CODEWITHSUNDEEP
java
schmimona
schmimona

Reputation: 869

Store class variables into an array?

I have this class in Java in which I declared a large number of variables (more than 50) as:


    public static final String variable_1 = "value";
    ....

I would like to access all these variables and put them in a list from within another class. Is there any way of doing that by using a for loop?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 623

Answers (4)

socha23
socha23

Reputation: 10239

You can use reflection API, like this:

for (Field f : MyClass.class.getDeclaredFields()) {
    if (f.getName().startsWith("variable_")) {
        System.out.println("Field " + f.getName() + " with value " + f.get(null));
    }
}

As others said, though, this is pretty ugly and probably indicates some bad design decisions.

Upvotes: 0

Robin
Robin

Reputation: 24262

If you have 50 of them, and they are related constants, they should be represented by an enum (or several enums depending on the constants). This would then provide a natural grouping and access to a list via the values() method.

What you are currently attempting sounds like a code smell.

Upvotes: 1

Luchian Grigore
Luchian Grigore

Reputation: 258558

You could use reflection to scan the members of your class and match the names with a pattern like "variable_".

Upvotes: 1

NPE
NPE

Reputation: 500227

The only way your can do this without referencing each variable explicitly, is through reflection.

Having said that, a better way would be to refactor your code so that you don't have to do this.

Upvotes: 2

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