Newbie: Forced to cast when I don't think I need too

From:
Kurt <kharless@qwest.net>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.java.help
Date:
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:29:12 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID:
<7725ec14-acdd-47c4-8aab-891ba6367d3f@n38g2000prl.googlegroups.com>
Greetings,

Not sure what etiquette is when post code snippets, but here I go;

Given the following 3 classes;
TestDriver
Customer
Center

Note not all methods currently implemented. Feel free to comment on
any nasty programming as I want to learn the correct way to code java
(old procedural programmer!).

Question: In my TestDriver class when I list out the various
CenterId's assigned to a Customer I have to cast it back to a center
before the IDE shows me the method get_CenterId() isn't there a way
for me to get at the get_CenterId() by using the result directly,
something like;

 System.out.println("Center ID:" + (Center)i.next().get_CenterId());

The 3 classes follow;

package com.harless.remoteaccess;

import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Iterator;

public class TestDriver
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        ////////////////////////////////////////////////////
        // assign some objects
        ////////////////////////////////////////////////////
        Customer myCustomer = new Customer();
        myCustomer.set_CompanyName("Anasazi Software");
        myCustomer.set_StartDate("2008-01-01");
        myCustomer.set_EndDate("2100-12-31");
        myCustomer.set_CustomerCenter("PHX");
        myCustomer.set_CustomerCenter("PHX1");

        ////////////////////////////////////////////////////
        // print some objects
        ////////////////////////////////////////////////////
        listCustomer(myCustomer);
    }

    public static void listCustomer(Customer tempCustomer)
    {
        System.out.println("LIST CUSTOMER INFORMATION");
        System.out.println("=========================");
        System.out.println("Customer Name:"+
tempCustomer.get_CompanyName());
        System.out.println("Customer Start Date:" + String.format("
%1$tb %1$te,%1$tY", tempCustomer.get_StartDate()));
        System.out.println("Customer End Date:" + String.format("
%1$tb %1$te,%1$tY", tempCustomer.get_EndDate()));
        Iterator i = tempCustomer.get_CustomerCenter().iterator();
        Center tempCenter;
        while (i.hasNext())
        {
            tempCenter = (Center)i.next();
            System.out.println("Center ID:" +
tempCenter.get_CenterId());
        }

    }
}

package com.harless.remoteaccess;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Calendar;

public class Customer
{

    private String _CompanyName;
    private int _Id;
    private ArrayList<Center> CustomerCenter = new
ArrayList<Center>();
    private Address MainAddress;
    private Calendar _StartDate = Calendar.getInstance();
    private Calendar _EndDate = Calendar.getInstance();

    public Customer()
    {
    }

    public ArrayList<Center> get_CustomerCenter()
    {
        return CustomerCenter;
    }

    public void set_CustomerCenter(String sCenterId)
    {
        Center tempCenter = new Center(sCenterId);
        CustomerCenter.add(tempCenter);
    }

    public Address getMainAddress()
    {
        return MainAddress;
    }

    public void setMainAddress(Address val)
    {
        this.MainAddress = val;
    }

    public String get_CompanyName()
    {
        return _CompanyName;
    }

    public void set_CompanyName(String val)
    {
        this._CompanyName = val;
    }

    public Calendar get_EndDate()
    {
        return _EndDate;
    }

    public void set_EndDate(String sDate)
    {
        if(sDate != null)
        {
            int tempYear=0, tempMonth=0, tempDay=0;
            tempYear = Integer.parseInt(sDate.substring(0, 4));
            tempMonth = (Integer.parseInt(sDate.substring(5,7)))-1;
            tempDay = Integer.parseInt(sDate.substring(8, 10));
            this._EndDate.set(tempYear, tempMonth, tempDay);
        }
    }

    public int get_Id()
    {
        return _Id;
    }

    public void set_Id(int val)
    {
        this._Id = val;
    }

    public Calendar get_StartDate()
    {
        return _StartDate;
    }

    public void set_StartDate(String sDate)
    {
        int tempYear=0, tempMonth=0, tempDay=0;
        tempYear = Integer.parseInt(sDate.substring(0, 4));
        tempMonth = (Integer.parseInt(sDate.substring(5,7)))-1;
        tempDay = Integer.parseInt(sDate.substring(8, 10));
        this._StartDate.set(tempYear, tempMonth, tempDay);
    }
}

package com.harless.remoteaccess;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Date;

public class Center
{

    private String _CenterId;
    private Date _StartDate;
    private Date _EndDate;
    private ArrayList<Server> _CenterServer;
    private Address CenterAddress;

    public Center()
    {
    }

    public Center(String sCenterId)
    {
        set_CenterId(sCenterId);
    }

    public Address getCenterAddress()
    {
        return CenterAddress;
    }

    public void setCenterAddress(Address val)
    {
        this.CenterAddress = val;
    }

    public String get_CenterId()
    {
        return _CenterId;
    }

    public void set_CenterId(String val)
    {
        this._CenterId = val;
    }

    public ArrayList<Server> get_CenterServer()
    {
        return _CenterServer;
    }

    public void set_CenterServer(ArrayList<Server> val)
    {
        this._CenterServer = val;
    }

    public Date get_EndDate()
    {
        return _EndDate;
    }

    public void set_EndDate(Date val)
    {
        this._EndDate = val;
    }

    public Date get_StartDate()
    {
        return _StartDate;
    }

    public void set_StartDate(Date val)
    {
        this._StartDate = val;
    }
}

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