I just did some refactoring to your code and came up with below output.

Few points to be mentioned,

1. Lets try to use OOPs concept
2. Follow naming convention (also includes meaningful names for classes and methods)
3. Why catch NPE (do validate your input and avoid such scenario) ?
4. Try to avoid unnecessary codes (here there is no use of "System.exit(0);")
5. The parsing logic can be fine tuned but this is already good for a sample program

Between good try :)And good luck with your interview.

public class XMLParserExample {static class Employee {    private final int id;    private final String name;    public Employee(int id, String name) {        this.id = id;        this.name = name;    }    public int getId() {        return id;    }    public String getName() {        return name;    }}static class EmployeeXMLParser {    private final Document document;    public EmployeeXMLParser(String fileName) {        document = loadXml(fileName);    }    Employee findEmployee(int index) {        NodeList listOfEmployee = document.getElementsByTagName("Employee");        Node employeeNode = listOfEmployee.item(index - 1);        if (employeeNode != null && employeeNode.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {            String name = getElementValue((Element) employeeNode, "Name");            String id = getElementValue((Element) employeeNode, "ID");            return new Employee(Integer.parseInt(id), name);        }        return null;    }    private String getElementValue(Element parentElement, String elementName) {        NodeList nodeList = parentElement.getElementsByTagName(elementName);        Element element = (Element) nodeList.item(0);        NodeList childNodes = element.getChildNodes();        return (((Node) childNodes.item(0)).getNodeValue().trim()).toString();    }    private Document loadXml(String fileName) {        DocumentBuilderFactory docBuilderFactory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();        try {            DocumentBuilder docBuilder = docBuilderFactory.newDocumentBuilder();            Document doc = docBuilder.parse(new File(fileName));            doc.getDocumentElement().normalize();            return doc;        } catch (ParserConfigurationException e) {            throw new IllegalStateException("Error parsing the XML", e);        } catch (SAXException e) {            throw new IllegalStateException("Error parsing the XML", e);        } catch (IOException e) {            throw new IllegalStateException("Error accessing the XML", e);        }    }};void start() {    EmployeeXMLParser employeeParser = new EmployeeXMLParser("test.xml");    Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);    boolean successful = false;    do {        System.out.println("Enter the employee number that you're searching for: ");        try {            Employee employee = employeeParser.findEmployee(Integer.parseInt(input.next()));            if (employee == null) {                printTryAgain();            } else {                System.out.println("The employee Number is: " + employee.getId());                System.out.println("The employee Name is: " + employee.getName());                successful = true;            }        } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {            printTryAgain();        }    } while (!successful);}private void printTryAgain() {    System.out.println("The employee number you searched for is incorrect or does not yet exist, try again.");}public static void main(String args[]) {    new XMLParserExample().start();} }

• \$\begingroup\$This was a really great answer and your code is very helpful. As for the system.exit(0); It was actually because if it was removed I would get a NumberFormatException...I was wondering if you could explain why that was happening with my code? I spent a solid 30 minutes trying to figure it out.. I could catch it but I couldn't trace it.\$\endgroup\$

  HunderingThooves

  – HunderingThooves

  2012-04-23 16:12:52 +00:00

  CommentedApr 23, 2012 at 16:12
• \$\begingroup\$Strange that you got NFE. I couldn't figure out what went wrong. All I see is even if you don't use it in your program it is going to be terminated. Additional info: Never use System.exit in programs unless it is needed. System.exit normally used in batch programs to indicate whether the process/program was successfully completed. SeeSystem.exit()\$\endgroup\$

  Sridhar G

  – Sridhar G

  2012-04-23 23:31:38 +00:00

  CommentedApr 23, 2012 at 23:31
• \$\begingroup\$Try entering in a bad value (using my xml file try entering in a large number, 123451, then enter a working value when it loops.) and it will NFE without the system.exit. It's weird.\$\endgroup\$

  HunderingThooves

  – HunderingThooves

  2012-04-24 19:44:02 +00:00

  CommentedApr 24, 2012 at 19:44

Why do you have two different try blocks here? Why not join them?

do{    try{        String s = "";        System.out.println("Enter the employee number that you're searching for: ");        s = input.next();         try{              i= Integer.parseInt(s);                        } catch(NumberFormatException nfe){ i = -1;}    } catch(Exception e){System.out.println("Error: " +e.getMessage());}}while(i <= 0);

I have done:

Employees emp = JAXB.read(Employees.class, filename);

whereread was:

@SuppressWarnings("unchecked") public static <T> T read(        Class<T> t, String filename) throws Exception {    Preconditions.checkNotNull(filename);    Preconditions.checkNotNull(t);    java.io.File f = checkNotNull(new java.io.File(filename));    JAXBContext context = JAXBContext.newInstance(t);    Unmarshaller u = context.createUnmarshaller();    return (T) u.unmarshal(f);}

You can also read from stream, string or ...

I still don't like what I have written.

They are not judging if you can write code, that works. They want to see a proof that it works (tests), what has been done (jdoc documentation) and readable code.

• java
• parsing
• interview-questions
• xml