Equivalent of eval() function in java

[Pradyumna Hari]

Hi all,
Can any one tell me what is the equivalent of
eval function ( this is a function in javascript ) in java. The requirement is to evaluate the value of an expression but the expression is itself a string.
Example
ClassA a = new ClassA();
String strExpression = "a.getName()" ;

Now I want to print the value returned by a.getName(). Is there any function ftn such that
System.out.println(ftn(strExpression)) would print the value returned by a.getName()
Thanks

[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: Pradyumna Hari ]

[David O'Meara]

You're looking for reflection.
You can get a Class from an instance with

Class myClass = object.getClass();

then you can have a look at the class and do things like find and call methods etc.

Class[] args = new Class[0];
//get the zero-arg method called 'getname'
java.lang.reflect.Method meth = myClass.getDeclaredMethod("getName", args);
//call the method on our instance with no arguments
myClass.invoke( object, new Object[0] );

or something like that...
I didn't actually test the code, but it should get you started.
Dave