Adding object into list through user input

[Val Simon]

Hey everyone its my first post and im in desperate need of help. I'm currently working on a project in school. My instructor wants us to create an array with hard coded values and then add the objects from the array into the list. I've already created the hard-coded array and have added the objects into the list that I have created. Now what I want to do next is ask the user if they want to add more items, if yes then I have to add the items they have entered into my list, if no, I need to output a total for the cost.

Here is my code, I have an Item class and Sales class

public class Item {
	
	
	private String itemID;
	private String desc;
	private double cost;
	private int quantity;
	
	public Item() {
		itemID="";
		desc="";
		cost=0;
		quantity=0;
	}
	
	public Item(String id, String d, double c, int q) {
		itemID = id;
		desc = d;
		cost = c;
		quantity = q;
		
	}

	/**
	 * @return the itemID
	 */
	public String getItemID() {
		return itemID;
	}

	/**
	 * @param itemID the itemID to set
	 */
	public void setItemID(String itemID) {
		this.itemID = itemID;
	}

	/**
	 * @return the desc
	 */
	public String getDesc() {
		return desc;
	}

	/**
	 * @param desc the desc to set
	 */
	public void setDesc(String desc) {
		this.desc = desc;
	}

	/**
	 * @return the cost
	 */
	public double getCost() {
		return cost;
	}

	/**
	 * @param cost the cost to set
	 */
	public void setCost(double cost) {
		this.cost = cost;
	}

	/**
	 * @return the quantity
	 */
	public int getQuantity() {
		return quantity;
	}

	/**
	 * @param quantity the quantity to set
	 */
	public void setQuantity(int quantity) {
		this.quantity = quantity;
	}

	/* (non-Javadoc)
	 * @see java.lang.Object#toString()
	 */
	@Override
	public String toString() {
		return "Item [itemID=" + itemID + ", desc=" + desc + ", cost=" + cost
				+ ", quantity=" + quantity + "]";
	}

	
	
}

So far this what I have for my Salclass

import java.util.*;

public class Sales {

	/**
	 * @param args
	 */
	static String answer;
	static boolean flag = true;
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		int i;
		
		Item[] items = new Item[5];
		
	
		for(i = 0; i < items.length; i++)
		{
			items[i]= new Item(); // create array 
		}

		//hard-coded values of id, desc, cost, qty
		items[0].setItemID("PN250");
		items[1].setItemID("ER100");
		items[2].setItemID("PP150");
		items[3].setItemID("MK200");
		items[4].setItemID("PN300");
		
		items[0].setDesc("Pen");
		items[1].setDesc("Eraser");
		items[2].setDesc("Paper");
		items[3].setDesc("Marker");
		items[4].setDesc("Pen");
		
		items[0].setCost(1.50);
		items[1].setCost(1.25);
		items[2].setCost(3.75);
		items[3].setCost(2.50);
		items[4].setCost(2.25);
		
		items[0].setQuantity(0);
		items[1].setQuantity(175);
		items[2].setQuantity(310);
		items[3].setQuantity(75);
		items[4].setQuantity(450);


		for(Item d : items)
		{
			
			
			System.out.print(d.getItemID());
			System.out.print("\t" + d.getDesc());
			System.out.print("\t" + d.getCost());
			System.out.println("\t" + d.getQuantity());
		}
	

                //create new arraylist
		List<Item> obj;
		obj = new ArrayList<Item>();
                
                //load objects from array into the list
		for (i = 0; i < items.length; i++)
		{
			
		    obj.add(items[i]);
		    
		};


		Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
		scanner.useDelimiter(System.getProperty("line.separator"));

		/*
   =I have not coded the part where the program asks the user if they want to add more
   item, so I'm just going to skip it for now, but let's just assume 
   the customer wants to add more item, I don't know what to do with it*/

		System.out.print("Please enter ID: ");
		answer = scanner.nextLine(); // how do I add this to my list?

		System.out.print("Please enter desc: ");
		answer = scanner.nextLine(); // how do I add this to my list?

                System.out.print("Please enter cost: ");
		answer = scanner.nextLine(); // how do I add this to my list?

                System.out.print("Please enter quantity: ");
		answer = scanner.nextLine(); // how do I add this to my list?

/*
 *I need to keep track of the COST because I will need to
 * output a total for it once the user is done adding more items into the list.
 */
	}
}
		

Thanks in advance for your input.

[Aditya Jha]

You can receive all 4 inputs from user, and then create an Item object and populate its fields. Thereafter, you can add this new Item object to the list.

[deepika deepi]

hi

Val Simon Wrote:
I've already created the hard-coded array and have added the objects into the list that I have created.

there is no need for hard-coding. That may not help for adding the objects. Hope this code helps you.

import java.io.*;

class Employee {

  String itemid;
  String desc;
  double income;
  int quantity;

  public Employee (String n, String t, double i, int q) {
    itemid = n;
    desc = t;
   quantity = q;
    income = i;
    
  }
}


class Salesitems {

  public static void main(String[] args) {

    try
    {
      BufferedReader input =
              new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in) );

      System.out.print( "Please enter number for sales: " );
      int nrOfEmployees = Integer.parseInt(input.readLine());

      /* initialise array with given length */
      Employee[] myEmployee =
              new Employee[nrOfEmployees];

      for( int i=0; i < myEmployee.length; i++ )
      {
        System.out.print( "Name of Itemid " +(i+1)+ ": " );
        String item = input.readLine();

        System.out.print( "Enter the Description " +(i+1)+ ": " );
        String des = input.readLine();

        System.out.print( "Enter the Cost " +(i+1)+ ": " );
        double income = Double.parseDouble(input.readLine());

	System.out.print( "Enter the Quality " +(i+1)+ ": " );
        int qty = Integer.parseInt(input.readLine());
	
        
	myEmployee[i] = new Employee( item , des, income , qty );
      }

      for (int i=0; i < myEmployee.length; i++) {
        System.out.println (myEmployee[i].itemid +
             ", " + myEmployee[i].desc + ", "
             + myEmployee[i].income+ ", " + myEmployee[i].quantity);
      }
    } catch( Exception e )
    {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

[Aditya Jha]

I know of companies ill-treating employees... but selling them outright! God help us all.

[EDIT] Trying to be more politically correct.

[deepika deepi]

hi Aditya Jha Good evening,

It is not to ill -treat. i Just didn't have time to change few things. and i am tied %')

[Val Simon]

deepika deepi wrote:hi

Val Simon Wrote:
I've already created the hard-coded array and have added the objects into the list that I have created.

there is no need for hard-coding. That may not help for adding the objects. Hope this code helps you.

My instructor wants the values to be hard-coded, its one of the specifications in this project. Thank you for the code, I will try to incorporate it with what I have.

Is there any way to add the user's input directly into my list?
I know this is wrong, but just for demonstration sake:

List<Item> obj;
obj = new ArrayList<Item>();

System.out.print("Enter item id: ");
answer = scanner.nextLine();
obj.add(answer);
System.out.print("Enter item cost: ");
answer = scanner.nextLine();
obj.add(answer);

I need to keep adding stuff to my list until the user enters 'N'. Thanks

[deepika deepi]

Val Simon Wrote:
I need to keep adding stuff to my list until the user enters 'N'.

you can use loop for checking the statement it it's true do some thing, when user types N break the statement

while(true){
//do some thing like this
System.out.print("Enter item id: ");
answer = scanner.nextLine();
obj.add(answer);
System.out.print("Enter item cost: ");
answer = scanner.nextLine();
obj.add(answer);

 if (answer.equals("N")){
...........................
....................
break;
}
}

Hope this will help you to get the stuff till the user enters N.

[Val Simon]

deepika deepi wrote:

Val Simon Wrote:
I need to keep adding stuff to my list until the user enters 'N'.

you can use loop for checking the statement it it's true do some thing, when user types N break the statement

while(true){
//do some thing like this
System.out.print("Enter item id: ");
answer = scanner.nextLine();
obj.add(answer);
System.out.print("Enter item cost: ");
answer = scanner.nextLine();
obj.add(answer);

 if (answer.equals("N")){
...........................
....................
break;
}
}

Hope this will help you to get the stuff till the user enters N.

I get an error on this bit of code

obj.add(answer);
**The method add(Item) in the type list is not applicable for the arguments(String)

Is it because answer is a String while my List is from my Item class? Is there any way around this? Thanks.

[Aditya Jha]

Aditya Jha wrote:You can receive all 4 inputs from user, and then create an Item object and populate its fields. Thereafter, you can add this new Item object to the list.

Does this sound feasible to you? If you have any doubts on any of these steps, do let us know.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Aditya Jha wrote: . . .] Trying to be more politically correct.

It never works

Careful about spelling: you have written quantity in one place and quality in another.
Have you really been told to create an Item class with a quantity field? The word item precludes any argument about quantity: an item is always one. You might buy several items of the same sort when shopping, but if I buy two bags of flour, for example, my receipt will look like this

cheese
butter
flour
flour
sugar

I think you need a class intermediate between item and order, which you might call line, which encapsulates the type of goods (item) and quantity, as long as you don’t buy more than 2147483647 at a time.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Val Simon wrote: . . .

I get an error on this bit of code

obj.add(answer);
**The method add(Item) in the type list is not applicable for the arguments(String)

Is it because answer is a String while my List is from my Item class? Is there any way around this? Thanks.

No.
It is because you told the compiler you would only add Items to that list, and you are adding something different. Look at line 60 in your code. You need to pass the String or whatever to the Item constructor, and add the new Item object.