Some help passing values

Question

Maybe it's because Im so tired, but I am having a horrible day trying to run anything in more than one method.
I set everything as public, so I don't know what I am doing wrong.
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
    public class mainMenu extends CalcSalesTax{
    public static int UI()throws Exception {
    BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
         int selected = Integer.parseInt(input.readLine());
         double total = 0;
         public static void Menu(){
         System.out.println("Please Select:");
         System.out.println("1: to Calculate Tax");
         System.out.println("or");
         System.out.println("0 to Exit");
         selected = Integer.parseInt(input.readLine());
         return selected;
        public static  void main(String[] args)throws Exception {
        selected = UI();
        BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
        while (selected==1){
         switch(selected){
         case 0:
         return;
         case 1:
         salesTax();
         break;
}I am getting errors like, cannot find "selected"... please help me out... is it a syntax thing?

Answer 1

For better guidance, you will need to post your code for the superclass CalcSalesTax as we cannot guess what class / instance fields and methods it has.
I think you have a problem with understanding the scope of variables. Take a quick look at
{color:#0000ff}http://home.cogeco.ca/~ve3ll/jatutor2.htm#st{color}
Execution blocks are the sections of code that start and end with curly brackets. Variables maintain their definition (or 'scope') until the end of the execution block that they are defined in.
FWIW I have reworked your code, but I expect you to ask about the changes you don't understand -- and post the updated code for both MainMenu and CalcSalesTax and any superclass/es of CalcSalesTax.import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class MainMenu extends CalcSalesTax {
   int selected = 1;
   BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
   public MainMenu () {
      while (selected == 1) {
         menu ();
         switch (selected) {
            case 0:
               System.exit (0);
            case 1:
               salesTax(); // mehod in super class ?
   private void menu () {
      System.out.println("Please Select:\n1: to Calculate Tax\nor\n0 to Exit");
      String inString = input.readLine()
      try {
         selected = Integer.parseInt(inString);
      } catch (NumberFormatException ex) {
         selected = 0;
         ex.printStackTrace ();
   public static void main (String[] args) throws Exception {
      MainMenu mainMenu = new MainMenu ();
}Disclaimer: I don't have a JDK on this office machine, so there may be typos in the code posted.
db
Edited by: Darryl.Burke to remove whatever typos I could spot.