Thread: How to choose a different toString() Besides the default one?

Basically I have an object class

public class Card 
{
 
   private int value; // value of card (1-10, ...)
 
   // return String representation of Card
   public String toString() 
   { 
      return face + suit;
   } // end method toString
 
   public int getValue()
   {
	   return value;
   }
} // end class Card

Sooo this Card object gets used multiple times and put into an array. But my problem is that I can't get figure out how to get to the Value of the card..
I've been using this to print out the card i get from the array

System.out.println(myDeckOfCards.getDeck()[ 0 ]);

But, as you can see from the toString() Method up there it will only return the face and the suit. How do i get it to return the Value (on its own)? Or how can I access the Value for that particular element in the array?

Thanks so much for any help.

Recommended reading: Overriding and Hiding Methods (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Interfaces and Inheritance)
If its not obvious after reading that link, you don't choose another toString method, but override the existing one provided by the class Object.

@Override
public String toString(){
///return whatever you wish
}

I don't know how to call that method out of the array thats my problem. I already have the getValue in the card class, but I'm really new to arrays and can't figure it out.. I need some specific examples or code. This is what I have and it wont work right.

 
 
 
   // return String representation of Card
   public String toString() 
   { 
      return face + suit;
   } // end method toString
 
   public int hashCode(){
	   return value;
   }
   public int getValue()
   {
	   return value;
   }
} // end class Card

 
 
	public Card[] getValue()
	{
		return getValue();
	}
} // end class DeckOfCards

it keeps giving me an error every time I try to get the value.

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.StackOverflowError
at DeckOfCards.getValue(DeckOfCards.java:80)

Have you added any print lines to this, or better yet, stepped through it with a debugger, to see what's going on?

Hint- What happens when getValue() is called?

The problem is your getValue() function calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which calls the getValue() function which...

Originally Posted by Hallowed

I tried that among other things, but i have little experience with arrays and objects in them and would appreciate some help with my actual question.

You haven't really asked a specific question. You've told us what you aren't familiar with, and you were given several suggestions. The latest Exception you posted was a StackOverFlowException, which is caused by your endless recursive method. I point that out, and you complain that we aren't helping you with your actual question. Seems pretty rude to me. Good luck, I'm out.

How do I get the card value out of an object that's been put in the array? or how do i call a method from an object in an array.

Is it even possible?

In the future, please use the edit feature to edit your posts.

You can get objects out of an array using the indexing operators. Once you have that object, you can call the method you want.

String[] lines = new String[]{"hello", "world", "java", "programming"};
System.out.println(lines[1].toUpperCase()); // gets the string "world" and calls the member method toUpperCase() on that string

Thank you so much! That is exactly what I needed.

public static int ArrayPosition = 0;
 
public int getValue()
	{
 
		return getDeck()[ArrayPosition].getValue();
 
	}