Thread: General Question

I'm not versed in technical java terms because I am transitioning from a different language so I will phrase my question sort of generically...

I have 489 unique names (ASCII) each with an associated ID number. I can store this data set any way I choose. My input is a single string which I need to correlate to one of the names in my data set to retrieve the associated ID number.

My two questions are:
1. How should I store the data set?
2. What is the best way to search the set and retrieve the correct ID number?

That seems like a good starting point. Thank you so much.

Can someone tell me if the following actually does what I'm trying to do? This is my first time coding in Java. o_0


public class SymbolCodeManager {

String asciiSymbolPNG = "";

public SymbolCodeManager(String asciiSymbol) {
asciiSymbolPNG = asciiSymbol;
}

public int getSymbolCodeID () {
Map<String, Integer> m = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
try {
Scanner s = new Scanner(new File("/home/rebecca/Desktop/SymbolCodeMap.txt"));
while (s.hasNext()) {
m.put(s.next(), s.nextInt());
}
} catch (IOException e) {
System.err.println(e);
System.exit(1);
}

if (m.containsKey(asciiSymbolPNG)){
return m.get(asciiSymbolPNG);
} else return 0;
}

Yes, you are absolutely right about moving the file read. Just the sort of insight I was hoping for. I do need to write a test case. Should be a good way to help me find my way around this new IDE. I miss my VC6 so much. /whining