Question

I am looking for a quick fix to this problem I have: Here is my code:

import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileReader;
import java.io.IOException;

import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JProgressBar;
import javax.swing.JTextField;

public class Directory{
    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException{

    JFrame frame = new JFrame("Directory");
    frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300,300));
    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

    final JProgressBar searchprogress = new JProgressBar();
    JPanel panel = new JPanel();
    final JButton searchbutton = new JButton("Search");
    final JTextField searchfield = new JTextField();
    searchfield.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100,30));
    searchprogress.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200, 30));
    searchbutton.setLocation(100, 100);


    /*                  Start Buffered Reader                       */
    BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("test1.txt"));
    String housetype = br.readLine();
    String housenumber = br.readLine();
    String housestreet = br.readLine();
    String housepostal = br.readLine();
    String houseplace = br.readLine();
    String seperation = br.readLine();
    /*                  Finish Buffered Reader                      */



    /*                      Start Content Code                      */
    JButton done = new JButton("Done");
    done.setVisible(false);
    JLabel housetype_label = new JLabel();
    JLabel housenumber_label = new JLabel();
    JLabel housestreet_label = new JLabel();
    JLabel housepostal_label = new JLabel();
    JLabel houseplace_label = new JLabel();


    /*                      Finish Content Code                     */

    /*                      Start Button Code                       */

    searchbutton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
        {
            String searchquery = searchfield.getText();
            searchprogress.setValue(100);
            searchfield.setEnabled(false);
            if(searchquery.equals(housetype)){
                System.out.println("We Have Found  A Record!!");
            }}
        });


    /*                      Finish Button Code                      */
    /*                          Test Field                          */


    /*                      End Test Field                          */

    panel.add(searchfield);
    panel.add(done);
    panel.add(searchbutton);
    panel.add(searchprogress);
    frame.add(panel);
    frame.pack();
    frame.setVisible(true);


}
}

Basically After I wrote this code, Eclipse told me I had to change the modifier of housetype, to final. Which truly won’t do, because I need to be a changing value if its going to go trough different records.
PLEASE HELP ME! D:

Answer 1

You have several options here:

• The quickest would be to do what Eclipse tells you, actually it is Java that tells you that. In order to be able to use method local variables inside inner classes inside the method, the variables must be final.
• Another option is to declare the housetype variable as an instance variable, immediately after the class definition. But, using it in the static main method means that the variable needs to be static too, which makes it a class variable.

• Another one would be to keep the code as you have, but declare an extra variable like below and then use the house variable inside the inner class instead of housetype. See the entire code below:

  public class Directory {
    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException {
  
      JFrame frame = new JFrame("Directory");
      frame.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 300));
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
  
      final JProgressBar searchprogress = new JProgressBar();
      JPanel panel = new JPanel();
      final JButton searchbutton = new JButton("Search");
      final JTextField searchfield = new JTextField();
      searchfield.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 30));
      searchprogress.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200, 30));
      searchbutton.setLocation(100, 100);
  
      /* Start Buffered Reader */
      final List<String> housetypes = new ArrayList<String>();
      String line = "";
      BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("test1.txt"));
      while (line != null) {
          line = br.readLine();
          housetypes.add(line);
          String housenumber = br.readLine();
          String housestreet = br.readLine();
          String housepostal = br.readLine();
          String houseplace = br.readLine();
          String seperation = br.readLine();
      }
      /* Finish Buffered Reader */
  
      /* Start Content Code */
      JButton done = new JButton("Done");
      done.setVisible(false);
      JLabel housetype_label = new JLabel();
      JLabel housenumber_label = new JLabel();
      JLabel housestreet_label = new JLabel();
      JLabel housepostal_label = new JLabel();
      JLabel houseplace_label = new JLabel();
  
      /* Finish Content Code */
  
      /* Start Button Code */
      searchbutton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
          public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
              String searchquery = searchfield.getText();
              searchprogress.setValue(100);
              searchfield.setEnabled(false);
              for (String housetype : housetypes) {
                  if (searchquery.equals(housetype)) {
                      System.out.println("We Have Found  A Record!!");
                  }
              }
          }
      });
  
      /* Finish Button Code */
      /* Test Field */
  
      /* End Test Field */
  
      panel.add(searchfield);
      panel.add(done);
      panel.add(searchbutton);
      panel.add(searchprogress);
      frame.add(panel);
      frame.pack();
      frame.setVisible(true);
    }
  }
  

• There are even more options, but these are the quickest.