Re: enum question
www wrote:
My original posting was too simplified. A, B, C, D, M, or P all are
related, unlike your example above. Maybe I should call them CarModelA,
CarModelB, ..., CarModelP etc.
Well, if they're related, then you need to implement something that
reflects how they are related. If enums don't do that, then don't use them.
It sounds like you need to extend or add to existing constant class.
You might make your own class with a factory pattern (not compiled or
tested):
public class CarModel {
private final HashMap<String,CarModel> models = new
HashMap<String,CarModel>();
public static CarModel getID( String car ) {
return models.get( car );
}
public static void setID( String car, CarModel ID ) {
// constant == don't change existing values
if( ! models.contailsKey( car ) ) {
models.add( car, ID );
}
// TODO: else throw exception?
}
static { // set default cars
models.add( "A", new CarModel() );
models.add( "B", new CarModel() );
models.add( "C", new CarModel() );
models.add( "D", new CarModel() );
}
}