JAVA Cannot Access my array in main from method

Question

I'm just starting out Java and I am trying to get one of my methods to read an array from the main class, which in turn gets its values from a file. The file is simply a top 5 scores list, with names and numbers separated by a line. The method I'm making needs to check if the score given to it is higher than the score already in that place and replace that amount. The only problem is I cannot access the array value from my method.

Here is my code:

public static void main(String[] args) {

    String [] nameArray = new String[5];

    int [] scoreArray = new int[5];


    File score = new File("score.txt");

    if (score.exists())
    {
        try {
            nameArray[0] = Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(0);
            nameArray[1] = Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(2);
            nameArray[2] = Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(4);
            nameArray[3] = Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(6);
            nameArray[4] = Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(8);

            scoreArray[0] = Integer.parseInt(Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(1));
            scoreArray[1] = Integer.parseInt(Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(3));
            scoreArray[2] = Integer.parseInt(Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(5));
            scoreArray[3] = Integer.parseInt(Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(7));
            scoreArray[4] = Integer.parseInt(Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("score.txt")).get(9));
        } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println("FILE IO EXCEPTION");
        }
    }




    if (!score.exists())
    {

        nameArray[0] = "---";
        nameArray[1] = "---";
        nameArray[2] = "---";
        nameArray[3] = "---";
        nameArray[4] = "---";

        scoreArray[0] = 0;
        scoreArray[1] = 0;
        scoreArray[2] = 0;
        scoreArray[3] = 0;
        scoreArray[4] = 0;

        BufferedWriter outputWriter;
        try {
            outputWriter = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("score.txt"));
                // I am aware I could have used a loop to do this
            outputWriter.write(nameArray[0]);
            outputWriter.newLine();
            outputWriter.write(Integer.toString(scoreArray[0]));
            outputWriter.newLine();

            outputWriter.write(nameArray[1]);
            outputWriter.newLine();
            outputWriter.write(Integer.toString(scoreArray[1]));
            outputWriter.newLine();

            outputWriter.write(nameArray[2]);
            outputWriter.newLine();
            outputWriter.write(Integer.toString(scoreArray[2]));
            outputWriter.newLine();

            outputWriter.write(nameArray[3]);
            outputWriter.newLine();
            outputWriter.write(Integer.toString(scoreArray[3]));
            outputWriter.newLine();

            outputWriter.write(nameArray[4]);
            outputWriter.newLine();
            outputWriter.write(Integer.toString(scoreArray[4]));
            outputWriter.newLine();

            outputWriter.flush();
            outputWriter.close();
        } catch (IOException ex) {
            System.out.println("FILE IO EXCEPTION");
        }
    }


}


static void playerScore(String name, int score)
{
  if (score > scoreArray[0])
  {
      scoreArray[0] = score;
  }
  //etc...
}

/* static String [] getTopNames()
{

}

 static int [] getTopScores()
{

}
*/

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 02 '16 at 19:01

3

Define the array in the class and not in the main method itself.

answered Feb 02 '16 at 19:01

Mar-k

648
6
16

For anyone else who is having a similiar problem, I also took our the static before my methods – Kamil Mieczkowski Feb 02 '16 at 19:06
Your methods can be static in this situation. You should read this to better understand what static does: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/413898/what-does-the-static-keyword-do-in-a-class – Christopher Schneider Feb 02 '16 at 19:16

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 02 '16 at 19:05

You can either include it in the parameters of the method that is necessary to access the array or define it on top of the class so that all the components have access to it.

Also consider adding a for loop because your code is five times what it should, and using a simple loop this would be easily fixable.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 02 '16 at 19:07

Indeed , declare it outside any methods as a class variable (but as static , like this)

public class Sorting {
    public static String [] nameArray = new String[5];

    public static void main(String[] args){
        Sorting a=new Sorting();
        a.readFile();
        nameArray=null;
    }

JAVA Cannot Access my array in main from method

3 Answers3