Thread: How to Compare a Substring to a Normal White Space in Java

Sorry if this seems like a silly question, but I cannot figure out how to compare a substring from user input in Java to a white space. In my program, I use

Input.getString()

which is not usual, but Input.class is used to receive input from a user. Here is my program:

public class Project1
{
    static String E [] = { "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", "Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "Z", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "0", " " };
    static String M [] = { ".-", "-...", "-.-.", "-..", ".", "..-.", "--.", "....", "..", ".---", "-.-", ".-..", "--", "-.", "---", ".--.", "--.-", ".-.", "...", "-", "..-", "...-", ".--", "-..-", "-.--", "--..", ".----", "..---", "...--", "....-", ".....", "-....", "--...", "---..", "----.", "-----", "|" };
 
    public String input[];
    public String output[];
    static String TranslationType;
    static boolean Bool;
    static String TextToTranslate;
    static int i;
    static int SectionOfString;
    static StringBuffer emcStringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
    static StringBuffer mceStringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
    static String emc = "English-MorseCode";
    static String mce = "MorseCode-English";
    static StringBuffer MorseCodeLetter = new StringBuffer();
    static String emcString;
    static String mceString;
    static String space = " ";
 
    public static void main( String [] args )
    {
        if ( E.length != M.length )
        {
            System.out.println( "Error" );
        }
        TranslationType = Input.getString( "Please choose a method of translation (\"English-MorseCode\" or \"MorseCode-English\") " );
        if ( TranslationType.equals( "English-MorseCode" ) )
        {
            Bool = true;
            System.out.println( TranslationType );
        }
        else if( TranslationType.equals( "MorseCode-English" ) )
        {
            Bool = false;
            System.out.println( TranslationType );
        }
 
        while ( !TranslationType.equals( emc ) && !TranslationType.equals( mce ) )
        {
            System.out.println( "Error: \"" + TranslationType + "\" is not a valid response.");
            TranslationType = Input.getString( "Please choose a method of translation (\"English-MorseCode\" or \"MorseCode-English\") " );
            if ( TranslationType.equals( "English-MorseCode" ) )
            {
                Bool = true;
                System.out.println( TranslationType );
            }
            else if( TranslationType.equals( "MorseCode-English" ) )
            {
                Bool = false;
                System.out.println( TranslationType );
            }
        }
        TextToTranslate = Input.getString( "What would you like to translate?" );
        TextToTranslate = TextToTranslate.toUpperCase();
        System.out.println( TextToTranslate );
        if ( Bool == true )
        {
            for ( SectionOfString = 0; SectionOfString < TextToTranslate.length(); SectionOfString++ )
            {
                for ( i = 0; i < E.length; i++ )
                {
                    if ( TextToTranslate.substring( SectionOfString, SectionOfString + 1 ).equals( E[i] ) )
                    {
                        emcStringBuffer.append( M[i] + " " );
                    }
                }
            }
            emcString = emcStringBuffer.toString();
            System.out.println( emcString );
        }
        else if ( Bool == false )
        {
            for ( SectionOfString = 0; SectionOfString < TextToTranslate.length(); SectionOfString++ )
            {
                if ( TextToTranslate.substring( SectionOfString, SectionOfString + 1 ).equals( space ) )
                {
                    for ( i = 0; i < M.length; i++ )
                    {
                        if ( MorseCodeLetter.toString().equals( M[i] ) )
                        {
                            mceStringBuffer.append( E[i] );
                        }
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if ( TextToTranslate.substring( SectionOfString, SectionOfString + 1 ).equals( M[36] ) )
                    {
                        mceStringBuffer.append( E[36] );
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        MorseCodeLetter.append( TextToTranslate.substring( SectionOfString, SectionOfString + 1 ) );
                    }
                }
            }
            mceString = mceStringBuffer.toString();
            System.out.println( mceString );
        }
        System.out.println( "Done" );
    }
}

The problem seems to be that this part of the code is never used while translating Morse Code into English:

    if ( TextToTranslate.substring( SectionOfString, SectionOfString + 1 ).equals( space ) )
                {
                    for ( i = 0; i < M.length; i++ )
                    {
                        if ( MorseCodeLetter.equals( M[i] ) )
                        {
                            mceStringBuffer.append( E[i] );
                        	System.out.println( MorseCodeLetter + ";" + mceStringBuffer );
                        }
                    }
                }

This causes the morse code letters not to be separated. For example, if the input for TextToTranslate was

. .-. | .-. .

then the program would think that ..-..-. was a word. I'm not sure if this is the reason that the translated result does not print to the terminal ( or command prompt on windows ).

Also, I tried to have space be a static char before, and I just tried having space as a final char, using the following in the if construct, and I had the same problem:

TextToTranslate.charAt( SectionOfString ) == space

I'm not sure why this problem happens, and I tried to find a similar question but was unable to, so if anyone knows how to fix the problem I would appreciate it.

Note: I asked the same question on Stack Overflow (user1933229)
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1...-space-in-java

Can you copy and post the contents of the console window for when you execute the code that shows the problem?

To copy the contents of the command prompt window:
Click on Icon in upper left corner
Select Edit
Select 'Select All' - The selection will show
Click in upper left again
Select Edit and click 'Copy'

Paste here.

You will need to do some debugging to find out what the code is doing with the data that is entered.
I use println statements that print out the values of variables as they are assigned values and used to control the logic of the program. Something like this:

        System.out.println("TTT="+ TextToTranslate );

Add printlns everywhere the code executes and print out the values of variables and what methods return so you can see what the computer sees when it executes the code.


What is the | character for?