equality between two strings

Question

I have a text file with this structure:

CRIM:Continuius
ZN:Continuius
INDUS:Continuius
CHAS:Categorical
NOX:Continuius

I inserted it into a two dimensional array:

BufferedReader description = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fullpath2));
        String[][] desc;
        desc = new String[5][2];

        String[] temp_desc;
        String delims_desc = ":";
        String[] tempString;

        for (int k1 = 0; k1 < 5; k1++) {
            String line1 = description.readLine();
            temp_desc = line1.split(delims_desc);
            desc[k1][0] = temp_desc[0];
            desc[k1][1] = temp_desc[1];
        }

and then tried to identify which attribute is Categorical:

        String categ = "Categorical";
        for (int i=0; i<5; i++){
            String temp1 = String.valueOf(desc[i][1]);
            if ("Categorical".equals(desc[i][1])){
                System.out.println("The "+k1+ " th is categorical.");
}
}

Why doesn't it return true, although one of the attributes is categorical?

it's either a case problem, in which case use equalsIgnoreCase or you don't have the input you think you do — greedybuddha
– greedybuddha, Commented Jun 7, 2013 at 20:48
In any case, run a debugger on that. You'll know soon enough. — Etienne de Martel
– Etienne de Martel, Commented Jun 7, 2013 at 20:49
What happens when you print all the values? Do they match what you expect? — thegrinner
– thegrinner, Commented Jun 7, 2013 at 20:49

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:57:24Z

3

Looking at the input you posted (in the edit perspective), I saw there is a lot of trailing whitespace on almost every line of the textfile. Your problem will disappear if you replace

desc[k1][1] = temp_desc[1];

with

desc[k1][1] = temp_desc[1].trim();

You could even shorten your code to

for (int k1 = 0; k1 < 5; k1++) {
    String line1 = description.readLine().trim();
    desc[k1] = line1.split(delims_desc);
}

Clarification:

You are trying to compare

"Categorical" // 11 characters

with

"Categorical        " // more than 11 characters

and those are not equal strings.

edited May 23, 2017 at 11:57

CommunityBot

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answered Jun 7, 2013 at 20:53

jlordo

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4 Comments

MTT Over a year ago

Thanks for your solution. Since there is no space between two words, it is already trimmed.

jlordo Over a year ago

@VTT: As said in my answer: the extra whitespace is at the end of the line. So you are trying to compare "Categorical" with "Categorical " and those are not equal strings.

MTT Over a year ago

Sorry. You are absolutely right. I fixed it, but still has problem.

jlordo Over a year ago

@VTT: I posted a solution to the problem you posted. I can not help you further, because "but still has problem" isn't specific enough.

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