help needed

[mortanto]

I wouldn't normally ask for help like this but im getting quite desperate. I really need help with a java assignment that I'm really struggling with (I haven't done any coding in over 2 years so lost just about any knowledge i had)

the assignment needs to have a collection that will store the following items

[IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/cck1990/items.png[/IMG]

they all share 3 attributes in common so i have a base class then i have the 6 different items inheriting from this

public abstract class Item
{
    
    public String author;
    public int pubYear;
    public String titleOfPub;
    public int numberOfCopies;
    
    /**
     * requires : author != null, pubYear != null, titleOfPub != null
     * modifies : this
     * effects  : sets author, pub year,and titleOfPub  
     * @param author the item's author, year the items publication year, title the item's title
     */
    
    public Item(String author, int year, String title, int copies)
        {
            this.author = author;
            pubYear = year;
            titleOfPub = title;
            numberOfCopies = copies;
       
        }
 
    /** 
     *  modifies : nothing.   
     * @return     the name of the author
     */
    public String getAuthor()
        {
            return author;
        }
        
     /** 
     *  modifies : nothing.   
     * @return     the name of the year of publication 
     */
    
    public int getpubYear()
        {
            return pubYear;
        }
        
    /** 
     *  modifies : nothing.   
     * @return     the name of the publication
     */
    
    public String getTitleOfPub()
        {
            return titleOfPub;
        }
    
    public void addCopy()
    {
        numberOfCopies++;
    }
    
    public void removeCopies()
    {
        numberOfCopies--;
    }
    
}

public class Book extends Item
{
    // instance variables - replace the example below with your own
     
    private String placeOfPub;
    private String publisher;
    private int edition;
    

   /**
     * requires : author != null
     * modifies : this
     * effects  : sets author, pub year,and titleOfPub, placeOfPub, publisher, edition
     * @param author the book's author, year the book's publication year, title the book's title, placeOfPub the place the book was published, publisher the books publisher, edition the books edition
     */
    public Book(String author, int pubYear, String titleOfPub, int numberOfCopies, String place, String publisher, int edition)
    {
        super (author, pubYear, titleOfPub, numberOfCopies);
        placeOfPub = place;
        publisher = publisher;
        edition = edition;
    }

    /** 
     *  modifies : nothing.   
     * @return     the name of the place of publication 
     */
    public String getPlaceofPub()
    {
        return placeOfPub;
    }
    
    /** 
     *  modifies : nothing.   
     * @return     the name of the publisher
     */
    
    public String getPublisher()
    {
        return publisher;
    }
    
    /** 
     *  modifies : nothing.   
     * @return     the number of the edition
     */
    public int getEdition()
    {
        return edition;
    }
    
   
}

thats the code i have for the base class and one of the subclasses

these are the requirements

1. Your program should permit:
a. Adding each type of item;
b. The listing of all items in the library;
c. The listing of all items of a given type;
d. list the unique titles for a given author
e. list the number of copies of a given title
f. Delete an item of a given type based on the name of the author and the title;
g. It should be possible to read and write the contents of the collection to a persistent store. Initially this is to be a simple text file. However, future developments may include making use of a database
3. The user interface for the program must be a text based

It is the collection and the rest of the requirements im having trouble with, with not doing any coding i just really cant do it.

I wouldn't be asking for this much help if i wasn't desperate

[Ezzaral]

You need to ask specific questions about the parts you are having trouble with.

[mortanto]

At the moment im trying to make a factory to create the different type of items and store them in the collection but having real trouble with it

[dmanw100]

What part is giving you trouble? What does your factory do so far?

[mortanto]

public class Factory
{
    Library L;
    public Factory (Library L)
    {
        this.L = L;
    }
    
    public void createItem (Library<String> args, String mediaType)
    {
        if (mediaType.equals("Book"))
        {
            new Book(args);

            Library.addItem(b);
        }
        
        else if (mediaType.equals("Book Chapter"))
        {
        }
    }
}

thats what i have so far, having trouble getting the constructor for making the new object sorted

[StephNicolaou]

To construct I normally would use:

L = new Library();

I've also seen others use the newInstance() method.