Can a parent method check which child method calls it?

Question

I am fairly new to Java and I am writing a program that has two child classes using the same parent method, and I wanted to make a way to track which one calls the method.

Example:

public class Parent(){
    public static int ChildOneUses, ChildTwoUses;
    public void Example(){
        /* code */
        if(/*ChildOne called the method*/)
            ChildOneUses++;
        else if(/*ChildTwo called the method*/)
            ChildTwoUses++;
    }
}

public class ChildOne extends Parent(){
    /* code */
}
public class ChildTwo extends Parent(){
    /* code */
}

public static void main(String[] args){
    ChildOne ChildOne = new ChildOne();
    ChildTwo ChildTwo = new ChildTwo();

    ChildOne.Example();

    ChildTwo.Example();
    ChildTwo.Example();
}

/* If this code were to run, ChildOneUses would equal 1 and ChildTwoUses would equal 2 */

I am not sure that this question even has an answer other than just moving the parent method to each of the child classes to track them on their own.

Even if there's a way to do it, this is almost certainly bad oop style. — Mshnik, Dec 23 '16 at 21:13
_Why_ do you want to track the method calls like this? What would be the purpose? — Mick Mnemonic, Dec 23 '16 at 21:21
I am still in the process of learning java and I like to write random programs that I can use to help me learn and cement these new ideas in my memory, and sometimes they get me in positions where I need to learn new things (Like this), to which I then try to find the answers — Zelkins, Dec 23 '16 at 21:23

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 23 '16 at 21:27

You could set a childType in the parent class.

public class Parent(){
   public static int childOneUses, childTwoUses;
   public static int childType;

   public Parent(int childType) {
      this.childType = childType;
   }

   public void example(){
    if(childType == 1) {
        childOneUses++;
    }
    else if(childType == 2) {
        childTwoUses++;
    }
   }
}

public class ChildOne extends Parent(){
  public ChildOne() {
    super(1);
  }
}

public class ChildTwo extends Parent(){
  public ChildTwo() {
    super(2);
  }
}

public static void main(String[] args){
ChildOne childOne = new ChildOne();
ChildTwo childTwo = new ChildTwo();

childOne.example();

childTwo.example();
childTwo.example();
}

Thanks, really helpful! I'm still getting the hang of parent-child classes and this is a cool trick to know that can be applied to other things! — Zelkins, Dec 23 '16 at 21:35

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '16 at 21:44

u can make in the child class a method that show the name of the class or u can make in the parent class this method and let the other childs earn the method now evry time u want to track u let the ocject call this method nameOfObject.getClass().getName()

for example if u take string s and write s.getClass().getName() the output is java.lang.String now u can play with this output and take only the last word if u want and u got the class name

Can a parent method check which child method calls it?

2 Answers2