Thread: Calling a Class Name from a String?

Well, out of curiosity, is it possible to call a class from the contents of a string.

Here's a psuedo code example of what I mean:

ArrayList <object> objects = new ArrayList <object>();
//This arraylist will hold objects that extend the object class;
 
String objname = new String("object1");
 
try{
objects.add(new(objname(x,y,width,height));
}catch(Exception e){}

I know I'm probably missing something obvious, as when I tried code similar to this earlier, it didn't work.
Also, in case you're wondering why I need to create objects like this, I'm trying to add support to my game engine for loading objects from external Java files (to allow more possibilities for custom levels).

Look at the classes in the java.lang.reflect package. They have methods for using Strings to access objects and call methods.

I googled that package and wasn't able to find what I needed. The closest I found was "getName();", which returns the name of a class as a string. I need to create an object from the class with the contents of the string as its name.

The class definition must exist before you can create an instance of it. The reflection package classes allow you to use a String to do that.

There is an example of a reflection class usage here: http://www.javaprogrammingforums.com...tml#post112414

Sorry if I'm just being stupid, but I don't understand what you mean by class definitions. The class I'm trying to load is in the project if that's what you mean. Also, the link you posted links to a question about Hashmaps, which is something else I don't understand...

The code at the link used reflection to call a method named in a String. Not exactly what you are trying to do, but related: using a String's contents to call an object's method.

Do a Search for Class.forName to find some code examples for creating instances of a class using a String.

A class is defined by the .class file that is created by the javac compiler.

Alright, but how do I add the object to an Arraylist as opposed to just creating it?

The same as when any object is created and its value assigned to a variable.
The reference variable can be added to an arraylist.

Though that brings up a new problem, it gives an error when I try to add the object:

ArrayList<extendedobject> objects= new ArrayList<extendedobject>();
 
Class<?> curclass;
 
try{
				curclass=(Class.forName(objcurrent));
			}catch(Exception e){
 
			}
 
objects.add(curclass)

Not only will it give an error saying that the type of curclass needs to be extendedobject (which gives an error that says to change it back), but there's also no way that I can see to add the initial variables to the object (like the x position, etc.).

Once you get the Class object it can be used to create an instance of the class.

Have you looked at the tutorial:
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutori...ect/index.html