Arrays constants can only be used in initializers error

Question

Consider:

public proj 3 {

    static string [][]Item;

    public static void main(String [] args){

        Item[][] = {
             {\"BH,\" , \"Backhoe,         


        

Answer 1

You can declare a multidimensional array globally like this:

String [][] 2DArray;

And then initialize the same in the main method as follows:

 2DArray = new String[][] {
                {"array_element_0", "array_element_1"},
                {"array_element_2", "array_element_3"},
                ...
            };

Answer 2

That means you have to initialize it like this:

public class Proj3{

    public static String [][] Item = {
              {"BH," , "Backhoe," , "200.00"},
              {"ER," , "Electric Rake," , "10.00"},
              {"EL," , "Electric Lawnmower," , "15.00"},
              {"TR," , "Trencher" , "35.00"},
              {"MU," , "Mulcher," , "20.00"},
              {"TS," , "Tree Sprayer," , "22.00"},
              {"CP," , "Cider Press," , "30.00"},
              {"PR," , "Pruner," , "12.00"},
              {"GE," , "Gas Edger," , "20.00"},
              {"RO," , "Roller," , "8.00"}
         };

public static void main(String [] args){
     ...
}

If you want to use the array initializer, you cannot split the declaration and assignment.

Answer 3

If your target is: 1. declare it somewhere; 2. initialize it somewhere else; 3. still want to use the {...} format. This will work:

public proj 3 {

    static string [][]Item;

    public static void main(String [] args) {

        string[][] _Item = {
             {"BH," , "Backhoe," , "200.00"},
             {"ER," , "Electric Rake," , "10.00"},
             {"EL," , "Electric Lawnmower," , "15.00"},
             {"TR," , "Trencher" , "35.00"},
             {"MU," , "Mulcher," , "20.00"},
             {"TS," , "Tree Sprayer," , "22.00"},
             {"CP," , "Cider Press," , "30.00"},
             {"PR," , "Pruner," , "12.00"},
             {"GE," , "Gas Edger," , "20.00"},
             {"RO," , "Roller," , "8.00"}
        };
        Item = _Item;

Answer 4

I'm not 100% sure if I got correctly what you mean, but you can reference static class members by fully qualifying it.

public class MyClass {
  // static class member
  public static String myStaticArray;

  // non-static class method
  public void myMethod() {
    MyClass.myStaticArray = {...}; // do stuff
  }
}

Answer 5

You have two options: In the declaration

private static String[][] item = {...};

OR

Elsewhere using the new keyword private static String[][] item = new String[][]{...}

Also, you'll need to change public proj to public class