Handling Class Cast Exception Correctly in Java

[isaacsanya01]

Hello,

I have a parent class called UserPreference. This class is composed of 2 child classes namely HighLevelUserPr eference and SpecificUserPre ference. Please, could you tell me whats wrong with the code below as I keep getting a class cast exception. I have used the instanceOf function to check the object type before casting. However, this doesn't seem to work. the error i am getting says: 'Exception in thread "main" java.lang.Class CastException: HighLevelUserPr eference cannot be cast to SpecificUserPre ference.' i can get either a highlevel or specifc user preference, i want to be able to handle both situations. I would have thought the code below is sufficient enough but i suppose i am missing something... thanks.

 					if (userPreferences != null)
					{
						for (Iterator userPrefiterator = userPreferences.iterator(); userPrefiterator.hasNext();)
						{							
							
							HighLevelUserPreference highUserPref = new HighLevelUserPreference();
							
							SpecificUserPreference specificUserPref = new SpecificUserPreference();

						
							if (highUserPref instanceof UserPreference) // determines type of object
							{
								highUserPref = (HighLevelUserPreference) userPrefiterator.next();
								
								// do something

							}
							else
								if (specificUserPref instanceof UserPreference)
								{
									specificUserPref = (SpecificUserPreference) userPrefiterator.next();
									
									// do something
								}
	}
	}

[Rabbit]

I don't know Java but I know that anyone that can help you will need more information. Like the class definitions.

[isaacsanya01]

hi rabbit, thanks for the response, class definitions of what exactly?

public class SpecificUserPreference extends UserPreference

public class HighLevelUserPreference extends UserPreference

the extend keyword is used to denote an inheritance relationship between parent class userpreference and its respective relationship with child class specific user preference and high level specific user preference. i just need to know how to cast correctly i suppose.