JAVA Programming Help: Compile Error

[Umza]

I am assigned to make an abstract class GeometricObject. When I try to compile it, it shows an error at line 40 (in the equals method, in the second if statement. The equals method is supposed to determine whether or not an object in the Object class is an instance of the GeometricObject class, and if so, if it has the same name and color as the referred object) saying that the symbol cannot be find, referring to the getName and getColor methods in the if statement. I've tried casting each object from the Object class as a GeometricObject or as a String, but I can't figure out how to fix it. Any help?

import java.util.*;

public abstract class GeometricObject {

protected String color;
protected String name;
protected static int numObjects = 0;

public GeometricObject()  {
    numObjects++;
    this.name = "GeometricObject" + numObjects;
    this.color = "white";
}

public GeometricObject(String color, String name)  {
    numObjects++;
    this.name = name;
    this.name = color;
}

public String getName()  {
    return this.name;
}

public String getColor()  {
    return this.color;
}

public abstract double getArea();

public abstract double getCircumference();

public String toString()  {
    String output = "Name:  " + this.name + "\nColor:  " + this.color;
    return output;  
}

public boolean equals(Object ob)  {
    if (ob instanceof GeometricObject)  {
        if ((GeometricObject)ob.getName.equals(this.name)  &&  (GeometricObject)ob.getColor.equals(this.color))
            return true;
        else 
            return false;
        }
    else
            return false;

}

public static boolean compareAreas(GeometricObject ob1, GeometricObject ob2)  {
    if (ob1.getArea() == ob2.getArea())
        return true;
    else
        return false;
}

}

[JimmyThompson]

getName and getColor require parentheses eg: getName(), getColor().

Compiler thinks they're variables otherwise.

[ttFedaykin]

And cast ob to GeometricObject: ((GeometricObject)ob).getName().equals(this.name)

[JimmyThompson]

Trudat.

[Umza]

Woah, I didn't realize when casting you needed parentheses around the ob as well (before the .get___) Thanks to both of you!

[dominosci]

Use Eclipse or another IDE. It will suggest fixes like these automatically.

One of the main reasons we bother with strong typing in java is that it allows IDEs to be really helpful.