2 questions, please help!

[chr1zis]

hello all, i just have a couple of questions (im also posting some code)

1. if you would, please take a look at my code and let me know if my compareTo method is the best way to compare what i am trying to compare. i am basically trying to make a program that will read in 3 text files, and then build 3 lists based on the info in the text files. well the class i am posting (Order) is just one of the three main classes that will be used to sort through and determine the alphabetical order the information will be in. so please take a look and tell me if it looks okay.

2. also, i am using jGrasp as my editor and i am trying to create a workbench so i can test my compareTo method. i tried to create 2 instances so i could compare them, but it keeps throwing an error when i try to enter a mock Date. the error says something along the lines of: int cannot be converted to type java.util.Date. i was just wondering why it is throwing this error?

well please take a look and please help! thanks in advance!

   import java.util.Comparator;
   import java.util.Date;

    public class Order implements Comparable <Order>
   {
      private String lastName;
      private String firstName;
      private String title;
      private Date dateOfPurchase;
   
       public Order(String firstName, String lastName, String title, Date dateOfPurchase)
      {
         this.lastName = lastName;
         this.firstName = firstName;
         this.title = title;
         this.dateOfPurchase = dateOfPurchase;
      }
   
       public void setLastName(String lastName)
      {
         this.lastName = lastName;
      }
   
       public String getLastName()
      {
         return lastName;
      }
   
       public void setFirstName(String firstName)
      {
         this.firstName = firstName;
      }
   
       public String getFirstName()
      {
         return firstName;
      }
   
       public void setTitle(String title)
      {
         this.title = title;
      }
   
       public String getTitle()
      {
         return title;
      }
   
       public void setDateOfPurchase(Date dateOfPurchase)
      {
         this.dateOfPurchase = dateOfPurchase;
      }
   
       public Date getDateofPurchase()
      {
         return dateOfPurchase;
      }
   
       public int compareTo(Order anOrder)
      {
         int result;
      	
         result = this.dateOfPurchase.compareTo(anOrder.dateOfPurchase);
         
         if (result == 0)
         {
            result = this.lastName.compareTo(anOrder.lastName);
         }
         else
         {	
            if(result ==0)
            {
               result = this.firstName.compareTo(anOrder.firstName);
            }
            else	
            {	
               result = this.title.compareTo(anOrder.title);
            }
         }		
      	
         return result;
      		
      }
   
       public boolean equals(Order anOrder)
      {
         
         boolean result;
         
         result = (this.dateOfPurchase.equals(anOrder.dateOfPurchase) && this.lastName.equals(anOrder.lastName)
            && this.firstName.equals(anOrder.firstName) && this.title.equals(anOrder.title));
      	
         return result;
     }

[evlich]

One thing to note with the code:

       public int compareTo(Order anOrder)
      {
         int result;
      	
         result = this.dateOfPurchase.compareTo(anOrder.dateOfPurcha  se);
         
         if (result == 0)
         {
            result = this.lastName.compareTo(anOrder.lastName);
         }
         else
         {	
            if(result ==0) // This line is always false and so is redundent
            {
               result = this.firstName.compareTo(anOrder.firstName);
            }
            else	
            {	
               result = this.title.compareTo(anOrder.title);
            }
         }		
      	
         return result;
      		
      }

Hope this helps.