Is it possible to access a child class constant from within a static method in the parent class?
public class Model { public static void someMethod(){ HERE I WANT TO GET THE MODEL_NAME constant! } } public class EventModel extends Model { public static final String MODEL_NAME = "events"; } and in some other place I call:
EventModel.someMethod(); Try it!
If the constant is declared private, then no. If it is public, then yes, as anyone can access it. The parent class is largely irrelevent here.
class Parent { public static void Foo() { int x = Child.YEP; // Ok int y = Child.NOPE; // Error } } class Child extends Parent { public static final int YEP = 42; private static final int NOPE = 66; } Foo is defined in Parent, and thus cannot access private members of Child.
How about this?
class Parent { abstract String getModelName(); public void someMethod() { String myModel = getModelName(); } } class Child extend Parent { String getModelName() { return "events"; } } Note however, that the method is no longer public.
Foo() should be foo().. It is impolite to don't follow the Java naming rules. I tried to edit the post instead of commenting but I couldn't.
You might find this more effective.
Define your parent class with a method getName. Note that this can be public, if you want your model class to expose a Name property, otherwise, you can keep it as "protected" as I have here. "Protected" will keep the method visible within this class, and any derived (child) classes.
public class Model { private static String MODEL_NAME = "Model"; protected String getModelName(){ return MODEL_NAME; } } Then define an "override" for the name method on your child class:
public class EventModel extends Model { private static String MODEL_NAME = "events"; @Override // Tells the compiler that this method OVERRIDES the parent method public String getModelName(){ return MODEL_NAME; } } This compiles and runs the way I suspect you are trying to acheive . . .
EDIT: Oooh. NOW I see the problem. Missed that you needed to reference that from a static method . . .
