I'd need something like the following
enum EE {
A("anything"),
B("beta"),
...
Z("zulu"),
ALL,
;
EE(String s) {
this.s = s;
}
EE() {
String s = "";
for (EE ee : values()) { // PROBLEM HERE
if (ee != ALL) s += " " + ee.s;
}
this.s = s;
}
}
While creating ALL
I'd like to access the other members of the enum. The above doesn't work because of values()
returning null
at this point. Using A
, B
, ..., Z
explicitly doesn't compile. I understand perfectly why this chicken-egg problem happens, but am looking for a nice workaround.
And no, removing ALL
from EE
is not an option.
You could have a static StringBuilder that each enum constant appends its value to in the constructor, then in your default constructor just set the enum's string to the value of the StringBuilder.
Note however that Java will prevent you accessing static variables directly from an enum's constructor (for good reason!) so you'll have to do the dirty work in another method and then call that from the constructor.
For this to work though you'll have to make sure ALL
is declared last.
As a disclaimer though this is a truly horrible workaround and if you can at all, I'd encourage you to explore other possibilities here!
Would this work for you? :
enum EE {
A("anything"),
B("beta"),
...
Z("zulu"),
ALL,
;
String s = null;
EE(String s) {
this.s = s;
}
EE() {
}
private void initS() {
String s = "";
for (EE ee : values()) {
if (ee != ALL) s += " " + ee.s;
}
this.s = s;
}
public String getS() {
if ( this.s == null ) { // assume we are ALL and initialize
initS();
}
return this.s;
}
}
Static initializer might be cleaner.
public enum EE {
A("anything"),
B("beta"),
Z("zulu"),
ALL
;
static {
String s = "";
for (EE ee : values()) {
if ( ee != ALL ) s += ee + " ";
}
ALL.s = s.trim();
}
String s = null;
EE(String s) {
this.s = s;
}
EE() {
}
}
One of the best ways would be using the enum polymorphism technique
:
public enum EE {
A("anything"), B("beta"), Z("zulu"), ALL {
@Override
public String getS() {
if (super.s == null) {
String s = "";
for (EE ee : values()) {
if (ee != ALL) {
s += " " + ee.s;
}
}
}
return s;
}
},
;
private String s;
EE(String s) {
this.s = s;
}
EE() {
this.s = null;
}
public String getS() {
return this.s;
}
}
Test class:
public class TestEE {
public static void main(String[] args) {
for (EE ee : EE.values()) {
System.out.println(ee.name() + ": " + ee.getS());
}
}
}
See also:
- Overridding abstract enum method
why can't you remove all?
consider using EnumSet, this will give you any combination of the EE's.
import java.util.*;
enum EE {
A("anything"), B("beta"), Z("zulu");
EE(String s) {
this.s = s;
}
static Set<EE> all=EnumSet.allOf(EE.class);
final String s;
}