Question

I am trying to understand extending inner classes in Java. I have read around but nothing I found quite answers my question. So here goes…

I have…

public class Pie{
    protected Slice[] slices;

    // Pie constructor
    public Pie(int n){
         sliceGenerator(n)
    }

    private void sliceGenerator(int n){
         slices = new Slice[n];
         final float sweepAngle = 360.0f/(float)n;
         float startAngle = 0;
         for (int i=0;i<n;i++){ 
             slices[i] = new Slice(startAngle);
             startAngle += sweepAngle;
         }
    }

    @Override
    public String toString(){
         for (Slice s:slices){  
             s.toString();
         }
    }

    // Inner class...
    public class Slice{
        public Slice(float startAngle){
             //set some private fields based on startAngle and generic pie 
        }

        @Override
        public String toString(){
             return **string based on private fields**
        }
    }
}

Then I extend this…

public class ApplePie extends Pie{
    protected Slice[] slices;

    // Apple Pie constructor
    public ApplePie(int n){
         super(n);
    }

    // Inner class...
    public class Slice extends Pie.Slice{
        public Slice(float startAngle){
            super(startAngle);
            //set some **additional** private fields based on startAngle **specific to apple pie** appleness or something
        }

        @Override
        public String toString(){
             return **string based on apple pie specific private fields**
        }
    }
}

Now, when I make an Apple pie and call its toString method, like so…

ApplePie ap = new ApplePie(8);
System.out.println(ap.toString());

I do not get information about the apple pie slices, but information about the pie slices. It ignores my toString override, or more likely ignores my apple pie Slice. How can I arrange it such that apple pie slices refer to ApplePie?

Any help much appreciated! Sorry for pie references – it is the actual class I am working with…

Answer 1

I’ve changed your code to meet your requirements.

Your super class Pie is about to create a new instance of Slice, but the child class ApplePie’s Slice does not override the Slice method of its super class’.

I added the functions below to enable the child class to create its own Slice.

protected void newSliceArray(int n) {
    slices = new Slice[n];
}

protected Slice newSlice(float startAngle) {
    return new Slice(startAngle);
}

Pie.java:

public class Pie {
  private int a = 1;
  protected Slice[] slices;

  // Pie constructor
  public Pie(int n) {
    sliceGenerator(n);
  }

  private void sliceGenerator(int n) {
    newSliceArray(n);
    final float sweepAngle = 360.0f / n;
    float startAngle = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
      slices[i] = newSlice(startAngle);
      startAngle += sweepAngle;
    }
  }

  protected void newSliceArray(int n) {
    slices = new Slice[n];
  }


  protected Slice newSlice(float startAngle) {
    return new Slice(startAngle);
  }

  @Override
  public String toString() {
    String t = "";
    for (Slice s : slices) {
      t += s.toString();
    }
    return t;
  }

  // Inner class...
  public class Slice {
    public Slice(float startAngle) {
      // set some private fields based on startAngle and generic pie
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
      return "" + a;
    }
  }
}

ApplePie.java:

public class ApplePie extends Pie {
  private int b = 2;

  // protected Slice[] slices;

  // Apple Pie constructor
  public ApplePie(int n) {
    super(n);
  }

  protected void newSliceArray(int n) {
    slices = new Slice[n];
  }

  protected Slice newSlice(float startAngle) {
    return new Slice(startAngle);
  }

  // Inner class...
  public class Slice extends Pie.Slice {
    public Slice(float startAngle) {
      super(startAngle);
      // set some **additional** private fields based on startAngle **specific to apple pie**
      // appleness or something
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
      return b + "";
    }
  }
}

Test:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    ApplePie ap = new ApplePie(8);
    System.out.println(ap.toString());
}

The code will print 22222222