Question

java is giving me the error that
Java\Workspace\PROJECTS\Farm\animalLab.java [line: 15]
Error: cannot find symbol
symbol: method addAnimal(java.lang.String,int,Farm[])
location: variable farm of type Farm[]

my code is

import java.util.Scanner;

class animalLab{
   public Farm[] farm = new Farm[1000];

public void main(String[]args){
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
int i = 0;

while(reader.hasNext()){
  if(reader.nextLine() == "Quit")
    break;
  if(reader.nextLine()=="Add"){
    System.out.println("Enter animal to add: ");
    String add = reader.nextLine();
    farm.addAnimal(add, i, farm);
  }

my farm class looks something like this

 class Farm{
public String animal = null;

public Farm(String s){
animal = s;

}

   public String getAnimal(){
return animal;

}

public void addAnimal(String add, int i, Farm farm[]){
for (int x =0; x<farm.length; x++)
  if(farm[x] != null)
  if(farm[x].animal.equals(add)){
  System.out.println(add + " is already in the farm");
  break;
}

farm[i] = new Farm(add);

}

Answer 1

farm is an array of (many) Farm objects.

Arrays do not have an addAnimal method. Take time to read the error message closely.

Look at it like this…

error: cannot find [the] method addAnimal

location: variable farm [which is] of type Farm[]

Consider that farm[x].animal "works" (the expression farm[x] is of type Farm) — how can this be used to fix the compilation error?

I would recommend naming variables for arrays/collection in a plural form — e.g. farms — to mitigate this sort of confusion. Also, unless there is a requirement to use an array (such as a homework assignment), I would recommend using ArrayList — it makes adding and iterating items easier.

Happy coding.