static method in super class

Suppose class A has many subclasses B, C, D,... (the names can be very irregular).
Is there a way to implement a mathod

public static newInstance(String xml)

in class A such that when I say
B.newInstance(anXml), the method in A will be invoked and returns an object of type B,
while C.newInstance(aValue) will invoke the same method but returns an object of type C?

Thanks for your help

Have you tried writing a simple test case and see what happens?

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Originally Posted by Norm

Have you tried writing a simple test case and see what happens?

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No. I don't know how. I used to program with ObjectC (cocoa), it's not hard doing such thing with
ObjectC. And I'd like to port code to Java

I heard that I need reflection functionalities in Java to do that.

Why are you trying to use a static method?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Norm

Why are you trying to use a static method?

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Because I don't assume an object of type B (C, D,...) exists. I think any method creating objects is static...

The reason I'd like to do things that way is that if I put newInstance method in each subclass, they look very similar and yet it's a big method, the resulting code will be very hard to maintain, and also ugly.

Quote:

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I think any method creating objects is static...

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You should do some research on static in java. Here's a page in the tutorial.
Understanding Instance and Class Members (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Classes and Objects)

Instances of a class are created with the new statement.