I have an abstract class with a single concrete method. In this method I want to use a static class variable from the classes that derive from the one the method is declared in. To do so, I of course have to declare this static variable in the abstract class as well.
When the method is called, the variable is resolved to the one in my abstract base class as opposed to the one in the derived class. Do I need to decorate the derived class’ property with an attribute?
Am I trying to do something that is not supported in Java, or am I just missing something?
You’re trying to do something that isn’t supported. Fields can’t be “overridden” – and static members don’t behave polymorphically.
Instead, create abstract properties which can be implemented in the derived classes. They’ll have to be instance properties even if they return static variables.