Question

I want to make my class return a value but I want that value to change based like the loop. I think my code will explain it better than I can.

    public static String readChat(String value) throws Exception
{
    FormatS FormatS = new FormatS();

    BufferedReader mainChat = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("./chat.txt"));
    String str;
    while ((str = mainChat.readLine()) != null) 
    {
        String msg = FormatS.FormatS(str, value);
    }
    mainChat.close();
return (msg);

Unfortunately that will only return the last one since the loop isn’t returned but only the last message in the loop, How can I make it return every value in the loop as a seperate return? (If possible from here without affecting the other classes)

Answer 1

You can’t. A Java method only returns one value, it can’t return several times.
After the return statement, you’re out of that method!

You can use a Collection (like a List, for instance), to store all your messages, and then return the list.

http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/Collection.html

Check here for additional information on collections. If you’re new to Java and plan on sticking with it, it’s a pretty crucial aspect to master :).

What you should do is instantiate a new Collection, for instance:

List<String> messageList = new ArrayList<String>();

and then inside your loop, you’ll do…

messageList.add(msg);

And for the gran finale, of course…

return messageList;

In the “outside” method (the caller), you can interate over the list, and use the messages for your needs.