How to access arrays in multiple locations

[Wrathchild]

My code is working, however I'm trying to be efficient and I would like to use "AppNames" & "AppPaths" to execute programs instead of how I have it hardcoded now with the CNN site address. How can my code "read" from the arrays in a different area? I've tried using the private/public/public void method for the array, but I couldn't get it to work. Is it possible to search an array for an item such as "App1" and return the corresponding placeholder then I could use that to return the correct AppPath? thanks in advance!

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ApplicationList4 extends JFrame implements ActionListener {
    String MSACCESS = "C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\MSACCESS.EXE";
    String IE = "C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE";

    public static void main(String []args) {
        new ApplicationList4();
    }
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
    JMenuItem source = (JMenuItem)(e.getSource());
    System.out.println(source.getText() +" clicked");
    String cmd = source.getText();
    if (cmd.equals ("CNN")){ [b]//AppNames[] should be read here[/b]
try{
    String [] commands = new String [] {IE,"[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.cnn.com"};[/URL] [b]//AppPaths[] should be read here[/b]
    Process child = Runtime.getRuntime ().exec (commands);
} catch (IOException a){
    System.err.println (a.getMessage ());
        }
    }
}

    public ApplicationList4 ()
    {
        super ("Launcher");
        setSize (150, 50);
        setDefaultCloseOperation (JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        
        //Store every application name in an array
        String AppNames[] = { "App1", "App2", "App3", "App4", "App5",
        "App6", "App7", "App8"};
        
        //Store every application path in an array
        File[] AppPaths = new File[10];
        
        AppPaths[0] = new File("[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.cnn.com");[/URL]
        AppPaths[1] = new File("C:\\App2.mde");
        AppPaths[2] = new File("C:\\App3.mde");
        AppPaths[3] = new File("C:\\App4.mdb");
        AppPaths[4] = new File("C:\\App5.mde");
        AppPaths[5] = new File("C:\\App6.mde");
        AppPaths[6] = new File("C:\\App7.mde");
        AppPaths[7] = new File("C:\\App8.mde");
        
        
        //The third array, AppsLoaded, will only store those apps which are loaded on the machine and
        //menu items will be created from these
        String AppsLoaded[] = new String[20];
        
        //add applications that everybody has; don't need to check for
        AppsLoaded[0] = "CNN";
        
        for(int i=1;i<AppNames.length;i++){ //don't check CNN, it's a web application, so everybody has it, so start at 1
        if(AppPaths[i].exists()){
            AppsLoaded[i] = AppNames[i];
            System.out.println(AppsLoaded[i]);}
        }
        
        JMenuBar jmb = new JMenuBar ();
        JMenu myMenu  = new JMenu ("Application");
        jmb.add(myMenu);
        JMenuItem [] menulist = new JMenuItem[20];
        
        for (int i=0; i < AppsLoaded.length; i++) {
        menulist[i] = new JMenuItem(AppsLoaded[i]);
        menulist[i].addActionListener(this);
        myMenu.add(menulist[i]);
        }
        myMenu.addSeparator ();
        myMenu.add("Exit");

        setJMenuBar (jmb);
        setVisible (true);
        
    }
}

 

[stefanwagner]

Use a Hashtable and read about it (java.util.HashMap) in the docs:

HashMap cmds = new HashMap ();
cmds.put ("App1", "C:\\App1.mde");
cmds.put ("App2", "C:\\App2.mde");
// ...
cmds.put ("App9", "C:\\App9.mde");


//...
String name = "App7";
String path = cmds.get (name);

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[Wrathchild]

thanks, looks promising...I'll give it a try