writeUTF and JComboBox

[Matthew Buska]

I'm creating a program that will save what the user enters into a file and in the end check to see if what the user typed in is correct and have it display whether or not it is correct. My problem is I created a JComboBox and I'm wanting to save whatever the user clicked on in the JComboBox and its giving me this error:

C:\Documents and Settings\sth-g200\Desktop\BillPayer.java:180: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : method writeUTF (java.lang.Object)
location: class java.io.DataOutputStream
output.writeUTF(pmt.getSelectedItem());

If anyone can take a look at my code and point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt

import java.io.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.text.*;
import java.util.*;
  
public class BillPayer extends JFrame implements ActionListener
{
//Declare output stream
DataOutputStream output;

//Construct a panel for each row
JPanel firstRow = new JPanel();
JPanel secondRow = new JPanel();
JPanel thirdRow = new JPanel();
JPanel fourthRow = new JPanel();
JPanel fifthRow = new JPanel();
JPanel sixthRow = new JPanel();
JPanel seventhRow = new JPanel();
JPanel eighthRow = new JPanel();
JPanel ninthRow = new JPanel();

//Construct a panel for the fields and buttons
JPanel fieldPanel = new JPanel();
JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();

//Construct labels and text boxes
JLabel msg = new JLabel("Please provide the following information below.");
JLabel acctNumLabel = new JLabel("Account Number:");
JTextField acctNum = new JTextField(15);
JLabel pmtLabel = new JLabel("Credit Card:");
JComboBox pmt = new JComboBox();
JLabel firstNameLabel = new JLabel("First Name:");
JTextField firstName = new JTextField(10);
JLabel lastNameLabel = new JLabel("Last Name:");
JTextField  lastName = new JTextField(20);
JLabel addressLabel = new JLabel("Address:");
JTextField address = new JTextField(35);
JLabel cityLabel = new JLabel("City:");
JTextField  city = new JTextField(10);
JLabel stateLabel = new JLabel("State:");
JTextField state = new JTextField(2);
JLabel zipLabel = new JLabel("Zip:");
JTextField zip = new JTextField(9);

//Construct button
JButton submitButton = new JButton("Submit");

public static void main(String[] args)
{
//set the look and feel of the interface
try
{
UIManager.setLookAndFeel("com.sun.java.swing.plaf.motif.MotifLookAndFeel");
}

catch(Exception e)
{
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, 
                    "The UIManager could not set the Look and Feel for this application.", 
                    "Error", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
}

BillPayer f = new BillPayer();
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DO_NOTHING_ON_CLOSE);
f.setSize(500, 300);
f.setTitle("Speedy & Hootie's Credit Card Validation Program");
f.setResizable(false);
f.setLocation(200, 200);
f.setVisible(true);
}

public BillPayer()
{
//Information for the drop-down menu
pmt.addItem("Visa");
pmt.addItem("MasterCard");
pmt.addItem("American Express");
pmt.addItem("Discover");

Container c = getContentPane();
c.setLayout((new BorderLayout()));
fieldPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(9, 1));
FlowLayout rowSetup = new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT, 5, 3);
firstRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
secondRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
thirdRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
fourthRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
fifthRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
sixthRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
seventhRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
eighthRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
ninthRow.setLayout(rowSetup);
buttonPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER));

firstRow.add(msg);

secondRow.add(acctNumLabel);
secondRow.add(acctNum);

thirdRow.add(pmtLabel);
thirdRow.add(pmt);

fourthRow.add(firstNameLabel);
fourthRow.add(firstName);

fifthRow.add(lastNameLabel);
fifthRow.add(lastName);

sixthRow.add(addressLabel);
sixthRow.add(address);

seventhRow.add(cityLabel);
seventhRow.add(city);

eighthRow.add(stateLabel);
eighthRow.add(state);

ninthRow.add(zipLabel);
ninthRow.add(zip);

//Add rows to panel
fieldPanel.add(firstRow);
fieldPanel.add(secondRow);
fieldPanel.add(thirdRow);
fieldPanel.add(fourthRow);
fieldPanel.add(fifthRow);
fieldPanel.add(sixthRow);
fieldPanel.add(seventhRow);
fieldPanel.add(eighthRow);
fieldPanel.add(ninthRow);

//Add button to panel
buttonPanel.add(submitButton);

//Add panels to frame
c.add(fieldPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
c.add(buttonPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);

//Add functionality to buttons
submitButton.addActionListener(this);

//Get the current date and open the file
Date today = new Date();
SimpleDateFormat myFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("MMddyyyy");
String filename = "payments" + myFormat.format(today);

try
{
output = new DataOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(filename));
}

catch(IOException io)
{
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, 
                    "The program could not create a storage location.  Please check the " +
                    "disk drive and then run the program again.", "Error", 
                    JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
System.exit(1);
}
 
addWindowListener(
new WindowAdapter()
{
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
{
int answer = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, 
                            "Are you sure you want to exit?", "Exiting the program", 
                            JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION);
if(answer == JOptionPane.YES_OPTION)
System.exit(0);
}
}
);
}

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
{
String arg = e.getActionCommand();

if(checkFields())
{
try
{
output.writeUTF(acctNum.getText());
output.writeUTF(pmt.getSelectedItem());
output.writeUTF(firstName.getText());
output.writeUTF(lastName.getText());
output.writeUTF(address.getText());
output.writeUTF(city.getText());
output.writeUTF(state.getText());
output.writeUTF(zip.getText());

JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,
                        "The payment information has been saved.", 
                        "Submission Succesful", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
}

catch(IOException c)
{
System.exit(1);
}

clearFields();
}
}

public boolean checkFields()
{
if((acctNum.getText().compareToIgnoreCase("") < 1)    ||
   (firstName.getText().compareToIgnoreCase("") < 1)||
   (lastName.getText().compareToIgnoreCase("") < 1)||
   (address.getText().compareToIgnoreCase("") < 1)||
   (city.getText().compareToIgnoreCase("") < 1)||
   (state.getText().compareToIgnoreCase("") < 1)||
   (zip.getText().compareToIgnoreCase("") < 1))
{
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "You must complete all fields.", 
"Data Entry Error", JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE);
return false;
}

else
{
return true;
}
}

public void clearFields()
{
//Clear fields and reset the focus
acctNum.setText("");
pmt.setSelectedIndex(0);
firstName.setText("");
lastName.setText("");
address.setText("");
city.setText("");
state.setText("");
zip.setText("");
acctNum.requestFocus();
}
}

[ edited to preserve formatting using the [code] and [/code] UBB tags -ds ]
[ August 08, 2004: Message edited by: Dirk Schreckmann ]

[Liam Tiarnach]

JComboBox's getSelectedItem() method returns an Object type... and DataOutputStream does not have a writeUTF() method that takes an Object as an arguement...

One possible solution, cast said Object to a String...

output.writeUTF((String)pmt.getSelectedItem());

It compiles and work fine on my PC now after resolving the error...

Hope this helps...

[Liam Tiarnach]

Of course, you can also call the returned Object's toString() method...
(Imagine that, calling the toString method on a String )

output.writeUTF(pmt.getSelectedItem().toString());

and leave the casting alone, since we know that the Object returned is a String...

And it looks better than casting...

- ' Aye, it be bright out, whered me put me ale ??? '

[Dirk Schreckmann]

When posting code, please be sure to surround the code with the [code] and [/code] UBB Tags. This will help to preserve the formatting of the code, thus making it easier to read and understand.