Java: "cannot find symbol" error of a String[] defined within a while-loop
- by David
Here's the relevant code:
public static String[] runTeams (String CPUcolor)
{
boolean z = false ;
//String[] a = new String[6] ;
boolean CPU = false ;
while (z == false)
{
while (CPU==false)
{
String[] a = assignTeams () ;
printOrder (a) ;
for (int i = 1; i<a.length; i++)
{
if (a[i].equals(CPUcolor)) CPU = true ;
}
if (CPU==false)
{
System.out.println ("ERROR YOU NEED TO INCLUDE THE COLOR OF THE CPU IN THE TURN ORDER") ;
}
}
System.out.println ("is this turn order correct? (Y/N)") ;
String s = getIns () ;
while (!((s.equals ("y")) || (s.equals ("Y")) || (s.equals ("n")) || (s.equals ("N"))))
{
System.out.println ("try again") ;
s = getIns () ;
}
if (s.equals ("y") || s.equals ("Y") )
z = true ;
}
return a ;
}
the error i get is:
Risk.java:416: cannot find symbol
symbol : variable a
location: class Risk
return a ;
^
Why did i get this error? It seems that a is clearly defined in the line String[] a = assignTeams () ; and if anything is used by the lineprintOrder (a) ;` it seems to me that if the symbol a really couldn't be found then the compiler should blow up there and not at the return statment.
(also the method assignTeams returns an array of Strings.)
