a blank employee (after the first one) -- probably caused by the fact that you are reading the CR/LF at the end of the last double that was read.

Henry

Hi Henry!

I am very new at this... this is an assignment from the 3rd week of class. When you refer to the scanner, are you referring to what is output when the program is run, or the error messages? Also, what is the CR/LF? I am sorry for being so unknowledgeable. Thanks for the help.

[pete stein]

When you refer to the scanner, are you referring to what is output when the program is run, or the error messages?

No, he's referring to the Scanner object in your code, called "input". Have frequent System.out.println(...) statements sprinkled through your code that show the values of the Strings that the Scanner object has read in (or any other pertinent variables in your code).

Also, what is the CR/LF?

Carriage-return / Line-feed: these are the tokens present at the end of lines (in some operating systems).

[Kumar Kamlesh]

Just add

input = new Scanner( System.in ); //at line 58

before you are doing

employeeName = input.nextLine(); // read a line of text

in the loop.

Hope its not too late!

- Kamlesh
A Student of Java

[Henry Wong]

Kumar Kamlesh wrote:Just add

input = new Scanner( System.in ); //at line 58

before you are doing

employeeName = input.nextLine(); // read a line of text

in the loop.

Isn't this like "throwing the baby out with the bath water" ? Instead of throwing away the scanner (on every iteration), would it not be better to get rid of the extra characters that the scanner is still holding -- before prompting for the next input?

Henry

[Kumar Kamlesh]

Yes, you are right. Actually I have not got a chance to use Scanner class. It is just what I tried in order to identify and solve the problem. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Varun K. Gupta]

use input.next() instead of input.nextLine(), problem will get solved