Accessing variables from inner class

Question

I've got some code which defines an anonymous inner class for a callback handler. This handler needs to assign a local variable, see below. I need to assign resp in the callback and refer to it towards the end of the function. I am getting this error in Eclipse however:

The final local variable resp cannot be assigned, since it is defined in an enclosing type

How can I fix this?

DoorResult unlockDoor(final LockableDoor door) {
    final UnlockDoorResponse resp;
    final boolean sent = sendRequest(new UnlockDoorRequest(door), 
       new ResponseAction() {
        public void execute(Session session) 
               throws TimedOutException, RetryException, RecoverException {
            session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR);
            resp = (UnlockDoorResponse)session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR);
        }
    });
    DoorResult result;
    if (!sent) {
        return DoorResult.COMMS_ERROR;
    }
    else {
        return DoorResult.valueOf(resp.getResponseCode());
    }
}

Answer 1

Here is a hack that would work in your case:

DoorResult unlockDoor(final LockableDoor door) {
    final UnlockDoorResponse resp[] = { null };
    final boolean sent = sendRequest(new UnlockDoorRequest(door), new ResponseAction() {
        public void execute(Session session)  throws TimedOutException, RetryException, RecoverException {
            session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR);
            resp[0] = (UnlockDoorResponse)session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR);
        }
    });
    DoorResult result;
    if (!sent) {
        return DoorResult.COMMS_ERROR;
    }
    else {
        return null == resp[0] ? null : DoorResult.valueOf(resp[0].getResponseCode());
    }
}

If you want a cleaner solution, though, you have to define a named class for your handler, store the response in its field, and retrieve it using an accessor method.

Best regards, Stan.

Answer 2

You could get around this by creating a wrapper class for the response.

class ResponseWrapper {
    UnlockDoorResponse resp;
    void setResponse(UnlockDoorResponse resp) {
        this.resp = resp;
    }
    UnlockDoorResponse getResponse() {
        return resp;
    }
}

Then, your code would look like:

final ResponseWrapper respWrap = new ResponseWrapper();
final boolean sent = sendRequest(new UnlockDoorRequest(door), new ResponseAction() {
    public void execute(Session session)  throws TimedOutException, RetryException, RecoverException {
        session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR);
        respWrap.setResponse((UnlockDoorResponse)session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR));
    }
 });
DoorResult result;
if (!sent) {
    return DoorResult.COMMS_ERROR;
}
else {
    return DoorResult.valueOf(respWrap.getResponse().getResponseCode());
}

Answer 3

Assuming this is your code to change, how about changing sendRequest and ResponseAction.execute to return an instance of UnlockDoorResponse

DoorResult unlockDoor(final LockableDoor door) {
    final UnlockDoorResponse resp = sendRequest(new UnlockDoorRequest(door), new ResponseAction() {
        public UnlockDoorResponse execute(Session session)  throws TimedOutException, RetryException, RecoverException {
            session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR);
            return (UnlockDoorResponse)session.watch(UNLOCK_DOOR);
        }
    });
    if (resp == null) {
        return DoorResult.COMMS_ERROR;
    }
    else {
        return DoorResult.valueOf(resp.getResponseCode());
    }
}