Instanceof question

Question

I would like to build a generic properties file loader.
I would like to pass it
a class object with the data to be loaded
and filename of the properties file.
And have it return a class of loaded properties values.
My problems is trying to determine the type of data required.
    class PropertiesType {
        public Integer int1 ;
        public Integer int2 ;
        public String str1 ;
        public String str2 ;
    } PropertiesType pt = new PropertiesType() ;
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        kev me = new kev();
        me.checkTypes(me.pt.str1) ;
    public void checkTypes ( Object o  ) {
        if ( pt instanceof PropertiesType ) {
            p("TestType found") ;
        else {
            p("TestType NOT found");
        if ( o instanceof String ) {
            p("String found") ;
        else {
            p("String NOT found");
    }My display is :
TestType found
String NOT found
Now I was after String found, how can I change it for this?

Answer 1

first: if your method is saying that the object that was passed is NOT a string, then it is not a string. you are passing it something else.
second: Prefer polymorphism over instanceof and downcasting http://www.artima.com/interfacedesign/PreferPoly.html