Why doesn't parameters.getFlashMode() == Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_OFF return true?

Question

I am trying to determine if flash is on or off so that with one button I can toggle it on and off. Here is my code :

Camera cam = getCameraInstance(); //A method that opens the cam
            Camera.Parameters parameters = cam.getParameters();
            System.out.println("Current flash mode " + parameters.getFlashMode());
            System.out.println("flash mode off equals to : " + Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_OFF);
            System.out.println(parameters.getFlashMode() == Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_OFF);

The output for the first two syso's is off. Naturally I assumed that because they both return an off string putting the == operator between them would return true (thus allowing me to check if flash is on) but it returns false. Any idea why?

I am targeting for api 16 and testing on a Marshmallow device

Have you checked what is returned by `parameters.getFlashMode()`? My guess is that it returns `null`, that's because flash mode setting is not supported on your device. — Sergey Emeliyanov, Mar 23 '18 at 11:16
The output for `System.out.println("Current flash mode " + parameters.getFlashMode());` is an `off` string. I assume were it null it would return a `null` string — Bar Akiva, Mar 23 '18 at 11:19

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 23 '18 at 11:16

5

If you check docs you'll see that these parameters are Strings, and you don't compare strings in Java with ==. You do that with equals.

answered Mar 23 '18 at 11:16

Stefan Golubović

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Why doesn't parameters.getFlashMode() == Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_OFF return true?

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