Getting Garbage Output Java

Question

I'm trying to implement a constructor in Java and I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but I keep getting garbage outputs.

This is the variable I'm trying to assign values to:

private static Employee employee;

This is how I'm trying to assign it:

employee = new Employee(empType, empFName, empLName, empBDate, empGender, empHireDate, empReleaseDate, empBaseSalary);

And here is the class and constructor:

public class Employee {

    private String Type;
    private String FName;
    private String LName;
    private Date BDate;
    private String Gender;
    private Date HireDate;
    private Date ReleaseDate;
    private double BaseSalary;


    public Employee(String type, String fname, String lname, String bdate, String gender, String hire, String release, double salary){


        this.Type = type;
        this.FName = fname.toUpperCase();
        this.LName = lname.toUpperCase();      
        this.BDate = new Date(bdate);       
        this.Gender = gender;
        this.HireDate = new Date(hire);
        if (release == "null"){
            this.ReleaseDate = null;
        }
        else if(release != "null"){
            this.ReleaseDate = new Date(release);
        }
        this.BaseSalary = salary;

    }

}

When I try to print, just to test it, this is how I'm printing it:

System.out.println(employee);

And this is what I get every time:

Employee@4c264dd8

Could someone tell me what i'm doing wrong?

You must Override the `toString()` method if you want to print your object in this way. What you see is the default output of toString, the type and hashcode of an object. — takendarkk, Feb 18 '14 at 01:11
that's not garbage, that's the identity hashcode of the object — d.moncada, Feb 18 '14 at 01:13
[Here's](https://www.google.com/search?q=java+override+tostring&rlz=1C1KMZB_enUS562US562&oq=java+override+tostring&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.2986j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8) a google search for you. — takendarkk, Feb 18 '14 at 01:15

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 18 '14 at 01:13

Java doesn't know anything about how you want an object printed unless you tell it what to do by implementing toString(). If you don't, it will default to Object.toString() to get a string representation of your object. Object.toString() returns

getClass().getName() + '@' + Integer.toHexString(hashCode())

which explains the output you're seeing.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 18 '14 at 01:13

1

If you print Object in Java ,it will print class Name with Hexadecimal value.

If you want your own thing you have to override toString().

public void toString()
{
   //print here  this.Type +":"+   this.FName  for fields you want.
}

answered Feb 18 '14 at 01:13

sunleo

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 18 '14 at 01:14

0

Every Java Object comes with a toString() method. You will have to override it to get the desired output.I believe hashCode of the object (memory address) is being printed!

answered Feb 18 '14 at 01:14

Masked

361
1
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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 18 '14 at 01:16

From the Object.toString() docs:

Returns a string representation of the object. In general, the toString method returns a string that "textually represents" this object. The result should be a concise but informative representation that is easy for a person to read. It is recommended that all subclasses override this method.

The toString method for class Object returns a string consisting of the name of the class of which the object is an instance, the at-sign character `@', and the unsigned hexadecimal representation of the hash code of the object. In other words, this method returns a string equal to the value of:

getClass().getName() + '@' + Integer.toHexString(hashCode())

Therefore, you must provide your own toString method by doing this:

@Override

public void toString(){ return myString; }

Getting Garbage Output Java

4 Answers4

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