Java: using switch statement with enum under subclass

Question

First I'll state that I'm much more familiar with enums in C# and it seems like enums in java is a quite mess.

As you can see, I'm trying to use a switch statement @ enums in my next example but I always get an error no matter what I'm doing.

The error I receive is:

The qualified case label SomeClass.AnotherClass.MyEnum.VALUE_A must be replaced with the unqualified enum constant VALUE_A

The thing is I quite understand the error but I can't just write the VALUE_A since the enum is located in another sub-class. Is there a way to solve this problem? And why is it happening in Java?

//Main Class
public class SomeClass {

    //Sub-Class
    public static class AnotherClass {
        public enum MyEnum {
            VALUE_A, VALUE_B
        }    
        public MyEnum myEnum;
    }

    public void someMethod() { 
        MyEnum enumExample //...

        switch (enumExample) {
            case AnotherClass.MyEnum.VALUE_A: { <-- error on this line
                //..
                break;
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Change it to this:

switch (enumExample) {
    case VALUE_A: {
        //..
        break;
    }
}

The clue is in the error. You don't need to qualify case labels with the enum type, just its value.

Answer 2

Wrong:

case AnotherClass.MyEnum.VALUE_A

Right:

case VALUE_A:

Answer 3

Java infers automatically the type of the elements in case, so the labels must be unqualified.

int i;
switch(i) {
   case 5: // <- integer is expected
}
MyEnum e;
switch (e) {
   case VALUE_A: // <- an element of the enumeration is expected
}

Answer 4

this should do:

//Main Class
public class SomeClass {

    //Sub-Class
    public static class AnotherClass {
        public enum MyEnum {
            VALUE_A, VALUE_B
        }    
        public MyEnum myEnum;
    }

    public void someMethod() { 
        AnotherClass.MyEnum enumExample = AnotherClass.MyEnum.VALUE_A; //...

        switch (enumExample) {
            case VALUE_A: { //<-- error on this line
            //..
            break;
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

From Java 14 onwards, one can use switch expressions.

For this post

public enum MyEnum {
    VALUE_A, VALUE_B;
}

public void someMethod() { 
    MyEnum enumExample //...

    switch (enumExample) {
        case VALUE_A -> {
            // logic
        }
        case VALUE_B -> {
            // logic
        }   
    }
}

Switch expression

Like all expressions, switch expressions evaluate to a single value and can be used in statements. They may contain "case L ->" labels that eliminate the need for break statements to prevent fall through. You can use a yield statement to specify the value of a switch expression.

public enum Month {
    JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC;
}

Example 1: Returns value.

public static int getNoOfDaysInAMonth(Month month, boolean isLeapYear) {
    return switch(month) {
        case APR, JUN, SEP, NOV -> 30;
        case FEB -> (isLeapYear)? 29: 28;
        case JAN, MAR, MAY, JUL, AUG, OCT, DEC -> 31;
    };
}

Example 2: Doesn't returns value.

public static void printNoOfDaysInAMonth(Month month, boolean isLeapYear) {
    switch(month) {
        case APR, JUN, SEP, NOV -> {
            System.out.println("30 days");
        }
        case FEB -> {
            System.out.println(((isLeapYear)? 29: 28) + " days");
        }
        case JAN, MAR, MAY, JUL, AUG, OCT, DEC -> {
            System.out.println("31 days");
        }
    };
}

Reference

Switch Expressions

Answer 6

This is how I am using it. And it is working fantastically -

public enum Button {
        REPORT_ISSUES(0),
        CANCEL_ORDER(1),
        RETURN_ORDER(2);

        private int value;

        Button(int value) {
            this.value = value;
        }

        public int getValue() {
            return value;
        }
    }

And the switch-case as shown below

@Override
public void onClick(MyOrderDetailDelgate.Button button, int position) {
    switch (button) {
        case REPORT_ISSUES: {
            break;
        }
        case CANCEL_ORDER: {
            break;
        }
        case RETURN_ORDER: {
            break;
        }
    }
}

Answer 7

You dont need put instance of enum class, you have to put only enum constant of enum class, like this:

switch (enumExample) {
   case VALUE_A: { <-- puting only constant, it will works.
       //..
      break;
   }

Answer 8

Write someMethod() in this way:

public void someMethod() {

    SomeClass.AnotherClass.MyEnum enumExample = SomeClass.AnotherClass.MyEnum.VALUE_A;

    switch (enumExample) {
    case VALUE_A:
        break;
    }

}

In switch statement you must use the constant name only.