Thread: Scanner skipping input

I am (obviously) a beginner. For the life of me I can't figure out why my scanner is skipping - not giving me the opportunity to input the Strings, it does however let me input the ints (when I choose option 1). Here is my code:

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
import java.util.Scanner;

public class InvoiceDemo {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// VARIABLES ----------------------------------------------------
int number, id, hours;
String name, address;

// --------------------------------------------------------------
// Create scanner
Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);

// Prompt user for selection - loop until valid input is received
do {
System.out.println("Please make a selection [1 - Add Client / 2 - Create Invoice / 3 - Quit]: ");
number = keyboard.nextInt();
} while (number < 1 || number > 3);

if (number == 1) {
System.out.print("Please enter the client's name: ");
name = keyboard.nextLine();
System.out.print("Please enter the client's numerical ID: ");
id = keyboard.nextInt();
System.out.print("Please enter the client's address: ");
address = keyboard.nextLine();
System.out.print("Please enter the number of hours worked: ");
hours = keyboard.nextInt();
}
else if (number == 2) {
System.out.println("Creating Invoice...");
}
else
System.exit(0);

}

}

When I run the program, this is what I get:

Please make a selection [1 - Add Client / 2 - Create Invoice / 3 - Quit]:
1
Please enter the client's name: Please enter the client's numerical ID: 123
Please enter the client's address: Please enter the number of hours worked: 40

I have read the Scanner class info, but don't see what I'm doing wrong. I believe NextInt() returns the next integer entered in the scanner object and NextLine() returns the next entry in the scanner (including spaces) as a String. I'm not sure what you mean by where is the Scanner after each method is called. My scanner is called "keyboard" so when I write keyboard.nextInt() it calls the scanner object right?

Process completed.

I'm not sure what you mean by where is the Scanner after each method is called.

The scanner works with a stream of characters (characters you can see, and characters like spaces and newlines). Every time you call nextWhatever() something is returned and the position of the scanner within the stream is updated. The documentation is very explicit (but maybe not clear...) about where in the stream each call to nextXXX() leaves the scanner.

And this makes a big difference. Your "address = keyboard.nextLine();" will do exactly what it is documented to do: including possibly returning an empty string straight away. Nothing in the documentation says it must wait if there is already a new line in the stream.