how to implement a search feature in java

Question

I need to implement a search feature into my program. At present it reads from a file one line at a time, like so:

   public void importContacts() {
     try {
     BufferedReader infoReader =
                 new BufferedReader(new FileReader("../files/Contacts.txt"));
        txtName.setText(readLine(infoReader));
        txtPhone.setText(readLine(infoReader));
        txtMobile.setText(readLine(infoReader));
        txtAddress.setText(readLine(infoReader));

How do I get the program to search for a name in within the file and show it in my Jtextfields??

full code here: http://pastebin.com/d12aa3ab3

Answer 1

I'd recommend creating an object to represent your input (like a Contact) and populate it as you read your file. Then, you will be able to add methods for retrieving the name from your class and compare it to a search string.

When you find the Contact that matches your query, simply return it and have a method in your form such as setActiveContact(Contact c) that can read the fields from your object and update your form.

You could go even further and create a ContactLibrary that you can execute methods on to return matches. For example, you could have a query(String q) method that returns a list of contacts matching your request. Then, display these in a list box and as the user selects a contact, update fields with the information.

Answer 2

I'm going to be the evil one here and suggest you take a look at regular expressions. Take a look at the syntax and if you have the intestinal fortitude to continue, start hacking together an expression. Note that it's not for the faint-of-heart and not a good solution for this problem (except that it's homework and pretty much anything that works is usually accepted).