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Thread: String index is out of range

  1. #1
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    Exclamation String index is out of range

    Ok so I'm really novice at java and have been struggling with this particular exception. When I go and enter a name into the string, it pops the exception:
    License Validator
    Enter a last name: enter
    Exception in thread "main" java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException: String index out of range: 5
    at java.lang.String.charAt(Unknown Source)
    I could really use some help at this point I'm beat and struggling to really get anywhere with it.

    System.out.println("License Validator");
     
    		String name1;
    		int y = 1;
     
    		while(y > 0){
    			System.out.print("Enter a last name: ");
    			name1 = stdIn.nextLine();
     
    			int namelength = name1.length();
     
    			while(namelength>0){
    				char x = name1.charAt(namelength);


  2. #2
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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    What String are you trying to access? How many indexes does it have? Which index are you trying to access?
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  3. #3
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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    Heres what I'm trying to do:

    System.out.print("Enter a last name: ");
    name1 = stdIn.nextLine();

    The program outputs to the user asking for a last name then the user input is stored in the string name1 using scanner class.
    Then the line: int namelength = name1.length();. Is being used to get and store the length of the string name1 in the interger namelength.
    That is where the exception occurs and it says that the "String index is out of range."

  4. #4
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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    Actually your error is occurring at the line
    char x = name1.charAt(namelength);

    You are probably incrementing namelength or decreasing the size of name1 somewhere, but not checking your location in the String or resetting the size (respectfully). We'll need to see more of that while loop to provide you with any useful tips.

    EDIT:
    namelength is the length of your String, but the index starts counting at 0 and ends at the length of the String minus 1. I assume you are trying to get the last character of name1. To do that, you need to say: namelength-1 instead of namelength.
    Last edited by aussiemcgr; April 2nd, 2012 at 05:20 PM.
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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    Thanks for the help aussie, I was looking in the wrong place.
    The while loop is a verification loop designed to ensure the name entered only contains letters or whitespace(But now two in a row, which I haven't worked out).

    while(namelength>0){
    	char x = name1.charAt(namelength);
                 if(Character.isLetter(x)){
                      namelength = namelength -1;
                 }
                 if(Character.isDigit(x)){
                      namelength = 0;
                 }
                 if(Character.isWhitespace(x)){
                     namelengtj = namelength - 1;
                 }
    {

    Thats what is in the loop, please let me know if you have any more questions.

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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    Ok, you've made a very simple mistake that is very often seen in those who are new to programming. Your mistake has to do with the difference between how a human counts and how the computer counts. When humans count, we start at 1, but when computers count, they start at 0.

    So, let's say we have the word: Programming. That word has 11 characters, so its length is 11. But, if we want to get the first character, word.charAt(1); will give us r, NOT P. The reason is because indexing starts at 0 and ends at the length of the word, minus one. For example, here is the indexes of the word:
    P = 0
    r = 1
    o = 2
    g = 3
    r = 4
    a = 5
    m = 6
    m = 7
    i = 8
    n = 9
    g = 10

    So, as you can see, to get the first letter, we say: word.charAt(0);, and to get the last letter we say: word.charAt(10);. Or, to get the last letter of any word, we say: word.charAt(word.length()-1);.

    Does that make sense?
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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    Ah I knew I was missing something very basic.

    char x = name1.charAt(namelength - 1);
    fixed the exception by adding the -1, but now the if statements that follow don't work either.

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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    Quote Originally Posted by etag View Post
    Ah I knew I was missing something very basic.

    char x = name1.charAt(namelength - 1);
    fixed the exception by adding the -1, but now the if statements that follow don't work either.
    What does it do instead? Does it throw an Exception? Does it exhibit some strange behavior? Does it sprout wings and fly away? Something else? Telling us that "it don't work" is as useful to us as us saying "then fix it" is useful to you.

    If you want help, please post the updated code (in SSCCE form, with highlight tags) and explain exactly what's happening.
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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    I assume you also want to change your while loop from:
    while(namelength>0)
    to
    while(namelength>=0)
    since the index 0 is a valid index.
    Also, check the last if statement in your loop. I think you misspelled namelength.
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    Default Re: String index is out of range

    Sorry about the short and not to the point replies, I understand that it was pointless and didn't help me or yourself. On the other hand I did end of fixing the overall program by switching from the process I was using and just going with a pattern and matcher setup which ran a lot easier and more compact than trying to use multiple loops to verify each letter in the user inputs.

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