Thread: Address Book Program Issues

Yeah cool, so I made a driver:

public class AddressbookDriver
{
    public static void main(String [] args)
    {
        AddressTextUi ui = new AddressTextUi();
        ui.mainMenu();
    }
 
}

That links to the textUi

import java.io.*;
import java.util.Scanner;
 
public class AddressTextUi
{
private AddressBook addressbook;
public void mainMenu()
   {
     displayMainMenu();     
   }
private void displayMainMenu(){
    BufferedReader keyIn = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
    AddressTextUi addressBook = new AddressTextUi();
    String act = "";
    while(true)
    {
        //displays the options
        System.out.println("\n[A] ADD ENTRY");
        System.out.println("[D] DELETE ENTRY");
        System.out.println("[U] UPDATE ENTRY");
        System.out.println("[V] VIEW ALL ENTRIES");
        System.out.println("[S] SEARCH ENTRIES BY SURNAME");
        System.out.println("[Q] Quit");
        System.out.println("Enter desired action: ");
        try{
        //gets the choice
        act = keyIn.readLine();
       }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println("Error");
       }
       //checks for the appropriate action
       if(act.equals("A")||act.equals("a"))
       addressBook.addEntry();
       else if(act.equals("D")||act.equals("d"))
       addressBook.delEntry();
       else if(act.equals("V")||act.equals("v"))
       addressBook.viewEntries();
       else if(act.equals("U")||act.equals("u"))
       addressBook.updateEntry();
       else if(act.equals("S")||act.equals("s"))
       addressBook.searchEntry();
       else if(act.equals("Q")||act.equals("q"))
       {System.out.println("Program Closing Down");
        System.exit(0);}
       else
        System.out.println("Unknown command");
    }
 }

if(act.equals("A")||act.equals("a"))
The String class has a method that ignores case that you could use here.

Now you need to add the methods to the addressbook class.

A better design might be to do ALL the user interface in the TextUI class and use the data obtained from the user to call methods in addressbook class.

What do you mean sorry i'm really hating myself right out i need to get this finished and its pissing me off, I need it put simply as possible what needs to go exactly where or i'm going round in circles for hours and not getting anything sorted, i really appreciate the help though

Take the required operations one at a time. Start with the add function.
What do you need from the user to create an Address and a Name?
When you get those, you can create a new Contact and add it to the addressbook.

Just checking is my contact class fully done

public class Contact
{
    private Address address;   
    private Name name;
 
 
    public Contact(Name name, Address address)  
    {  
        this.name = name;
        this.address = address;
    }     
 
    @Override  
    public boolean equals(Object obj) {  
        if (this == obj)  
            return true;  
        if (obj == null)  
            return false;  
        if (getClass() != obj.getClass())  
            return false;  
        Contact other = (Contact) obj;  
        if (address == null) {  
            if (other.address != null)  
                return false;  
        } else if (!address.equals(other.address))  
            return false;  
 
        if (name == null) {  
            if (other.name != null)  
                return false;  
        } else if (!name.equals(other.name))  
            return false;  
        return true;  
    }  
 
    @Override  
    public String toString() {  
        return super.toString() + "\n" + address + "\n" + name + "\n";  
    }  
}

I need the user to input all the values for the variables of name and address.

As I said before:

It looks good for now.

It's not unusual for classes to have methods added to them as you progress into a project. In fact it is rare for me not to have to add more code and methods to a class as a project develops.

I need the user to input all the values for the variables of name and address.

Do that in the TextUI class. When you have the values, create the classes.

That what i have now

ublic void addEntry(){
    BufferedReader keyIn = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
    String forename = "";
    String surname = "";
    String street = "";
    String city = "";
    String county = "";
    String country = "";
    String post = "";
    if(top == MAXENTRIES){
        System.out.println("Address Book is full");
        return;
    }
    //asks the user for the data of the address book
    try{
        System.out.print("Forename: ");
        name = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Surname: ");
        name = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Street: ");
        add = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("City: ");
        add = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("County: ");
        add = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Country: ");
        add = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Postcode: ");
        add = keyIn.readLine();
 
    }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println(e);
        System.exit(0);
    }
    AddressBook  entry = new AddressBook ();
    list[top] = entry;
    top++;
 }

What class is the addEntry method in?
Can you describe what the method is supposed to do? Without knowing what a method is supposed to do you can NOT write its code. FIRST you define what the method is to do, THEN you write the code.

You can NOT create a new instance of the AddressBook every time you add an entry. You should add the created new Contact to the existing AddressBook object.
How many instances of the AddressBook class should be created in your program?

The addEntry method is in my textui, It is supposed to be asking the user to enter all the values to create a new contact that is then stored in the addressbook.
I really havent a fucking clue i'm sorry

1)supposed to be asking the user to enter all the values
2)to create a new contact that is then
3)stored in the addressbook.

The method is to do these 3 things.
Your code does the first.
Now you need to do the second.
Take the values and create the classes necessary for creating a Contact object. There are two: Name and Address
Then create the Contact object using those 2 objects
Then for the third item: add it to the list

Okay so at the moment

public void addEntry(){
    BufferedReader keyIn = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
    String forename = "";
    String surname = "";
    String street = "";
    String city = "";
    String county = "";
    String country = "";
    String post = "";
    if(top == MAXENTRIES){
        System.out.println("Address Book is full");
        return;
    }
    //asks the user for the data of the address book
    try{
        System.out.print("Forename: ");
        forename = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Surname: ");
        surname = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Street: ");
        street = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("City: ");
        city = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("County: ");
        county = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Country: ");
        country = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Postcode: ");
        post = keyIn.readLine();
 
    }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println(e);
        System.exit(0);
    }

the next bit i had -

AddressBook entry = new AddressBook ();
    list[top] = entry;
    top++;

it expects contact which makes sense but when i change to Contact entry = new Contact();

it can't find the constructor so i need to add something to the contact class?

Look at your Contact class's constructor. What values does it need to create a Contact object? See post#55.
Use those values in the call to the Contact class's constructor with the = new statement.

Reread post#60. You need to create 2 objects that are used in the Contact class's constructor.

Take the values and create the classes necessary for creating a Contact object. There are two: Name and Address

It's need the name and address values to create a contact object.
So i'm creating the classes inside the textUI?
How do i do that sorry i'm so tired and not thinking properly

Use each of the class's constructors. You have read all the data into variables.
Now use them in the classes constructors to create new objects.
Something like:
AClass aClsObj = new AClass(anArg, anotherArg, ...); // create an instance of an AClass object

So inside my textUI

public AddressTextUi()
    {
        Name name = new Name(forename, surname);
        Address address = new Address (street, city, county, country, post);
    }

Yes, those two statements that create new instances would use the data the addEntry method gathered.
Then those two new instances would be used to create a new Contact object.
And then this object would be added to the list.

I get an error message saying it expects ')' for those statements.
So what else needs to be added to this method?

public void addEntry()
    {
    BufferedReader keyIn = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
    String forename = "";
    String surname = "";
    String street = "";
    String city = "";
    String county = "";
    String country = "";
    String post = "";
    if(top == MAXENTRIES){
        System.out.println("Address Book is full");
        return;
    }
    //asks the user for the data of the address book
    try{
        System.out.print("Forename: ");
        forename = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Surname: ");
        surname = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Street: ");
        street = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("City: ");
        city = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("County: ");
        county = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Country: ");
        country = keyIn.readLine();
        System.out.print("Postcode: ");
        post = keyIn.readLine();
 
    }catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println(e);
        System.exit(0);
    }
 
    list[top] = entry;
    top++;
 
  }

I get an error message

If you expect a response about the error, you must post the full text of the error message.

what else needs to be added to this method?

What are the things that the method is supposed to do?
Does it do all of them?

The error message is - " ')' expected"
Well it let's the user enter the values thats it isnt it, it doesnt connect it to that entry thats there as it doesnt exist
before i had

AddressBook  entry = new AddressBook  ();

Please post the full text of the error message. Something like this:
Please copy full text of error message and paste it here. Here is a sample:

TestSorts.java:138: cannot find symbol
symbol  : variable var
location: class TestSorts
         var = 2;
         ^

That is literally the error message i'm using blueJ and thats all it has to say

Sorry, I can not see over your shoulder to know what the IDE is saying or where it is pointing.
Where does the IDE say the problem is?
Why don't you have the IDE add the ) or you add it?

Otherwise, Compile the file with the problem and get an error message from the compiler.

Haha i know, for the line -

Name name = new Name(Name forename, Name surname);

It just says that ')' expected thats all it says there no option to add it or something. It doesnt make sense to add one either i think

Look at your post #65 where you did it correctly and compare that with what you did in post#73

Yeah i had that initially and then got the error that the variable forename could not be found.