Sorting between multiple arrays.

Question

I thought that I had posted this yesterday; however as I can not find my post...
I need assistance with part of a project where I need to sort between multiple arrays; using one of the columns as the sort criteria. The arrays contain integers, strings, and doubles; however I would like to sort and display the arrays alphabetically using the string column. I was told that a bubble array may work, however as I can not find specific information on the use of a bubble array, I really don't know where to start. The arrays look like the following:
productArray[0] = new Product(1, "binder ", 15, 1.5, 0, 0);
productArray[1] = new Product(2, "marker ", 13, .5, 0, 0);
productArray[2] = new Product(3, "paper ", 24, .95, 0, 0);
productArray[3] = new Product(4, "pen ", 5, .25, 0, 0); \
Any assistance that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. I am a newbie when it comes to Java and the course materials are extremely vague.
Dman

Answer 1

Thank you for your assistance.
The site that I found to be most helpful was the http://www.onjava.com/lpt/a/3286 site; however I am still experiencing problems. I have added code to the program as noted below:
public class Inventoryprogrampart3
/** Creates a new instance of Main */
* @param args the command line arguments
public static void main(String[] args)
// create Scanner to obtain input from command window
java.util.Scanner input = new java.util.Scanner( System.in );
double totalInventoryValue = 0;
NumberFormat nf = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance();
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( " Welcome to the Inventory Program - Part 2 " ); // Display the string
System.out.println( " ----------------------------------------- " ); // displays a line of characters
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "This program will output an office supply inventory" ); // Display the string
System.out.println( "listing that includes item numbers for the" ); // Display the string.
System.out.println( "inventoried products, the items product names, the" ); // Display the string.
System.out.println( "quantity of each product in stock, the unit price" ); // Display the string
System.out.println( "for each product, the total value of each products" ); // Display the string
System.out.println( "inventory, and a total value of the entire inventory." ); // Display the string
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "*****************************************************" ); // Displays a line of characters
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
Product[] productArray = new Product[ 7 ]; // creates 7 product arrays
// adds data to the 7 arrays
productArray[0] = new Product();
productArray[0].setitemNumber(1);
productArray[0].setproductName ( "binder" );
productArray[0].setitemQuantity(15);
productArray[0].setitemPrice(1.5);
productArray[0].setinventoryValue(0);
productArray[1] = new Product();
productArray[1].setitemNumber(2);
productArray[1].setproductName( "paper" );
productArray[1].setitemQuantity(24);
productArray[1].setitemPrice(.95);
productArray[1].setinventoryValue(0);
productArray[2] = new Product();
productArray[2].setitemNumber(4);
productArray[2].setproductName( "pen" );
productArray[2].setitemQuantity(5);
productArray[2].setitemPrice(.25);
productArray[2].setinventoryValue(0);
productArray[3] = new Product();
productArray[3].setitemNumber(3);
productArray[3].setproductName( "marker" );
productArray[3].setitemQuantity(13);
productArray[3].setitemPrice(.5);
productArray[3].setinventoryValue(0);
productArray[4] = new Product();
productArray[4].setitemNumber(5);
productArray[4].setproductName( "pencil" );
productArray[4].setitemQuantity(28);
productArray[4].setitemPrice(.4);
productArray[4].setinventoryValue(0);
productArray[5] = new Product();
productArray[5].setitemNumber(7);
productArray[5].setproductName( "tape" );
productArray[5].setitemQuantity(14);
productArray[5].setitemPrice(1.65);
productArray[5].setinventoryValue(0);
productArray[6] = new Product();
productArray[6].setitemNumber(6);
productArray[6].setproductName( "staples" );
productArray[6].setitemQuantity(13);
productArray[6].setitemPrice(1.25);
productArray[6].setinventoryValue(0);
System.out.println( "Inventory listing prior to sorting by product name:" );
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "Item #"+"\t"+"Product Name"+"\t"+"Stock"+"\t"+"Price"+"\t"+"Total Value"); // Displays a header line for the inventory array display
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "-----------------------------------------------------" ); // Displays a line of characters
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
for (int i=0; i<=6; i++)
Product products = productArray;
String productName = products.getproductName();
int itemNumber = products.getitemNumber();
int itemQuantity = products.getitemQuantity();
double itemPrice = products.getitemPrice();
double inventoryValue = products.getinventoryValue();
System.out.println( productArray[i].getitemNumber() +"\t"+ productArray[i].getproductName() +"\t"+"\t" + productArray[i].getitemQuantity() +"\t"+ nf.format(productArray[i].getitemPrice()) +"\t"+ nf.format(productArray[i].getinventoryValue()) );
Arrays.sort(productArray);
System.out.println( "-----------------------------------------------------" ); // Displays a line of characters
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "Inventory listing after being sorted by product name:" );
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "Item #"+"\t"+"Product Name"+"\t"+"Stock"+"\t"+"Price"+"\t"+"Total Value"); // Displays a header line for the inventory array display
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "-----------------------------------------------------" ); // Displays a line of characters
for(int i=0; i <= 6; i++)
totalInventoryValue = totalInventoryValue + productArray[i].getinventoryValue(); // calculates the total value of the entire products inventory
System.out.println( productArray[i].getitemNumber() +"\t"+ productArray[i].getproductName() +"\t"+"\t"+ productArray[i].getitemQuantity() +"\t"+ nf.format(productArray[i].getitemPrice()) +"\t"+ nf.format(productArray[i].getinventoryValue()) );
}// end for
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "The total value of the entire inventory is: " + nf.format(totalInventoryValue) ); // Displays the entire inventory value
System.out.println(); // Displays a blank line
System.out.println( "*****************************************************" ); // Displays a line of characters
} // end public static void main
}// end public class Inventoryprogrampart3 main
The following utilities have been set:
import java.io.*;
import java.text.*;
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.*;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Comparator;
The program compiles, however when I try to run the program I receive the following error (which outputs about 1/2 way through the program:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ClassCastException: Product can not be cast to java language comparable.
(along with a listing of other errors - I can't even get my cut and paste to work on my command prompt window).
I've tried about 50 different iterations and nothing seems to work.