Thread: Returning a value with an if-statement

Hey,

So Im a real Java Beginner, so forgive me if this is a stupid question.

I've been having trouble trying to get an if statement to return a value.

I wonder if it is to do with the return type or Data type Im using.

public double oF()
    {
         if (displayValue > 100) {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, 
                    "The Temperature scale Celcius does not allow numbers above 100, Please enter a number lower that 100",
                    "Error", 
                    JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
        }
        else if (displayValue < -273) {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, 
                    "The Temperature scale Celcius does not allow numbers below -273, Please enter a number greater than -273",
                    "Error", 
                    JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
        }
        else return displayValue = (9 * displayValue)/ 5 + 32;
    }

This code gives me the error: missing return statement. I understand why that is (I think!), and I need to find a way around it, because what Ive been
trying to do is get it to do the calculation only if neither if statement is run. However, because It's in an if statement, public double doesn't seem to realise that I am trying to return something, but only inside an if statement.

Could anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong ?

Thank you,

Angus90

In your method if the value of displayValue is above 100 or below -273 it displays a message dialog and right after the user interacts with it, the control reaches end of the method and it searches for the return <double> statement which you've missed, therefore it eventually generates a compilation error.

Yes, that was my conclusion too. I apologise, maybe I didn't make myself clear. What I was hoping for was someone to tell me what I would be able to do, to stop that compilation error, and at the same time, only run:

return displayValue = (9 * displayValue)/ 5 + 32;

if the user had entered a number in between the permitters I have allowed?

You get the error because if the display value is > 100 or < -273, there is no return statement encountered, and all paths through your method must end by returning a double.

As it is, you could fix it by returning a double value after each of the error messages was displayed. However, the only value you could return after each message dialog would have to be some sort of special value indicating an error, which you'd have to check in the calling code. This is poor practice - return values should not be used to indicate errors that way. Luckily, Java explicitly provides a mechanism for dealing with this situation.

The correct way to handle a situation where an error or invalid value means a method can't complete correctly, is to throw an exception. This exception can be given information about the error, and the calling code can catch it and handle it appropriately. If you haven't yet looked at exceptions, you should do so. See The Java Tutorials : Exceptions.

If you're not permitted to use exceptions yet, the only sensible alternative is to take the two value checks out of that method and do them before calling the method, so it is guaranteed to receive a valid value. This does the job, but isn't an ideal solution, because it puts the onus on the calling code to check what it passes to your method, and a well-written method should generally check the arguments it has been given.

Ah. Ok then, thank you very much. I will read all about Exceptions.