Thread: Print out the state of an object.

Hi, I'm having trouble understanding what a question is asking. The first bit of the question i'm struggling with is "Write a toString() method for the Circle class that prints out the state of
a Circle object." I don't know what it means but "the state", i've done some googling but still can't find it. Thanks for any help.

The toString() method would exist in the Circle class and will return a String object of the important Circle state variables for the current object. What are the important state variables for each Circle object? I would guess x, y, and width/radius/diameter, depending on how you've defined the state, maybe color. So a toString method might return a String object:

"The circle's state is: \n x = " + x + "\n y = " + y + . . . etc.

I keep getting an error if I name my method name is toString() but it's fine if I name it anything else. The error I'm getting is "toString() in Circle cannot override toString() in object." I've had a look through all my classes and can't find it anywhere so I don't know what to do. Thanks again!

The toString() method signature must be the same as that in the Object class. Check that, and if you still can't figure it out, post your Cicrle.toString() method.

I still can't find it. Here are the 3 classes, Circle.java, Canvas.java and ShapesTest.java:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.geom.*;
import java.util.Vector;
 
/**
 * A circle that can be manipulated and that draws itself on a canvas.
 * 
 * @author  Michael Kolling and David J. Barnes
 * @version 1.0  (15 July 2000)
 */
 
public class Circle
{
    private static int diameter;
    private static int xPosition;
    private static int yPosition;
    private static String color;
    private boolean isVisible;
 
    /**
     * Create a new circle at default position with default color.
     */
    public Circle()
    {
        diameter = 30;
        xPosition = 20;
        yPosition = 60;
        color = "blue";
        isVisible = false;
    }
 
	public void toString()
	{
		System.out.println("The diameter of the circle is " + Circle.diameter);
		System.out.println("The x position of the circle is " + Circle.xPosition);
		System.out.println("The y position of the circle is " + Circle.yPosition);
		System.out.println("The colour of the circle is " + Circle.color);
 
	}
 
    /**
     * Make this circle visible. If it was already visible, do nothing.
     */
    public void makeVisible()
    {
        isVisible = true;
        draw();
    }
 
    /**
     * Make this circle invisible. If it was already invisible, do nothing.
     */
    public void makeInvisible()
    {
        erase();
        isVisible = false;
    }
 
    /**
     * Move the circle a few pixels to the right.
     */
    public void moveRight()
    {
        moveHorizontal(20);
    }
 
    /**
     * Move the circle a few pixels to the left.
     */
    public void moveLeft()
    {
        moveHorizontal(-20);
    }
 
    /**
     * Move the circle a few pixels up.
     */
    public void moveUp()
    {
        moveVertical(-20);
    }
 
    /**
     * Move the circle a few pixels down.
     */
    public void moveDown()
    {
        moveVertical(20);
    }
 
    /**
     * Move the circle horizontally by 'distance' pixels.
     */
    public void moveHorizontal(int distance)
    {
        erase();
        xPosition += distance;
        draw();
    }
 
    /**
     * Move the circle vertically by 'distance' pixels.
     */
    public void moveVertical(int distance)
    {
        erase();
        yPosition += distance;
        draw();
    }
 
    /**
     * Slowly move the circle horizontally by 'distance' pixels.
     */
    public void slowMoveHorizontal(int distance)
    {
        int delta;
 
        if(distance < 0) 
        {
            delta = -1;
            distance = -distance;
        }
        else 
        {
            delta = 1;
        }
 
        for(int i = 0; i < distance; i++)
        {
            xPosition += delta;
            draw();
        }
    }
 
    /**
     * Slowly move the circle vertically by 'distance' pixels.
     */
    public void slowMoveVertical(int distance)
    {
        int delta;
 
        if(distance < 0) 
        {
            delta = -1;
            distance = -distance;
        }
        else 
        {
            delta = 1;
        }
 
        for(int i = 0; i < distance; i++)
        {
            yPosition += delta;
            draw();
        }
    }
 
    /**
     * Change the size to the new size (in pixels). Size must be >= 0.
     */
    public void changeSize(int newDiameter)
    {
        erase();
        diameter = newDiameter;
        draw();
    }
 
    /**
     * Change the color. Valid colors are "red", "yellow", "blue", "green",
     * "magenta" and "black".
     */
    public void changeColor(String newColor)
    {
        color = newColor;
        draw();
    }
 
    /*
     * Draw the circle with current specifications on screen.
     */
    private void draw()
    {
        if(isVisible) {
            Canvas canvas = Canvas.getCanvas();
            canvas.draw(this, color, new Ellipse2D.Double(xPosition, yPosition, 
                                                          diameter, diameter));
            canvas.wait(10);
        }
    }
 
    /*
     * Erase the circle on screen.
     */
    private void erase()
    {
        if(isVisible) {
            Canvas canvas = Canvas.getCanvas();
            canvas.erase(this);
        }
    }
}

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.*;
 
/**
 * Canvas is a class to allow for simple graphical drawing on a canvas.
 * This is a modification of the general purpose Canvas, specially made for
 * the BlueJ "shapes" example. 
 *
 * @author: Bruce Quig
 * @author: Michael Kolling (mik)
 *
 * @version: 1.6 (shapes)
 */
public class Canvas
{
    // Note: The implementation of this class (specifically the handling of
    // shape identity and colors) is slightly more complex than necessary. This
    // is done on purpose to keep the interface and instance fields of the
    // shape objects in this project clean and simple for educational purposes.
 
    private static Canvas canvasSingleton;
 
    /**
     * Factory method to get the canvas singleton object.
     */
    public static Canvas getCanvas()
    {
        if(canvasSingleton == null) {
            canvasSingleton = new Canvas("BlueJ Shapes Demo", 300, 300, 
                                         Color.white);
        }
        canvasSingleton.setVisible(true);
        return canvasSingleton;
    }
 
    //  ----- instance part -----
 
    private JFrame frame;
    private CanvasPane canvas;
    private Graphics2D graphic;
    private Color backgroundColour;
    private Image canvasImage;
    private List objects;
    private HashMap shapes;
 
    /**
     * Create a Canvas.
     * @param title  title to appear in Canvas Frame
     * @param width  the desired width for the canvas
     * @param height  the desired height for the canvas
     * @param bgClour  the desired background colour of the canvas
     */
    private Canvas(String title, int width, int height, Color bgColour)
    {
        frame = new JFrame();
        canvas = new CanvasPane();
        frame.setContentPane(canvas);
        frame.setTitle(title);
        canvas.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(width, height));
        backgroundColour = bgColour;
        frame.pack();
        objects = new ArrayList();
        shapes = new HashMap();
    }
 
    /**
     * Set the canvas visibility and brings canvas to the front of screen
     * when made visible. This method can also be used to bring an already
     * visible canvas to the front of other windows.
     * @param visible  boolean value representing the desired visibility of
     * the canvas (true or false) 
     */
    public void setVisible(boolean visible)
    {
        if(graphic == null) {
            // first time: instantiate the offscreen image and fill it with
            // the background colour
            Dimension size = canvas.getSize();
            canvasImage = canvas.createImage(size.width, size.height);
            graphic = (Graphics2D)canvasImage.getGraphics();
            graphic.setColor(backgroundColour);
            graphic.fillRect(0, 0, size.width, size.height);
            graphic.setColor(Color.black);
        }
        frame.setVisible(visible);
    }
 
    /**
     * Draw a given shape onto the canvas.
     * @param  referenceObject  an object to define identity for this shape
     * @param  color            the color of the shape
     * @param  shape            the shape object to be drawn on the canvas
     */
     // Note: this is a slightly backwards way of maintaining the shape
     // objects. It is carefully designed to keep the visible shape interfaces
     // in this project clean and simple for educational purposes.
    public void draw(Object referenceObject, String color, Shape shape)
    {
        objects.remove(referenceObject);   // just in case it was already there
        objects.add(referenceObject);      // add at the end
        shapes.put(referenceObject, new ShapeDescription(shape, color));
        redraw();
    }
 
    /**
     * Erase a given shape's from the screen.
     * @param  referenceObject  the shape object to be erased 
     */
    public void erase(Object referenceObject)
    {
        objects.remove(referenceObject);   // just in case it was already there
        shapes.remove(referenceObject);
        redraw();
    }
 
    /**
     * Set the foreground colour of the Canvas.
     * @param  newColour   the new colour for the foreground of the Canvas 
     */
    public void setForegroundColor(String colorString)
    {
        if(colorString.equals("red"))
            graphic.setColor(Color.red);
        else if(colorString.equals("black"))
            graphic.setColor(Color.black);
        else if(colorString.equals("blue"))
            graphic.setColor(Color.blue);
        else if(colorString.equals("yellow"))
            graphic.setColor(Color.yellow);
        else if(colorString.equals("green"))
            graphic.setColor(Color.green);
        else if(colorString.equals("magenta"))
            graphic.setColor(Color.magenta);
        else if(colorString.equals("white"))
            graphic.setColor(Color.white);
        else
            graphic.setColor(Color.black);
    }
 
    /**
     * Wait for a specified number of milliseconds before finishing.
     * This provides an easy way to specify a small delay which can be
     * used when producing animations.
     * @param  milliseconds  the number 
     */
    public void wait(int milliseconds)
    {
        try
        {
            Thread.sleep(milliseconds);
        } 
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            // ignoring exception at the moment
        }
    }
 
    /**
     * Redraw ell shapes currently on the Canvas.
     */
    private void redraw()
    {
        erase();
        for(Iterator i=objects.iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {
            ((ShapeDescription)shapes.get(i.next())).draw(graphic);
        }
        canvas.repaint();
    }
 
    /**
     * Erase the whole canvas. (Does not repaint.)
     */
    private void erase()
    {
        Color original = graphic.getColor();
        graphic.setColor(backgroundColour);
        Dimension size = canvas.getSize();
        graphic.fill(new Rectangle(0, 0, size.width, size.height));
        graphic.setColor(original);
    }
 
 
    /************************************************************************
     * Inner class CanvasPane - the actual canvas component contained in the
     * Canvas frame. This is essentially a JPanel with added capability to
     * refresh the image drawn on it.
     */
    private class CanvasPane extends JPanel
    {
        public void paint(Graphics g)
        {
            g.drawImage(canvasImage, 0, 0, null);
        }
    }
 
    /************************************************************************
     * Inner class CanvasPane - the actual canvas component contained in the
     * Canvas frame. This is essentially a JPanel with added capability to
     * refresh the image drawn on it.
     */
    private class ShapeDescription
    {
        private Shape shape;
        private String colorString;
 
        public ShapeDescription(Shape shape, String color)
        {
            this.shape = shape;
            colorString = color;
        }
 
        public void draw(Graphics2D graphic)
        {
            setForegroundColor(colorString);
            graphic.fill(shape);
        }
    }
 
}

public class ShapesTest
{
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
        Canvas c = Canvas.getCanvas();
        Circle c1 = new Circle();
        Circle c2 = new Circle();
		c1.tosString();
        c1.makeVisible();
        c2.makeVisible();
 
 
   }
}

Thanks!

Am I supposed to be changing

private static int diameter;

to

private instance int diamater

Because if I do that then I get an error saying <identifier> expected.

Thanks!

What can't you find? If you mean you can't find the API page for the Object class, here it is. As I hope you can see, the signatures are different. Fix the toString() method signature in your Circle class. If you can't see that the signatures are different, say so, and we'll show you how to read an API page.

Where have you learned that this line,

private instance int diamater

(misspellings/typos included) makes any sense in Java?

I didn't think it did but I was just trying what andbin suggested but I clearly misunderstood. Originally I hadn't set them to static so they were just:

    private int diameter;
    private int xPosition;
    private int yPosition;
    private String color;
    private boolean isVisible;

But when I ran this I got an error on the Circle.diameter, Circle.xPosition etc saying that a non-static variable cannot be referenced from a static context. So I set them to static because I couldn't find any other way to do it.

And it's interesting that you'd post some code written by randoms some 13 years ago without even disguising the fact. I'm getting the impression that you have little to no idea what you're doing. When you have a minimal understanding of how to do something, do you imagine it's easier to start from scratch and learn how to do it correctly as you go, OR start with someone else's broken attempt and fix it to do what you need?

I won't help you fix someone else's code copied indiscriminately from the Internet to suit your purpose.