Is there a way to set member variables of an instance based on a given string?

Question

I would like to do something similar to the following... something like this is kind of easy in dynamic languages, but I'm wondering if it's possible in Java.

public class Person {
    private String name;

    public void setMember(String memberName, String memberValue) {
        // look at memberName, see that it is "name", and then set this.name to whatever memberValue is.
    }
}

yeah, that would work, but then I have to type that for every member name... I'm trying to avoid having to type similar code over and over again. — Blaine Lafreniere
– Blaine Lafreniere, Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 22:29
Possible duplicate of Java: How can I access a class's field by a name stored in a variable? — Max
– Max, Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 22:33
Are you sure you are not looking for something like a Map<>? — Progman
– Progman, Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 22:33

bradm6s · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-28 22:30:23Z

2

Maybe misunderstanding, but you could just use

if ("name".equals(memberName)) this.name = memberValue;

But in a more generic sense you can use reflection to set values

Field nameFld = Person.class.getDeclaredField("name");
nameFld.setAccessible(true);
nameFld.set(this, memberValue);

answered Sep 28, 2019 at 22:30

bradm6s

1025 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Blaine Lafreniere Over a year ago

This sounds about what I'm looking for... reflection, I'll give it a try, thanks.

bradm6s Over a year ago

Cool, please accept it as the answer @BlaineLafreniere

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Is there a way to set member variables of an instance based on a given string?

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related