Re: Arraylist help

No sense in starting a new thread when I can just use an old one, right? :)
Hi there. Beginner programmer here. Here is my question.
I've created an array full of circles (ovals) that go down in size with different colors. What I'm stuck on is having to rotate the colors. I'm supposed to take the center color and move it down one in the array and repeat with each, with the outermost ring color changing to the center. I'm stuck... Here is the code for the circles...

Code java:

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public ArrayList createAPileOfDisks() {
		// Get the array number of disks from the user
		Input in = new Input();
		int n;
		do {
			n = in.readIntDialog("Enter the number of disks "
					+ "(between 1 and " + MAXIMUM_NUMBER_OF_DISKS + ")");
			if (n <= 0 || n > MAXIMUM_NUMBER_OF_DISKS) {
				// display an error message
				JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Invalid input",
						"Input Error", JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE);
			}
		} while (n <= 0 || n > MAXIMUM_NUMBER_OF_DISKS);
 
		// Create the list of disks
		ArrayList<Oval> list = new ArrayList<Oval>(n);
		int chgSize = HEIGHT;
		for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
 
			// Find the center of the window
			int centerX = (int) (WIDTH / 2) - (chgSize / 2);
			int centerY = (int) (HEIGHT / 2) - (chgSize / 2);
 
			// Draw an Oval
			Oval o = new Oval(centerX, centerY, chgSize, chgSize,
					randomColors(), true);
			list.add(o);
			chgSize -= WIDTH / n;
		}
		return list;
	}
 
public Color randomColors() {
		Color c = new Color((int) (Math.random() * 256),
				((int) (Math.random() * 256)), ((int) (Math.random() * 256)));
		return c;
	}

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How can I approach this? I tried reading what was written before, but I wasn't able to figure it out...

Quote:

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No sense in starting a new thread when I can just use an old one, right

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Yes, you should start a new thread. Please don't hijack one that is almost two years old. I have moved this to a new thread of its own for you

Ok. Sorry about that. New to all this forum stuff. Can anyone help?

Quote:

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'm supposed to take the center color and move it down one in the array

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Is this a problem changing the contents of an array?
For array content movement problems you need to work out the details of the movement by using a piece of paper and a pencil to see what the order of assignments are to make sure none of the values in the array are overwritten and lost.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Norm

Is this a problem changing the contents of an array?
For array content movement problems you need to work out the details of the movement by using a piece of paper and a pencil to see what the order of assignments are to make sure none of the values in the array are overwritten and lost.

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Yeah, I believe so. I knew the logic of what I wanted to do, but didn't understand the syntax. Here is the solution.

public ArrayList<Oval> rotateColorsInPileOfDisks(ArrayList<Oval> graphicsList) {

Color bottomDisk = graphicsList.get(0).getColor();
for (int i = 0; i < graphicsList.size()-1 /*createAPileOfDisks().size()*/; i++) {
Color color1 = graphicsList.get(i+1).getColor();
graphicsList.get(i).setColor(color1);
}
int lastIndex = graphicsList.size() - 1;
graphicsList.get(lastIndex).setColor(bottomDisk);
return graphicsList;
}

You've solved it?

Pretty much. I got help from a fellow student. He helped to break it down and explain it. Now I need to my sierpinski triangle, but just switch the colors from blue to green, then o red and back to blue. Should be pretty straight-forward.