Thread: Simple loop problem

At least I think the solution to my problem will involve a loop. I'm new to java, so I'm sorry if I'm on the wrong board.
Basically, my code asks the user to enter a number from 1 - 12 and it then converts their number to the corresponding month, and displays it. If the enter 13 then the programs quits. My problem is, if the enter any number other than 1-13, my code displays an 'invalid entry' message and prompts them to try again. How do I enter the code to make the program loop back to the beginning and let them enter a new number if their first try was invalid?

Here's my code:

import java.util.Scanner;
 
 
public class Months {
 
	//variables
	private int numberEntered;
 
	//constructor
	public Months(){
	}
 
	//methods
	public void getNumberFromUser(){
		Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
		System.out.print("Please enter the numeric value of a month (13 to quit): ");
		numberEntered = input.nextInt();
	}
 
	public void displayMonth(){
		if(numberEntered == 1)
			System.out.println("You have chosen January");	
		else if(numberEntered == 2)
			System.out.println("You have chosen February");
		else if(numberEntered == 3)
			System.out.println("You have chosen March");
		else if(numberEntered == 4)
			System.out.println("You have chosen April");
		else if(numberEntered == 5)
			System.out.println("You have chosen May");
		else if(numberEntered == 6)
			System.out.println("You have chosen June");
		else if(numberEntered == 7)
			System.out.println("You have chosen July");
		else if(numberEntered == 8)
			System.out.println("You have chosen August");
		else if(numberEntered == 9)
			System.out.println("You have chosen September");
		else if(numberEntered == 10)
			System.out.println("You have chosen October");
		else if(numberEntered == 11)
			System.out.println("You have chosen November");
		else if(numberEntered == 12)
			System.out.println("You have chosen December");
		else if(numberEntered == 13)
			System.out.println("Thanks for playing. Goodbye!");
		else
			System.out.println("Your entry is invalid. Please try again.");
	}
 
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Months userEntry = new Months();
 
		userEntry.getNumberFromUser();
		userEntry.displayMonth();
	}
 
}

Any help is really appreciated.

You don't say what is supposed to happen if the user enters a number 1->12. Should it repeat or not?

You could use a while or do loop:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Months userEntry = new Months();
 
    boolean finished = false;
    while(!finished) { 
        userEntry.getNumberFromUser();
        userEntry.displayMonth();
        finished = ...
    }
}

You can examine the value the user entered to determine what the value of finished should be set to at the end of the loop.

As I suggested, you set finished by looking at the value of numberEntered. Almost certainly an if statement will be involved: if numberEntered has certain value you can set finished to true, and the program will end.

Hm, I'm still not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've tried entering the boolean and setting the result based on the numberEntered just like you said, but I keep getting an error that says "cannot make a static reference to the non-static field numberEntered'

Am I placing the code in the wrong place?

public static void main(String[] args) {
		Months userEntry = new Months();
 
		Boolean finished = false;
		while (!finished){
		userEntry.getNumberFromUser();
		userEntry.displayMonth();
			if(numberEntered = 13)
				finished = true;
		}
	}
}

Just little things: (1) "boolean" and "Boolean" are different types (2) "=" and "==" are different operators and

cannot make a static reference to the non-static field numberEntered

(3) What the compiler is getting at is that numberEntered is variable that belongs to a particular instance of Months just like the methods getNumberFromUser() and displayMonth(). And, like those those methods, you must use userEntry when referring to the value:

userEntry.numberEntered

Thank you so much for the help! It works perfectly now. Can't believe I forgot the == thing.
Thanks again.

You're welcome.