Identifying calling object

**frogfury** · October 24th, 2010, 01:10 PM

Hey guys!

I'm trying to do this:

int x;
x = orc.getFrags;  //orc extends player

In class player I have:

public int getFrags(){
 
    If (this.getClass().getName().equals("orc")){
        return 5;
    }
}

But it doesn't work. I'm guessing its because "this" returns the class player and not the subclass orc. Is there any way to determine which object/subclass called a method from a superclass?

**copeg** · October 24th, 2010, 01:20 PM

Add a println in the getFrags method to print the class name, you will then see which class it is referring to, and what the name actually is.

**frogfury** · October 24th, 2010, 05:17 PM

It does indeed return the class "player". Is there any way to find out if the method was called with regards to a subclass like orc, elf etc?

**copeg** · October 24th, 2010, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by frogfury

It does indeed return the class "player". Is there any way to find out if the method was called with regards to a subclass like orc, elf etc?

This is not the behavior on my machine. Is orc just a reference to an instance of Player, or is it actually a class which extends Player? What exactly are you trying to accomplish

public class Test{
	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception{
		Player pla = new Temp();
		pla.getFrags();
	}
 
	private static class Player {
		public void getFrags(){
			System.out.println(this.getClass().getName());
		}
	}
 
	private static class Temp extends Player{
 
	}
}

Prints out Temp, not Player

**Darryl.Burke** · October 25th, 2010, 12:42 AM

Apart from all that, if you need to know which subclass's method is invoked, it's almost always a sign of misuse of inheritance.

db

**frogfury** · October 25th, 2010, 08:08 AM

Reading copeg's example I just realized that I had set my main class to private. No wonder it wasn't working...

Thanks a lot for your time guys!

**helloworld922** · October 25th, 2010, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by Darryl.Burke

Apart from all that, if you need to know which subclass's method is invoked, it's almost always a sign of misuse of inheritance.

db

^^ this is very important to keep in mind, as this is the basis for creating well-formed polymorphic classes, as well as properly using inheritance.

If you want a way to differentiate the name of different players, put a string field in your base class.

public abstract class Player
{
    public final String name;
 
    public Player(String name)
    {
        this.name = name;
    }
}

public class Orc extends Player
{
    public Orc()
    {
        super("orc");
    }
}

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    Player p1 = new Orc();
    Player p2 = new Wizzard(); // code for Wizzard not provided, but it's something similar to Orc
    System.out.println(p1.name);
    System.out.println(p2.name);
}

If you have a set list of names possible, simply use an enumeration instead of a string.

Thread: Identifying calling object

LinkBack

Thread Tools

Display

Identifying calling object

Related threads:

Re: Identifying calling object

Re: Identifying calling object

Re: Identifying calling object

The Following User Says Thank You to copeg For This Useful Post:

Re: Identifying calling object

The Following User Says Thank You to Darryl.Burke For This Useful Post:

Re: Identifying calling object

Re: Identifying calling object

Similar Threads

calling SingleFrameApplication

2D Object makes my object smaller, Why?

calling a constructor

Calling for methods

[SOLVED] How to call string in another class in java?