Dynamic Form? Is this possible?

Question

Hello
I am trying to create a application to store Biblography references so researchers dont forget who they are citing. It will be similar to an address book, but with different form fields depending on the type of reference.
For the form where users enter the different fields for a reference, rather than making a form for every type of reference I am trying to make a dynamic generic screen which adds fields depending on the type of reference. To do this I have a string array for each type of reference, which contains the names of all the required fields e.g.
private String[] bookCitation = { "Title", "Author", "Edition", "Series or Volume Number" "Publisher", "Year of Publication", "Place of Publication"};
private String[] websiteCitation = { "Title", "Author", "Edition", "Series or Volume Number" "Publisher", "Year of Publication", "Place of Publication"};
private String[] selection;
Then in the form screen, the system looks at what type of source the user chose (which is stored to string array variable 'selection' ), and then measures the length of that array, then initates a 'for' loop that creates textfields for each of the fields.
I have declared 10 textfield variables at the start of the java file with the names field_0, field_1, field_2 ... field_9. (More can be added later if required)
What I want to know if this is a feasible method in java, and also how could i change the number of the textfield variable to field_x, for each instance of the for loop. e.g when x = 0, i want field_0. I could use a catch statement for each field number if necessary, but this method looks more efficient if it works.
Here is the code for the entry screen;
private Screen addEntryScreen()
addEntryScreen = new Form("New Reference");
addEntryScreen.addCommand(cancelCommand);
addEntryScreen.createCommand(addCommand);
addEntryScreen.setCommandListener(this);
for(x = 0, x < selection.length, x++)
field_x = new TextField("selection[ x ]", null, 50, TextField.ANY);
newProjectScreen.append(field_x);
for(x = 0, x < selection.length, x++)
field_x.delete(0, field_x.size());
display.setCurrent(addEntryScreen);
return addEntryScreen;
I hope that all made sense
Many Thanks
Max

Answer 1

I have declared 10 textfield variables at the start of the java file with the names field_0, field_1, field_2 ... field_9. (More can be added later if required)
No! Use an array or Vector of TextFields.
this method looks more efficient if it works.So you couldn't try it to discover that it doesn't?
It looks like you need to spend some time in core java before you continue in Java ME apps. here's a link to the tutorial:
{color:0000ff}http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/index.html{color}
Learn to use arrays and Vector.
There are a few other points I would like to make about your code:field_x.delete(0, field_x.size());is equivalent to but less easy to read thanfield_x.setText("");Your method addEntryScreen () returns a Form object addEntryScreen, which is confusing. It would be better to call the method getEntryScreen () and have it return entryScreen, which would be setCurrent by the calling routine.
addEntryScreen.createCommand(addCommand);Form does not have a method createCommand.
In this linefield_x = new TextField("selection[ x ]", null, 50, TextField.ANY);you are setting the String "selection[ x ]" and not the contents of selection [x] as the label for the TextField.
Try to get a good grounding in the basics, it'll serve you well later.
luck, db
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