Java - No enclosing instance of type Foo is accessible

Question

I have the following code:

class Hello {
    class Thing {
        public int size;

        Thing() {
            size = 0;
        }
    }

    public stat         


        

Answer 1

You've declared the class Thing as a non-static inner class. That means it must be associated with an instance of the Hello class.

In your code, you're trying to create an instance of Thing from a static context. That is what the compiler is complaining about.

There are a few possible solutions. Which solution to use depends on what you want to achieve.

• Move Thing out of the Hello class.

• Change Thing to be a static nested class.

  static class Thing
  

• Create an instance of Hello before creating an instance of Thing.

  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
      Hello h = new Hello();
      Thing thing1 = h.new Thing(); // hope this syntax is right, typing on the fly :P
  }
  

The last solution (a non-static nested class) would be mandatory if any instance of Thing depended on an instance of Hello to be meaningful. For example, if we had:

public class Hello {
    public int enormous;

    public Hello(int n) {
        enormous = n;
    }

    public class Thing {
        public int size;

        public Thing(int m) {
            if (m > enormous)
                size = enormous;
            else
                size = m;
        }
    }
    ...
}

any raw attempt to create an object of class Thing, as in:

Thing t = new Thing(31);

would be problematic, since there wouldn't be an obvious enormous value to test 31 against it. An instance h of the Hello outer class is necessary to provide this h.enormous value:

...
Hello h = new Hello(30);
...
Thing t = h.new Thing(31);
...

Because it doesn't mean a Thing if it doesn't have a Hello.

For more information on nested/inner classes: Nested Classes (The Java Tutorials)