How to call a method from the main() that is in the same class?

Question

I have the following situation.

I have a Main class in which I declared the standard public static void main(String[] args) method

Into the body of this main() method I am trying to call the following printPdf() declared into the Main class:

private void printPdf() {

    /** The resulting PDF file: */
    String result = "D:/SOFTLAB/massive_pdf_print.pdf";

    // STEP 1 Creazione del documento in formato A4 e senza margini:
    com.itextpdf.text.Document document = new com.itextpdf.text.Document(com.itextpdf.text.PageSize.A4, 0, 0, 0, 0);

    try {
        /* STEP 2 Constructs a PdfWriter.
                  document: The PdfDocument that has to be written.
                  os: The OutputStream the writer has to write to
         */
        PdfWriter.getInstance(document, new FileOutputStream(result));

        // STEP 3:
        document.open();

        // STEP 4:
        document.add(new Paragraph("Hello World!"));

        // STEP 5:
        document.close();

    }catch (DocumentException ex){
        ex.printStackTrace();
    }
    catch (IOException ex){
        ex.printStackTrace();
    }

}

To call it I do:

this.printPdf();

but I obtain the following error message: 'mainPkg.Main.this' cannot be referenced from a static context

So I think that it happens because the main() method is a static method but how can I correctly call my printPdf() method (that is declared in the same Main class that contains the main()) ?

Tnx

`printPdf()` is not static method. It has to be wether you want to call it from another static method, like `main`. — Héctor, Feb 17 '15 at 14:24
@bigdestroyer: Well, no, it doesn't - the OP could create an instance of the containing class. It's far too simplistic to say that from within static methods you can only call other static methods. — Jon Skeet, Feb 17 '15 at 14:32

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 17 '15 at 14:23

4

Declare the method printPdf() as static, or instantiate a new object of class Main, then call it from it.

answered Feb 17 '15 at 14:23

Michał Szydłowski

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Actually you would be creating a new instance of `Main`, not a new class `Main`. But otherwise, yes. – blalasaadri Feb 17 '15 at 14:24
yep, instantiate a new class object = create a new instance of this class – Michał Szydłowski Feb 17 '15 at 14:25
No, you mean *instantiate a new object/instance of the class*. But this is just nitpicking. ;-) – blalasaadri Feb 17 '15 at 14:26
1

yeah, but you're right, names are important if I want to be a competent help, corrected already – Michał Szydłowski Feb 17 '15 at 14:27

How to call a method from the main() that is in the same class?

1 Answers1