Printing all variables value from a class

Question

I have a class with information about a Person that looks something like this:

public class Contact {
    private String name;
    private String location;
    private String address;
    private String email;
    private String phone;
    private String fax;

    public String toString() {
        // Something here
    }
    // Getters and setters.
}

I want toString() to return this.name +" - "+ this.locations + ... for all variables. I was trying to implement it using reflection as shown from this question but I can't manage to print instance variables.

What is the correct way to solve this?

Answer 1

i will get my answer as follow:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.Writer;
import java.lang.reflect.Array;
import java.lang.reflect.Field;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class findclass {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception, IllegalAccessException {
        new findclass().findclass(new Object(), "objectName");
        new findclass().findclass(1213, "int");
        new findclass().findclass("ssdfs", "String");
    }


    public Map<String, String>map=new HashMap<String, String>();

    public void findclass(Object c,String name) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException {
        if(map.containsKey(c.getClass().getName() + "@" + Integer.toHexString(c.hashCode()))){
            System.out.println(c.getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+" = "+map.get(c.getClass().getName() + "@" + Integer.toHexString(c.hashCode()))+" = "+c);          
            return;}
        map.put(c.getClass().getName() + "@" + Integer.toHexString(c.hashCode()), name);
        Class te=c.getClass();
        if(te.equals(Integer.class)||te.equals(Double.class)||te.equals(Float.class)||te.equals(Boolean.class)||te.equals(Byte.class)||te.equals(Long.class)||te.equals(String.class)||te.equals(Character.class)){
            System.out.println(c.getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+" = "+c);
            return; 
        }


        if(te.isArray()){
            if(te==int[].class||te==char[].class||te==double[].class||te==float[].class||te==byte[].class||te==long[].class||te==boolean[].class){
                boolean dotflag=true;
                for (int i = 0; i < Array.getLength(c); i++) {
                    System.out.println(Array.get(c, i).getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+"["+i+"] = "+Array.get(c, i));
                }
                return; 
            }
            Object[]arr=(Object[])c;
            for (Object object : arr) {
                if(object==null)    
                    System.out.println(c.getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+" = null");
                else {
                    findclass(object, name+"."+object.getClass().getSimpleName());
                }
            }


        }   

        Field[] fields=c.getClass().getDeclaredFields();
        for (Field field : fields) {
            field.setAccessible(true);

            if(field.get(c)==null){
                System.out.println(field.getType().getSimpleName()+" "+name+"."+field.getName()+" = null");
                continue;
            }

            findclass(field.get(c),name+"."+field.getName());
        }
        if(te.getSuperclass()==Number.class||te.getSuperclass()==Object.class||te.getSuperclass()==null)
            return;
        Field[]faFields=c.getClass().getSuperclass().getDeclaredFields();

        for (Field field : faFields) {
            field.setAccessible(true);
                if(field.get(c)==null){
                    System.out.println(field.getType().getSimpleName()+" "+name+"<"+c.getClass().getSuperclass().getSimpleName()+"."+field.getName()+" = null");
                    continue;
                }
                Object check=field.get(c);
                findclass(field.get(c),name+"<"+c.getClass().getSuperclass().getSimpleName()+"."+field.getName());

        }

    }

    public void findclass(Object c,String name,Writer writer) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, IOException {
        if(map.containsKey(c.getClass().getName() + "@" + Integer.toHexString(c.hashCode()))){
            writer.append(c.getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+" = "+map.get(c.getClass().getName() + "@" + Integer.toHexString(c.hashCode()))+" = "+c+"\n");          
            return;}
        map.put(c.getClass().getName() + "@" + Integer.toHexString(c.hashCode()), name);
        Class te=c.getClass();
        if(te.equals(Integer.class)||te.equals(Double.class)||te.equals(Float.class)||te.equals(Boolean.class)||te.equals(Byte.class)||te.equals(Long.class)||te.equals(String.class)||te.equals(Character.class)){
            writer.append(c.getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+" = "+c+"\n");
            return; 
        }


        if(te.isArray()){
            if(te==int[].class||te==char[].class||te==double[].class||te==float[].class||te==byte[].class||te==long[].class||te==boolean[].class){
                boolean dotflag=true;
                for (int i = 0; i < Array.getLength(c); i++) {
                    writer.append(Array.get(c, i).getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+"["+i+"] = "+Array.get(c, i)+"\n");
                }
                return; 
            }
            Object[]arr=(Object[])c;
            for (Object object : arr) {
                if(object==null){   
                    writer.append(c.getClass().getSimpleName()+" "+name+" = null"+"\n");
                }else {
                    findclass(object, name+"."+object.getClass().getSimpleName(),writer);
                }
            }


        }   

        Field[] fields=c.getClass().getDeclaredFields();
        for (Field field : fields) {
            field.setAccessible(true);

            if(field.get(c)==null){
                writer.append(field.getType().getSimpleName()+" "+name+"."+field.getName()+" = null"+"\n");
                continue;
            }

            findclass(field.get(c),name+"."+field.getName(),writer);
        }
        if(te.getSuperclass()==Number.class||te.getSuperclass()==Object.class||te.getSuperclass()==null)
            return;
        Field[]faFields=c.getClass().getSuperclass().getDeclaredFields();

        for (Field field : faFields) {
            field.setAccessible(true);
                if(field.get(c)==null){
                    writer.append(field.getType().getSimpleName()+" "+name+"<"+c.getClass().getSuperclass().getSimpleName()+"."+field.getName()+" = null"+"\n");
                    continue;
                }
                Object check=field.get(c);
                findclass(field.get(c),name+"<"+c.getClass().getSuperclass().getSimpleName()+"."+field.getName(),writer);

        }
    }

}

Answer 2

From Implementing toString:

public String toString() {
  StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
  String newLine = System.getProperty("line.separator");

  result.append( this.getClass().getName() );
  result.append( " Object {" );
  result.append(newLine);

  //determine fields declared in this class only (no fields of superclass)
  Field[] fields = this.getClass().getDeclaredFields();

  //print field names paired with their values
  for ( Field field : fields  ) {
    result.append("  ");
    try {
      result.append( field.getName() );
      result.append(": ");
      //requires access to private field:
      result.append( field.get(this) );
    } catch ( IllegalAccessException ex ) {
      System.out.println(ex);
    }
    result.append(newLine);
  }
  result.append("}");

  return result.toString();
}

Answer 3

If the output from ReflectionToStringBuilder.toString() is not enough readable for you, here is code that:
1) sorts field names alphabetically
2) flags non-null fields with asterisks in the beginning of the line

public static Collection<Field> getAllFields(Class<?> type) {
    TreeSet<Field> fields = new TreeSet<Field>(
            new Comparator<Field>() {
        @Override
        public int compare(Field o1, Field o2) {
            int res = o1.getName().compareTo(o2.getName());
            if (0 != res) {
                return res;
            }
            res = o1.getDeclaringClass().getSimpleName().compareTo(o2.getDeclaringClass().getSimpleName());
            if (0 != res) {
                return res;
            }
            res = o1.getDeclaringClass().getName().compareTo(o2.getDeclaringClass().getName());
            return res;
        }
    });
    for (Class<?> c = type; c != null; c = c.getSuperclass()) {
        fields.addAll(Arrays.asList(c.getDeclaredFields()));
    }
    return fields;
}
public static void printAllFields(Object obj) {
    for (Field field : getAllFields(obj.getClass())) {
        field.setAccessible(true);
        String name = field.getName();
        Object value = null;
        try {
            value = field.get(obj);
        } catch (IllegalArgumentException | IllegalAccessException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        System.out.printf("%s %s.%s = %s;\n", value==null?" ":"*", field.getDeclaringClass().getSimpleName(), name, value);
    }
}

test harness:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    A a = new A();
    a.x = 1;
    B b = new B();
    b.x=10;
    b.y=20;
    System.out.println("=======");
    printAllFields(a);
    System.out.println("=======");
    printAllFields(b);
    System.out.println("=======");
}

class A {
    int x;
    String z = "z";
    Integer b; 
}
class B extends A {
    int y;
    private double z = 12345.6;
    public int a = 55;
}

Answer 4

Another simple approach is to let Lombok generate the toString method for you.

For this:

1. Simply add Lombok to your project
2. Add the annotation @ToString to the definition of your class
3. Compile your class/project, and it is done

So for example in your case, your class would look like this:

@ToString
public class Contact {
    private String name;
    private String location;
    private String address;
    private String email;
    private String phone;
    private String fax;

    // Getters and setters.
}

Example of output in this case:

Contact(name=John, location=USA, address=SF, email=foo@bar.com, phone=99999, fax=88888)

More details about how to use the annotation @ToString.

NB: You can also let Lombok generate the getters and setters for you, here is the full feature list.

Answer 5

Addition with @cletus answer, You have to fetch all model fields(upper hierarchy) and set field.setAccessible(true) to access private members. Here is the full snippet:

@Override
public String toString() {
    StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
    String newLine = System.getProperty("line.separator");

    result.append(getClass().getSimpleName());
    result.append( " {" );
    result.append(newLine);

    List<Field> fields = getAllModelFields(getClass());

    for (Field field : fields) {
        result.append("  ");
        try {
            result.append(field.getName());
            result.append(": ");
            field.setAccessible(true);
            result.append(field.get(this));

        } catch ( IllegalAccessException ex ) {
//                System.err.println(ex);
        }
        result.append(newLine);
    }
    result.append("}");
    result.append(newLine);

    return result.toString();
}

private List<Field> getAllModelFields(Class aClass) {
    List<Field> fields = new ArrayList<>();
    do {
        Collections.addAll(fields, aClass.getDeclaredFields());
        aClass = aClass.getSuperclass();
    } while (aClass != null);
    return fields;
}

Answer 6

Why do you want to reinvent the wheel when there are opensource that are already doing the job pretty nicely.

Both apache common-langs and spring support some very flexible builder pattern

For apache, here is how you do it reflectively

@Override
public String toString()
{
  return ToStringBuilder.reflectionToString(this);
}

Here is how you do it if you only want to print fields that you care about.

@Override
public String toString() 
{
    return new ToStringBuilder(this)
      .append("name", name)
      .append("location", location)
      .append("address", address)
      .toString(); 
}

You can go as far as "styling" your print output with non-default ToStringStyle or even customizing it with your own style.

I didn't personally try spring ToStringCreator api, but it looks very similar.

Answer 7

If you are using Eclipse, this should be easy:

1.Press Alt+Shift+S

2.Choose "Generate toString()..."

Enjoy! You can have any template of toString()s.

This also works with getter/setters.

Answer 8

Generic toString() one-liner, using reflection and style customization:

import org.apache.commons.lang3.builder.ReflectionToStringBuilder;
import org.apache.commons.lang3.builder.ToStringStyle;
...
public String toString()
{
  return ReflectionToStringBuilder.toString(this, ToStringStyle.SHORT_PREFIX_STYLE);
}

Answer 9

When accessing the field value, pass the instance rather than null.

Why not use code generation here? Eclipse, for example, will generate a reasoble toString implementation for you.