Initializing strings to zero value in a Constructor

[kelbird]

Hi,
I'm struggling to understand how to initialize a string to zero value within the constructor. I have created mutator method and accessor method to display the string entered by user, however when using the accessor method it keeps displaying a null value.

class Book
{
// The fields.
private String author;
private String title;
private int pages;
private String refNumber = null;

public void setRefNumber(String ref)
{
ref = refNumber;
}

/**
* returns the reference number
*/

public String getRefNumber()
{
return refNumber;
}

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

[nspils]

In an assignment statement, the variable which is being assigned a value is the left hand side of the assignment operator, while the value being assigned is on the right. Therefore, your statement should be

refNumber = ref;