Help... While Loop

Question

Help I can't seem to get the loop to function. I need to have the program to ask the user if they want to reuse the calculator and if yes the user input and calculation function will refresh and start over. If no then it should prompt to close. The following is my code which functions fine without the loop.
// Import Java packages
     import java.text.NumberFormat;
     import java.util.Locale;
     import java.text.DecimalFormat;
     import java.util.Date;
     import java.io.*;
     import static java.lang.Math.*;
     public class Mortgage /* Begin program*/
          public static void main (String [] args) throws IOException     /* Create a class instance*/
               //Variables
               String StrPrincpal;          //holds user input for calculation
               String StrIntRate;
               String StrTerm;
               String StrResponse;
               double principal = 0;      // amount to be financed
               double IntRate = 0;          // rate of interest to repay the loan
               double pymt;               // returns the payment amount
               double rate, Calpymt;     // holds calculated values
               int term = 0;               // length of loan in years
               char option;               // holds users text responses (yes or no)
               Date currentDate = new Date();      // Date constructor
               NumberFormat moneyFormat = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.US);  // create US dollar print out format
               DecimalFormat twoDigits = new DecimalFormat("$0.00");  // formats decimal to 2 place
               BufferedReader dataIn= new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in)); //using for numerical data
               BufferedReader myIn= new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in)); //using for text/string char
               //Prompt for user input
               System.out.println("Mortgage Calculator");
               System.out.println("Date Created: May 28, 2007");
               System.out.println("Version: 2.0\n");
               System.out.println("This program will determine the monthly mortgage payment.\n");
               //While statement to prompt user to continue to use calculator or to quit.
               while ((option == 'Y') || (option == 'y'))
               {  //begin loop
                    System.out.print("Enter the amount to be financed: $");
                    StrPrincpal = dataIn.readLine (); //Places data into the string StrPrincpal
                    principal = Double.parseDouble (StrPrincpal);
                    System.out.println();
                    System.out.print("Enter the rate: ");
                    StrIntRate = dataIn.readLine (); //Places data into the string StrPrincpal
                    IntRate = Double.parseDouble (StrIntRate);
                    System.out.println();
                    System.out.print("Enter the term of the loan: ");
                    StrTerm = dataIn.readLine (); //Places data into the string StrPrincpal
                    term = Integer.parseInt (StrTerm);
                    System.out.println();
                    //Calculation
                    rate = (IntRate / 100.0) / 12.0;     // converts % to decimal format
                    Calpymt = rate + 1;                         // calculate interest
                    term = 30*12;                              // calculate number of years to number of months
                    pymt = principal * (Math.pow(Calpymt, term) * rate)/ (Math.pow (Calpymt, term) -1);      // formula to calculate monthly payment
                    System.out.println("\nMonthly payment will be: " + moneyFormat.format(pymt) + "\n");  // outputs monthly payment to screen
                    System.out.println("Date of report:" + currentDate);
                   System.out.println("\n");  // create a blank line after output
                   //User response required y or n to refresh the calculator to perform another calculation
                    System.out.println("Do you wish to calculate another mortgage?\n");
                    System.out.print("Please Enter Y or N:\t");
                    System.out.println("\n");
                    //option = (char) System.in.read();
                         StrResponse = dataIn.readLine();
                         option = Character.parseChar(StrResponse);
                         //}  //close while loop
               } //close loop
     }//End method
}     //End ProgramError message: "G:\UOP\POS 406\Java Assignements\Week 3, Assignment 2\MortgageCalcV1.java:91: cannot find symbol
symbol : method parseChar(java.lang.String)
location: class java.lang.Character
                         option = Character.parseChar(StrResponse);
                         ^
1 error
Tool completed with exit code 1"
I have no doubt I'm over looking something very simple. If you respond please just don't give me the correction please include what I'm missing or doing wrong.
Thanks,

Answer 1

Hi,
I'm not sure what your exact problem is, it may have something to do with that extra new line character at the end, but that not withstanding, I would do a few things differently.
1) I would import and utilize the Scanner class, instead of the bufferred reader
2) I would use strings, and not chars as input from the user, and thus be able to test for "yes" using the StringObj.equalsIgnoreCase("yes"); method, which cuts down on havig to test for "yes", "YES", YeS", etc.
Here is your code, doing what I believe you expected it would, with the import of the Scanner class (I would swap out all instances of your buffered reader for the scanner class):
// Import Java packages
import java.text.NumberFormat;
import java.util.Locale;
import java.text.DecimalFormat;
import java.util.Date;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Scanner;
import static java.lang.Math.*;
public class Mortgage /* Begin program*/
     public static void main (String [] args) throws IOException     /* Create a class instance*/
          //Variables
          String StrPrincpal;          //holds user input for calculation
          String StrIntRate;
          String StrTerm;
          String StrResponse;
          double principal = 0;      // amount to be financed
          double IntRate = 0;          // rate of interest to repay the loan
          double pymt;               // returns the payment amount
          double rate, Calpymt;     // holds calculated values
          int term = 0;               // length of loan in years
          String option = "yes";               // holds users text responses (yes or no)
          Date currentDate = new Date();      // Date constructor
          NumberFormat moneyFormat = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.US);  // create US dollar print out format
          DecimalFormat twoDigits = new DecimalFormat("$0.00");  // formats decimal to 2 place
          BufferedReader dataIn= new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in)); //using for numerical data
          BufferedReader myIn= new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in)); //using for text/string char
          //Prompt for user input
          System.out.println("Mortgage Calculator");
          System.out.println("Date Created: May 28, 2007");
          System.out.println("Version: 2.0\n");
          System.out.println("This program will determine the monthly mortgage payment.\n");
          //While statement to prompt user to continue to use calculator or to quit.
          while (option.equalsIgnoreCase("yes"))
               {  //begin loop
               System.out.print("Enter the amount to be financed: $");
               StrPrincpal = dataIn.readLine (); //Places data into the string StrPrincpal
               principal = Double.parseDouble (StrPrincpal);
               System.out.println();
               System.out.print("Enter the rate: ");
               StrIntRate = dataIn.readLine (); //Places data into the string StrPrincpal
               IntRate = Double.parseDouble (StrIntRate);
               System.out.println();
               System.out.print("Enter the term of the loan: ");
               StrTerm = dataIn.readLine (); //Places data into the string StrPrincpal
               term = Integer.parseInt (StrTerm);
               System.out.println();
               //Calculation
               rate = (IntRate / 100.0) / 12.0;     // converts % to decimal format
               Calpymt = rate + 1;                         // calculate interest
               term = 30*12;                              // calculate number of years to number of months
               pymt = principal * (Math.pow(Calpymt, term) * rate)/ (Math.pow (Calpymt, term) -1);      // formula to calculate monthly payment
               System.out.println("\nMonthly payment will be: " + moneyFormat.format(pymt) + "\n");  // outputs monthly payment to screen
               System.out.println("Date of report:" + currentDate);
               System.out.println("\n");  // create a blank line after output
               //User response required y or n to refresh the calculator to perform another calculation
               System.out.println("Do you wish to calculate another mortgage?\n");
               System.out.print("Please Enter 'yes' to continue:");
               Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
               option = keyboard.next();
               } //close loop
     }//End method
}