How do I create a new method?

Question

My application has the following code in one class:
private void updateSexField() {
String chosen = textChoice.getSelectedItem(); String theSex = theData.lookupSex(chosen);
sexField.setText(theSex);
private void updateAgeField() {
String chosen = textChoice.getSelectedItem();
String theAge = theData.lookupAge(chosen);
ageField.setText(theAge);
and this code in the other class:
public String lookupSex(String text) {
for (int i = 0; i <= top; i++)
if (text.equals(person.getSurname()))
return person[i].getSex();
return ("error");
public String lookupAge(String text) {
for (int i = 0; i <= top; i++)
if (text.equals(person[i].getSurname()))
return person[i].getAge();
return ("error");
The idea is that the correct sex and age, corresponding to a particular person (with a particular 'Surname') are returned back (or 'got'). Thes items are then placed in a text field in my program. There is actually several things being 'got' (only two are listed here but the code is identical). The big question is - How can I adjust the program so that a single method (or two) can perform each of these functions without having to write out the code over and over for each thing I want 'got', if you know what I mean.
Any advice, based on this limited description, would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
DJPesto

Answer 1

class Person {
    private final Hashtable attributes = new Hashtable();
    Person(String age, String sex) {
        attributes.put(PersonAttributes.AGE, age);
        attributes.put(PersonAttributes.SEX, sex);
    public Object getAttribute(PersonAttributes key) {
        return attributes.get(key);
class PersonAttributes {
    // this class implements a typesafe enum pattern
    // that can be used as keys in a Hashtable
    private final String attribute;
    private PersonAttributes(String atribute) {
        this.attribute = attribute;
    public String toString( ) {
        return attribute.name;
    public boolean eqauls( ) {
        return attribute.equals();
    public int hashCode( ) {
        return attribute.hashCode();
    public static final PersonAttributes AGE =
        new PersonAttributes("AGEATTRIB");
    public static final PersonAttributes SEX =
        new PersonAttributes("SEXATTRIB");
}