Thread: Morse Code

hi I am writing a program that translates a string to morse code, but my output is a little strange. can anyone push me in the right direction? heres my code

 
public class Translate
{
   String sentence;
 
   public Translate(String sentence)
   {
      this.sentence = sentence;
   }
 
   public String getSentence()
   {
         for(int i = 0; i < sentence.length(); i++)
		      {
		      	switch(sentence.charAt(i))
               {
                  case 'a': System.out.print(".-");
                  break;
                  case 'b': System.out.print( "-… "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'c': System.out.print( "-.-. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'd': System.out.print( "-.. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'e': System.out.print( ". "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'f': System.out.print( "..-. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'g': System.out.print( "--. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'h': System.out.print( "…. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'i': System.out.print( ".. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'j': System.out.print( ".--- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'k': System.out.print( "-.- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'l': System.out.print( ".-.. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'm': System.out.print( "-- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'n': System.out.print( "-. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'o': System.out.print( "--- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'p': System.out.print( ".--. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'q': System.out.print( "--.- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'r': System.out.print( ".-. "); 
                  break; 
                  case 's': System.out.print( "... "); 
                  break; 
                  case 't': System.out.print( "- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'u': System.out.print( "..- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'v': System.out.print( "...- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'w': System.out.print( ".-- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'x': System.out.print( "-..- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'y': System.out.print( "-.-- "); 
                  break; 
                  case 'z': System.out.print( "--.. "); 
                  break; 
                  case ' ': System.out.print( " | "); 
                  break;
                  case '0': System.out.print("-----");
                  break;
                  case '1': System.out.print(".----");
                  break;
                  case '2': System.out.print("..---");
                  break;
                  case '3': System.out.print("...--");
                  break;
                  case '4': System.out.print("....-");
                  break;
                  case '5': System.out.print(".....");
                  break;
                  case '6': System.out.print("-....");
                  break;
                  case '7': System.out.print("--...");
                  break;
                  case '8': System.out.print("---..");
                  break;
                  case '9': System.out.print("----.");
                  break;
                  case '.': System.out.print(".-.-");
                  break;
                  case ',': System.out.print("--..--");
                  break;
                  case '?': System.out.print("..--..");
                  break;
            }
 
      }
       return sentence;
   }
}

 
//This program creates a list of songs for a CD by reading from a file
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Scanner;
 
public class Morse
{
   public static void main(String [] args) throws IOException
   {
      File file = new File("Morse.txt");
      Scanner input = new Scanner(file);
 
 
 
      char[] characters = new char[36];
      String[] symbols = new String[36];
 
 
 
 
 
      for(int i = 0; i < characters.length; i++) 
      { 
         String line = input.nextLine();
 
         characters[i] = line.charAt(0);
         symbols[i] = line.substring(1);
 
 
      }
 
 
      Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
      String sentence;
 
      System.out.println("Enter the sentence that you wish to be decoded: ");
 
      sentence = keyboard.nextLine();
      Translate morse = new Translate(sentence);
 
 
      char[] c = new char[sentence.length()]; 
 
      for(int j = 0; j < sentence.length(); j++)
      {
 
          morse.getSentence();
          c[j] = sentence.charAt(j);
          System.out.println("This translates to : " + c);
      }
 
 
   }
}

What is strange? Do you get Greek characters? Help us help you by posting what you get and what you expect.

The scanner is not visible in the for loop because of variable scope.

Try making the scanner static (belonging to the class).

Originally Posted by Starstreak

The scanner is not visible in the for loop because of variable scope.

Wrong!
The OP didn't state what his actual problem is. He's wildly mixing Strings and chars, file and input all over the place.

Originally Posted by PhHein

Wrong!
The OP didn't state what his actual problem is. He's wildly mixing Strings and chars, file and input all over the place.

I'm addressing the first error. I believe the diagnosis is correct (scope).

There are other errors, but we usually address them starting with the first.

Feel free to test the code yourself, which you clearly have not.

There's no need to test. No Scanner instance is out of scope. Both are defined in the main method outside of other code blocks. That's why your answer is wrong.

this is a sample output

Enter the sentence that you wish to be decoded:
hello
..... .-.. .-.. --- This translates to : [C@15e83f9
..... .-.. .-.. --- This translates to : [C@15e83f9
..... .-.. .-.. --- This translates to : [C@15e83f9
..... .-.. .-.. --- This translates to : [C@15e83f9
..... .-.. .-.. --- This translates to : [C@15e83f9

--- Update ---

the morse code translation is in front of the statement I asked to be printed and it prints as many times as there are letters in the string

--- Update ---

I believe it does this because the print statement is in the loop correct?

You seem to use other code than that you've posted. What happened to the file reading, which is more than buggy?

that's all the code.... well except for the morse.txt file that i read into the arrays

--- Update ---

1 .----
2 ..---
3 ...--
4 ....-
5 .....
6 -....
7 --...
8 ---..
9 ----.
0 -----
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 --..

You still haven't posted, what the expected output is. And why do you read the file without ever using anything from it?

sorry. the expected output is the original string and its morse code equivilant

The original is sentence and the morse is morse.getSentence() .I have no idea what that for loop is good for and why you need char[] c.

i was thinking i had to pass the sentence through some kind of loop so i could evaluate each letter by itself

No, the loop is implemented in in that Translate class. I'd change the logic though. In your Translate class you could read the file in a static initializer block and provide a static method :

public static String getMorse(String plaintext)

. From your Morse class you just call

String morseEncoded = Translate.getMorse(input);

You should also convert the input to lower case as the output for Hello and hello won't be the same.

ok thanks for the info. ill come back with what i have changed later