Creating a string with nested if statements in java

Question

I am currently working on a project to improve cash management at my store. At one point in my program I have a string that gets created based on what bills and how many get dropped into the safe at night. I originally wrote a block of nested if statements to get this to work, however it did not work and I can see why. Here is the nested statement I wrote:

//this nested block does not work but I want to try and find a way to make it work.
  /*if(hundred == 0){
     if(fifty == 0){
        if(twenty == 0){
           if(ten == 0){
              if(five == 0){
                 dropString = String.format("Drop(%d-$1's)%s", one, initials);
              }
              else
                 dropString = String.format("Drop(%d-$5's, %d-$1's)%s", five, one, initials);
           }
           else dropString = String.format("Drop(%d-$10's, %d-$5's, %d-$1's)%s", ten, five, one, initials);
        }
        else dropString = String.format("Drop(%d-$20's, %d-$10's, %d-$5's, %d-$1's)%s", twenty, ten, five, one, initials);
     }
     else dropString = String.format("Drop(%d-$50's, %d-$20's, %d-$10's, %d-$5's, %d-$1's)%s", fifty, twenty, ten, five, one, initials);
  }
  else dropString = String.format("Drop(%d-$100's, %d-$50's, %d-$20's, %d-$10's, %d-$5's, %d-$1's)%s", hundred, fifty, twenty, ten, five, one, initials);

I want the string to only include values greater than zero, which you can see using this method will obviously not work because it will include all blocks after one statement is greater than zero. I have found something that works for what I want, but isn't the best if the variable 'hundred' is zero. This is what I have come up with that works:

  if(hundred != 0)
     dropString += String.format("%d-$100's", hundred);
  if(fifty != 0)
     dropString += String.format(", %d-$50's", fifty);
  if(twenty != 0)
     dropString += String.format(", %d-$20's", twenty);
  if(ten != 0)
     dropString += String.format(", %d-$10's", ten);
  if(five != 0)
     dropString += String.format(", %d-$5's", five);
  if(one != 0)
     dropString += String.format(", %d-$1's", one);

  dropString += String.format(")%s", initials);

When 'hundred' is equal to zero, the string is something like this "Drop(, 16-$20's)RE" My question is this, is there a way to use nested statements or a good way to remove the leading", " when 'hundred' is zero? (I want a way that doesn't involve an if statement for every single possible combination of values equal to or greater than zero)

quick and dirty way I would do it is create a dictionary (hashmap) of int, string or string, int that contains the value as a string and the count as the int. Then you can foreach the dictionary, and if the count is > 0, add it to the string — Marshall Tigerus
Beware of the checkstyle complexity metrics of that code :-) — erdal.karaca
@erdal.karaca The checkstyle complexity of whose code, mine or Marshall's? — Randy_E

erdal.karaca erdal.karaca · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-06T18:42:23

Try this:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    List<Integer> asList = new ArrayList<Integer>(Arrays.asList(100, 50, 20, 5, 1));
    int sum = 1284;

    while (!asList.isEmpty()) {
        int op = asList.remove(0);
        int result = sum / op;
        if (result > 0) {
            sb.append(String.format("%d-$%d's,", result, op));
        }
        sum -= result * op;
    }

    if (sb.length() > 0) {
        sb.replace(sb.length() - 1, sb.length(), "");
    }

    System.out.println("Drop(" + sb + ")RE");
}

Creating a string with nested if statements in java

1 Answers