Superclass variable not calling subclass method

Question

hi,
i've got a bit of a problem with my method invocation. i'll try to explain in abstract terms:
class SuperClass {
void method(int x){
//some action
class SubClass extends SuperClass {
static final int VARIABLE = 1;
void method(int x){
x = modify(x);
super.method(x)
int modify(int x){
return x += VARIABLE;
my problem is that i've got about 20 or so subclasses that i refer to through a superclass reference. as i understand it, i should be about to call:
int result = superClassRef.method(5);
and this will call the subclass method, perform the modification and return the result. my problem is twofold.
1) the superclass reference dosen't call the subclass's method
2) what happens when it gets to the subclass's modify method and trys to access the subclass's VARIABLE through a superclass reference? as i understand it shouldn't be accessible from the superclass reference.
hmmm...any help would be most appreciated.
cameron

Answer 1

that was what i ment -
SuperClass superClassRef = new SubClass();
superClassRef.method(5); //dosen't return anything
i think this may be turning into a more wide ranging application problem. i tried to bypass the natural superclass method invocation with the following code:
Method m = superClassRef.getClass().getMethod("method");
m.invoke(superClassRef, new Object[]{new Integer(x)});
but on trying this it throws an InvocationTargetException.
for clarity - the two methods in the subclass are:
void method(int x) (overrides the superclass's method(int x))
and
int modify(int x)
sorry for the bad naming.
i've figured out the variable thing - i'd only be if there were variable shaddowing in the subclass that problems could arrise.