How to check list object has null value or empty string?

Question

I have a Book class and then I make a List<Book>. I have a problem with checking all attributes. The following is an example of program code for a class Book :

class Book {  
    int id;  
    String name,author;
    public Book(int id, String name, String author) {  
        this.id = id;  
        this.name = name;  
        this.author = author;  
    }   
}

Here's the code snippet on the List<Book> :

 Book b = new Book(1, "", "Ok");
 Book c = new Book(2, "Z", "");
 Book d = new Book(0, "C", "Ok");
 List<Book> x = new ArrayList<>();
 x.add(b);
 x.add(c);
 x.add(d);

How to check if a value is string empty or null in a List<Book> and then return Boolean & return message example id 2 has empty value?

Answer 1

You can use the StringUtils.isEmpty(...) method from Apache Commons, or if you don't want the dependency you can write it your on like this:

public static boolean isEmpty(String s) {
  return s == null || s.isEmpty();
}

To check all authors in the List use Streams:

public boolean anyAuthorEmpty(List<Book> books) {
  return books.stream().anyMatch(b -> isEmpty(b.getAuthor());
}

To find the exact Book you can use .findFirst() like this:

public Book findBookWithEmptyAuthor(List<Book> books) {
  return books.stream().filter(b -> isEmpty(b.getAuthor())
                .findFirst().orElse(null);
}

This will return the Book or null if none found.

If you need all with no author you can use Collectors.toList():

public List<Book> findBooksWithNoAuthor(List<Book> books) {
  return books.stream().filter(b -> isEmpty(b.getAuthor())
                .collect(Collectors.toList());

Answer 2

Or you can use Java Stream perhaps

public class Test1 {
    private Test1()
    {
        Book b = new Book(1, "", "Ok");
        Book c = new Book(2, "Z", "");
        Book d = new Book(3, "C", "Ok");
        List<Book> x = new ArrayList<>();
        x.add(b);
        x.add(c);
        x.add(d);
        
        boolean empty = x.stream()
                .filter(book -> book.name == null || book.name.isEmpty() || book.author == null || book.author.isEmpty())
                .count() > 0;
    }

    class Book
    {
        int id;
        String name, author;

        public Book(int id, String name, String author)
        {
            this.id = id;
            this.name = name;
            this.author = author;
        }
    }
    
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        new Test1();
    }
}

Answer 3

You can use reflection so that you do not need to manually test each filed separately:

static void testAllFieldsForNull(List<Book> bookList) throws IllegalAccessException {
    for (int i = 0; i < bookList.size(); i++){
        Book book = bookList.get(i);
        Field[] fields = book.getClass().getDeclaredFields();
        for(Field field: fields){
            Class<?> fieldType = field.getType();
            if(!fieldType.isPrimitive()){
                if (field.get(book) == null){
                    System.out.println("Field [" + field.getName() + "] has null value for book at position " + i);
                    continue;
                }
                if(fieldType.isAssignableFrom(String.class) && ((String)field.get(book)).isEmpty()){
                    System.out.println("Field [" + field.getName() + "] is empty String for book at position " + i);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Test:

public static void main(String[] args) throws IllegalAccessException {
    Book b = new Book(1, "", "Ok");
    Book c = new Book(2, "Z", "");
    Book d = new Book(0, "C", null);
    List<Book> x = new ArrayList<>();
    x.add(b);
    x.add(c);
    x.add(d);
    testAllFieldsForNull(x);
}

Output:

Field [name] is empty String for book at position 0
Field [author] is empty String for book at position 1
Field [author] has null value for book at position 2

OR if you need to just collect "good" books (actually any sort of oject) you can use:

public static boolean testObject(Object obj){
    Field[] fields = obj.getClass().getDeclaredFields();
    boolean okay = true;
    for(Field field: fields){
        Class<?> fieldType = field.getType();
        try{
            if(!fieldType.isPrimitive()){
                if (field.get(obj) == null){
                    okay = false;
                    continue;
                }
                if(fieldType.isAssignableFrom(String.class) && ((String)field.get(obj)).isEmpty()){
                    okay = false;
                }
            }
        }catch (IllegalAccessException e){
            e.printStackTrace();
            return false;
        }
    }
    return okay;
}

and then use that for filtering:

public static void main(String[] args) throws IllegalAccessException {
    Book b = new Book(1, "", "Ok");
    Book c = new Book(2, "Z", "");
    Book d = new Book(0, "C", null);
    Book a = new Book(3, "C", "D");
    List<Book> x = new ArrayList<>();
    x.add(b);
    x.add(c);
    x.add(d);
    x.add(a);
    System.out.println(
            x
            .stream()
            .filter(FieldTest::testObject)
            .collect(Collectors.toList()).get(0).id
    );
}

Answer 4

To check multiple attributes of the class Book the following solution ,may be offered (providing that there is implementation of the helper method isNullOrEmpty):

class SONullEmpty {
    static boolean isNullOrEmpty(String str) {
        return str == null || str.isEmpty();
    }

    static List<Book> booksWithNullOrEmpty(List<Book> books) {
        return books
            .stream()
            .filter(book -> Stream.of(
                    book.getName(), book.getAuthor()
                ).anyMatch(SONullEmpty::isNullOrEmpty)
            )
            .collect(Collectors.toList());
    }
}

---

Similarly, a method accepting multiple getters of the Book attributes may be implemented and then called:

// in the same SONullEmpty class
static List<Book> withNullOrEmptyAttribs(List<Book> books, Function<Book, String> ... getters) {
    return books
        .stream()
        .filter(book -> Arrays.stream(getters).anyMatch(g -> isNullOrEmpty(g.apply(book))))
        .collect(Collectors.toList());
}

Test:

Book b = new Book(1, "", "Ok");
Book c = new Book(2, "Z", "");
Book d = new Book(3, null, "Ok");
List<Book> x = Arrays.asList(b, c, d);

withNullOrEmptyAttribs(x, Book::getName)
    .forEach(book -> System.out.printf("Book with id=%d has null or empty name%n", book.getId()));

withNullOrEmptyAttribs(x, Book::getAuthor)
    .forEach(book -> System.out.printf("Book with id=%d has null or empty author%n", book.getId()));

Output:

Book with id=1 has null or empty name
Book with id=3 has null or empty name
Book with id=2 has null or empty author