Cannot call method from another class (Java)

Question

In the first class I have:

package example.identification;

import example.common.InvalidDataException;

public class IdentifiableImpl implements Identifiable {

    private String identifier;

    public IdentifiableImpl(String id) throws InvalidDataException {
        setIdentifier(id);
    }

    @Override
    public String getIdentifier() {
        return identifier;
    }

    public final void setIdentifier(String id) throws InvalidDataException {
        if (id == null || id.length() == 0) {
            throw new InvalidDataException("Null or empty ID passed to setIdentifier");
        }
        identifier = id;
    }
}

In the second class I have:

package example.identification;
public class IdentifiableTest {

@Test
    public void testGetIdentifier() {
        IdentifiableImpl instance = new IdentifiableImpl();
        instance.setIdentifier("Test");
    }

The problem is in the second class with the line instance.setIdentifier("Test"); There is an error reported by the IDE on that line that says "Cannot find symbol."

My question is, why can I not call the setIdentifier("Test") method on instance ?

[Works for me.](http://ideone.com/326VBF) Please post a [mcve]. — shmosel, Mar 02 '17 at 00:42
Your second class doesn't even have a class declaration. This is probably what is causing the error. — Tim Biegeleisen, Mar 02 '17 at 00:42
Ok strange...I am at a complete loss. Thanks for verifying it works for guys. — Omar N, Mar 02 '17 at 00:48
Are you sure your first class compiled fine? If the class file is not generated (due to a compile error or something), your second class wouldn't see it. — VHS, Mar 02 '17 at 01:23
Possible duplicate of [What does a "Cannot find symbol" compilation error mean?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25706216/what-does-a-cannot-find-symbol-compilation-error-mean) — byxor, Mar 02 '17 at 01:23

Chris Sharp · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-02T01:21:15.157

1

You need to add a constructor in your IdentifiableImpl.java class and you're missing a curly brace in your IdentifiableTest.java class

You need the constructor or you won't be able to create the instance. You can't call setIdentifier("Test") on instance because it was never created.

Added Constructor in IdentifiableImpl

public IdentifiableImpl() {

}

Fixed brace in testGetIdentifier

public void testGetIdentifier() {
    IdentifiableImpl instance = new IdentifiableImpl();
    instance.setIdentifier("Test");
    System.out.println(instance.getIdentifier());
}

It works fine for me after these changes

edited Mar 02 '17 at 01:21

answered Mar 02 '17 at 00:49

Chris Sharp

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This does not answer the question, generally pure code dump answers with no explanation are low quality. – Spencer Wieczorek Mar 02 '17 at 00:51
1

It's not a code dump to supply the single missing component. – Chris Sharp Mar 02 '17 at 00:52
Thanks Chris. Tried that but still doesn't work. So strange. – Omar N Mar 02 '17 at 00:55
Can you show us both classes as they are in your code, rather than just snippets? – Chris Sharp Mar 02 '17 at 00:56
Sure, I just posted a more complete code set. – Omar N Mar 02 '17 at 01:01

Cannot call method from another class (Java)

1 Answers1