Problem with Collections.binarySearch()

Question

public class TaxPayerRecord implements Comparable <TaxPayerRecord>
private String nric;
private String name;
private String dateOfBirth;
private String gender;
private String blockNo;
private String unitNo;
private String streetName;
private String bldgName;
private String postalCode;
private long totalIncome;
private long totalDonation;
private long totalPersonalRelief;
* Creates a new instance of TaxPayerRecord
public TaxPayerRecord(String nric, String name, String dateOfBirth, String gender,
               String blockNo, String unitNo, String streetName, String bldgName,
               String postalCode, long totalIncome, long totalDonation,
               long totalPersonalRelief)
this.nric = nric;
this.name = name;
this.dateOfBirth = dateOfBirth;
this.gender = gender;
this.blockNo = blockNo;
this.unitNo = unitNo;
this.streetName = streetName;
this.bldgName = bldgName;
this.postalCode = postalCode;
this.totalIncome = totalIncome;
this.totalDonation = totalDonation;
this.totalPersonalRelief = totalPersonalRelief;
public String toString()
return nric+"|"+name+"|"+dateOfBirth+"|"+gender+"|"+blockNo+"|"+unitNo+"|"+streetName+"|"+
bldgName+"|"+postalCode+"|"+totalIncome+"|"+totalDonation+"|"+
totalPersonalRelief;
public long getTotalIncome()
return totalIncome;
public long getTotalDonation()
return totalDonation;
public long getTotalPersonalRelief()
return totalPersonalRelief;
public String getDateOfBirth()
return dateOfBirth;
public String getPostalCode()
return postalCode;
public int compareTo (TaxPayerRecord next)
          return this.nric.compareTo(next.nric);
} //TaxPayerRecord
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class TaxPayerProgramme
     public TaxPayerProgramme()
                         String menu = "Options: \n"
                                        + "1. Compute And Print List Of Tax Payers (Sorted by NRIC) \n"
                                        + "2. Compute And Summary Of Tax Revenue \n"
                                        + "3. Search for Tax Payer by NRIC \n"
                                        + "Enter option(1-2,0 to quit): ";
                         System.out.print(menu);
                         Scanner input = new Scanner( System.in );
                         int choice = input.nextInt();
                         System.out.println("");
                    // Declaration
                         ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list = new ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord>();
                         String inFile ="TaxPayer2005.txt";
                         String line = "";
                         String nric;
                         String name;
                         String dateOfBirth;
                         String gender;
                         String blockNo;
                         String unitNo;
                         String streetName;
                         String bldgName;
                         String postalCode;
                         long totalIncome;
                         long totalDonation;
                         long totalPersonalRelief;
                    try{
                         //Read from file
                         FileReader fr = new FileReader (inFile);
                         BufferedReader inFile1= new BufferedReader (fr);
                    line=inFile1.readLine();
                                   while (line!=null)
                                   StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(line,"|");
                                   nric=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   name=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   dateOfBirth=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   gender=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   blockNo=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   unitNo=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   streetName=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   bldgName=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   postalCode=tokenizer.nextToken();
                                   totalIncome=Long.parseLong(tokenizer.nextToken());
                                   totalDonation=Long.parseLong(tokenizer.nextToken());
                                   totalPersonalRelief=Long.parseLong(tokenizer.nextToken());
                                   TaxPayerRecord person = new TaxPayerRecord(nric,name,dateOfBirth,gender,blockNo,unitNo,
                                                                                          streetName,bldgName,postalCode,totalIncome,
                                                                                          totalDonation,totalPersonalRelief);
                                   list.add(person);
                                   line=inFile1.readLine();
                                   }//end while
                    inFile1.close();
                         }// end try
                    catch (Exception e)
                         e.printStackTrace();
                    }//end catch
                    do{
                              switch(choice)
                                   case 0:
                                   System.exit(0);
                                   break;
                                   case 1:
                                   // run list
                                   printList(list);
                                   break;
                                   case 2:
                                   printSummary(list);
                                   break;
                                   case 3:
                                   search(list,input);
                                   break;
                              }//end switch
                         System.out.print(menu);
                         choice = input.nextInt();
                         System.out.println("");
                         }// end do
                         while(choice !=0);
                         Collections.sort(list);
     }//end TaxPayerProgramme()
     private void total(ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list)
          // Declaration
          double total=0;
          // calculate total
               for (int i=0; i<list.size(); i++)
               total=+ tax(i,list);
          //print msg
          System.out.println("Total revenue collectable for year 2006 (S$): "+total+"\n");
     private double tax(int i,ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list)
          // Declaration
          double income;
          double tax;
          // calculate income
          income =list.get(i).getTotalIncome()-list.get(i).getTotalDonation()
                    -list.get(i).getTotalPersonalRelief();
          // calculate tax
               if (income>320000)
                    tax=(((income-320000)*0.21)+44850);
               else if (income>160000)
                    tax=(((income-160000)*0.18)+16050);
               else if (income>80000)
                    tax=(((income-80000)*0.145)+4450);
               else if (income>40000)
                    tax=(((income-40000)*0.0875)+950);
               else if (income>30000)
                    tax=(((income-30000)*0.0577)+375);
               else
                    tax=((income-20000)*0.0577);
          return tax;
     private void totalAge(ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list)
               // Declaration
               String msg;
               int i,age;
               double grp1=0;
               double grp2=0;
               double grp3=0;
               double grp4=0;
               // calculate revenue by age
                    for (i=0; i<list.size(); i++)
                    age= 2006- Integer.parseInt(list.get(i).getDateOfBirth().substring(6,list.get(i).getDateOfBirth().length()));
                    if (age>55)
                         grp4 =+ tax(i,list);
                    else if (age>35)
                         grp3 =+ tax(i,list);
                    else if (age>17)
                         grp2 =+ tax(i,list);
                    else
                         grp1 =+ tax(i,list);
               //print msg
               msg="Total revenue by age range (S$) \n"+
                    "\t"+"(1 to 17)"+"\t"+ grp1 +"\n"     +
                    "\t"+"(18 to 35)"+"\t"+ grp2 +"\n"     +
                    "\t"+"(36 to 55)"+"\t"+ grp3 +"\n"     +
                    "\t"+"(above 55)"+"\t"+ grp4 +"\n";
               System.out.println(msg);
private void totalDistrict(ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list)
               int count=1;
               double temp=0;
               double [][] array = new double [list.size()][2];
                    for (int i=0; i<list.size(); i++)
                    array[0]=Double.parseDouble(list.get(i).getPostalCode().substring(0,2));
                    array[i][1]=tax(i,list);
               System.out.println("Total revenue by district (S$) ");
                    do{
                              for (int a=0; a<list.size(); a++)
                                   if (count == array[a][0] )
                                   temp=array[a][1];
                              }//end for loop
                         System.out.print("\t"+"(district "+count+")"+"\t"+ temp +"\n");
                         temp=0;
                         count++;
                    }while(count!= 80);// end of do_while loop
          System.out.print("\n");
     private void printList(ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list)
          System.out.println("List of Tax Payers fpr Year 2006");
               for (int i=0; i<list.size(); i++)
               System.out.println((i+1)+") "+list.get(i)+"|"+tax(i,list)+"\n");
     private void printSummary(ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list)
               total(list);
               totalAge(list);
               totalDistrict(list);
     private void search(ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord> list,Scanner input)
               String nric;
               int value;
               System.out.print("Enter NRIC Number: ");
               nric = input.next();
               Collections.sort(list);
               value = Collections.binarySearch(list,nric);
     public static void main(String [] args)
               new TaxPayerProgramme();
I keep getting this message:
C:\Documents and Settings\Xiong\Desktop\TaxPayerProgramme.java:285: cannot find symbol
symbol : method binarySearch(java.util.ArrayList<TaxPayerRecord>,java.lang.String)
location: class java.util.Collections
               value = Collections.binarySearch(list,nric);
               ^
1 error
Tool completed with exit code 1

Answer 1

You can't search a list of TacPayerRecords using a String.