Thread: Loop Breaking Not Working

Ok, I'm ripping my hair out over this.

I have a huge 50,000 line tsv file that I am reading through (cannot provide file for copyright reasons). I am looking for only the relevant data for the restrictions provided.

In this snippet of code:

boolean start = false;
			while(line!=null)
			{
				StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(line);
				int year = Integer.parseInt(tokenizer.nextToken());
				int month = Integer.parseInt(tokenizer.nextToken());
				//System.out.println("sy: "+sy+" sm: "+sm+"\n     Year: "+year+" Month: "+month);
				if(!start && sy.equals(year+"") && sm.equals(month+""))
				{
					start = true;
					System.out.println("Found Start YEAR: "+year+" MONTH: "+month);
					System.out.println(months[month-1]);
				}
				if(month==3)
				{
					System.out.println("March Found: "+months[month-1]);
				}
				if(months[month-1].equalsIgnoreCase(cutMonth))
					break;
				if(start)
				{

I am reading through the lines. The first two tokens are the Year and then the Month for the proceding tokens data.

Now, for this example, I have varified that cutMonth is equal to "Mar". And I have varified that it runs into times when it finds Mar for the line Month.

So, when the Month is March, month will equal 3. When month equals 3, months[month-1] equals "Mar".

So, how is it possible for something to enter this if statement:

if(month==3)
				{
					System.out.println("March Found: "+months[month-1]);
				}

But not this if statement:

if(months[month-1].equalsIgnoreCase(cutMonth))
					break;

If it enters the second if statement, it should break out of the while loop, correct?

Tell me if I need to explain something in more detail. Any help is appreciated.

In the code snippet you posted, cutMonth isn't assigned any value. To get better help sooner, post a SSCCE : Java Glossary that members here can copy, compile and debug.

db

Try debugging your code by adding print outs to see what you are comparing:

System.out.println("months[month-1]= " + months[month-1] + ", cutMonth=" + cutMonth + "<");

Originally Posted by Darryl.Burke

In the code snippet you posted, cutMonth isn't assigned any value. To get better help sooner, post a SSCCE : Java Glossary that members here can copy, compile and debug.

db

cutMonth is assigned a 3 letter representation of a month that is 3 months ahead of the indicated start month. I know for a fact that cutMonth is equal to "Mar" when I run this data and scenario through, but if you are interested in seeing the actual code for cutMonth:

public ArrayList<MarketDetails> findChangeData(ArrayList<MarketDetails> details,String sy,String sm)
    {
...
 
			String lastDate = getNextDate(getNextDate(getNextDate(sm+"-"+sy)));
			String cutYear = lastDate.substring(6);
			String cutMonth = lastDate.substring(0,3);
System.out.println("Cut Month: "+cutMonth+" Cut Year: "+cutYear);
			for(int i=0;i<months.length;i++)
    		{
    			if(months[i].equals(cutMonth))
    			{
    				cutMonth = (i+1)+"";
    				break;
    			}
    		}
...
}
public String getNextDate(String curr)
    {
    	int monthN = -1;
    	int yearN = Integer.parseInt(curr.substring(4));
    	for(int i=0;i<months.length;i++)
    	{
    		if(curr.substring(0,3).equals(months[i]))
    		{
    			monthN = i;
    			break;
    		}
    	}
    	if(monthN == 11)
    	{
    		monthN=0;
    		yearN++;
    	}
    	else
    	{
    		monthN++;
    	}
    	return months[monthN]+"-"+yearN;
    }

As you can see, a good amount of code to just determine a variable, so I didnt think it was necessary to include it.

Try debugging your code by adding print outs to see what you are comparing:

System.out.println("months[month-1]= " + months[month-1] + ", cutMonth=" + cutMonth + "<");

I've attempted to do this, but it is very difficult for me to pinpoint exactly where and when it should correctly leave the loop. This is because of several reasons:
1) it goes through 30,000 or so lines beforehand, which means it would have to print all of those out, which usually causes my IDE to crash after a few minutes from excessively printing to the console
2) this part is the in the middle of a 2,000 line program that prints out thousands of lines to the console for me to track its process while debugging.

However, after adding a print statement here:

if(month==3)
				{
					System.out.println("March Found: "+months[month-1]);
					System.out.println(cutMonth);
					break;
				}
				if(months[month-1].equalsIgnoreCase(cutMonth))
					break;

I have determined that cutMonth is "Mar" and that months[month-1] is "Mar" but it still fails to enter my if statement that breaks the while loop. The break in the first if statement (with the month==3 condition) works right now, but when the program is run next week (or perhaps the week after, not sure which one), that line will have to be modified to run correctly (which is why I need the second if statement fixed).

I have determined that cutMonth is "Mar" and that months[month-1] is "Mar"

What did the print out show for the values of those variables?
I find it hard to believe that the if you show would not be true if those were the values.
The conclusion is either the if was not executed or the values are not what you think they are.
A print out just before the if would show which one it was.