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...
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