Accessing variable inside try catch

Question

I keep getting a compile error on the return menuFont line it says there is no variable menuFont. Could someone please tell how to fix this.

import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.FontFormatException;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.IOException;


public class loadFiles {
Font getFont(){
            try {
                Font menuFont = Font.createFont( Font.TRUETYPE_FONT, new FileInputStream("font.ttf"));

            } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
                System.out.println("Cant find file.");
                e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (FontFormatException e) {
                System.out.println("Wrong file type.");
                e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                System.out.println("Unknown error.");
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            return menuFont;
    }
}

Answer 1

The basic problem with your code is that the Font object is only in scope for the duration of the try block, so it's no longer available in your return statement at the end of the method. Two options:

Move the variable declaration outside the try block:

Font menuFont = null;
try {
    menuFont = Font.createFont(...);
}
catch (...) {

}
return menuFont;

Or, do return Font.creatFont(...) inside the try, thus avoiding the need for the variable in the first place (and, obviously, return null at the end of the method).

Answer 2

The menuFont variable scope is inside the try block. Move the variable outside of it instead. Something like:

  Font getFont(){
        Font menuFont = null; 
        try {
            menuFont = Font.createFont( Font.TRUETYPE_FONT, new FileInputStream("font.ttf"));

        } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
            System.out.println("Cant find file.");
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (FontFormatException e) {
            System.out.println("Wrong file type.");
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            System.out.println("Unknown error.");
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        return menuFont;
  }

Be aware that in case of an exception, this method will return a null font.