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Interpreting toString() output of Class Objects

3 replies on 1 page. Most recent reply: Aug 9, 2002 2:01 PM by Don Hill

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Guido

Posts: 38
Nickname: kiethb
Registered: May, 2002

Interpreting toString() output of Class Objects

Posted: Aug 9, 2002 1:14 PM

Is there some reference material as to how to understand the parsed contents of a string representation of a class? I was working on fixing a bug in my program and sent the class info to the console, there I noticed some differences between the same element types in the class. I noticed that some gave an invalid message and others didnt but all they all worked fine(that wasn't necessarily the problem I was chasing in the first place). now I want to learn how to tell what is wrong with it so as to know if I need to tighten something up or not.

Matt Gerrans

Posts: 1153
Nickname: matt
Registered: Feb, 2002

Re: Interpreting toString() output of Class Objects

Posted: Aug 9, 2002 1:34 PM

> Is there some reference material as to how to
> understand the parsed contents of a string
> representation of a class?

No, because every class can override toString(), so there is no guarantee that it has any particular format or meaning. If you want to get specific information about objects, you should be using reflection, instead. For instance, look at the difference between someObject.toString(), someObject.getClass().toString() and someObject.getClass().getName().

Guido

Posts: 38
Nickname: kiethb
Registered: May, 2002

Re: Interpreting toString() output of Class Objects

Posted: Aug 9, 2002 1:38 PM

thanks matt, I will give it a shot.

Don Hill

Posts: 70
Nickname: ssswdon
Registered: Jul, 2002

Re: Interpreting toString() output of Class Objects

Posted: Aug 9, 2002 2:01 PM

> Is there some reference material as to how to
> understand the parsed contents of a string
> representation of a class? I was working on fixing a
> bug in my program and sent the class info to the
> console, there I noticed some differences between the
> same element types in the class. I noticed that some
> gave an invalid message and others didnt but all they
> all worked fine(that wasn't necessarily the problem I
> was chasing in the first place). now I want to learn
> how to tell what is wrong with it so as to know if I
> need to tighten something up or not.

-IMO-
If it isn't overridden the toString() will return.
getClass().getName() + '@' + Integer.toHexString(hashCode())

It is a good practice to override toString(), I believe that it should return information about the state of the object, this can be used as a valuable tool during development and debugging.

HTH

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