Problems with local variable scope. How to solve it?

Question

I\'m getting the following error when trying to execute statemet.executeUpdate() in my code:

Local variable statement defined in an enclosing sc         


        

Answer 1

You have a scope problem indeed, because statement is a local method variable defined here:

protected void createContents() {
    ...
    Statement statement = null; // local variable
    ...
     btnInsert.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() { // anonymous inner class
        @Override
        public void mouseDown(MouseEvent e) {
            ...
            try {
                statement.executeUpdate(query); // local variable out of scope here
            } catch (SQLException e1) {
                e1.printStackTrace();
            }
            ...
    });
}

When you try to access this variable inside mouseDown() method you are trying to access a local variable from within an anonymous inner class and the scope is not enough. So it definitely must be final (which given your code is not possible) or declared as a class member so the inner class can access this statement variable.

Sources:

• Anonymous Classes
• How are Anonymous (inner) classes used in Java?

---

How to solve it?

You could...

Make statement a class member instead of a local variable:

public class A1 { // Note Java Code Convention, also class name should be meaningful   
    private Statement statement;
    ...
}

You could...

Define another final variable and use this one instead, as suggested by @HotLicks:

protected void createContents() {
    ...
    Statement statement = null;
    try {
        statement = connect.createStatement();
        final Statement innerStatement = statement;
    } catch (SQLException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    ...
}

But you should...

Reconsider your approach. If statement variable won't be used until btnInsert button is pressed then it doesn't make sense to create a connection before this actually happens. You could use all local variables like this:

btnInsert.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
   @Override
   public void mouseDown(MouseEvent e) {
       try {
           Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver");
           try (Connection connect = DriverManager.getConnection(...);
                Statement statement = connect.createStatement()) {

                // execute the statement here

           } catch (SQLException ex) {
               ex.printStackTrace();
           }

       } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
           e.printStackTrace();
       }
});