Android/Java nice code presentation

Question

I'm working on an "perfect" Android CRUD, with as many options as possible.

Its purpose is to be opensource and shared.

So, I'm trying to have a nice and indented, readable code, but I'm having the following problem.

That looks ugly :

public Where<Item, Integer> getWhereSearchOnNameLight(String searchName) {
    try {
        return itemsDao.queryBuilder().selectColumns(Item.COLUMN_ID,
                                                     Item.COLUMN_NAME,
                                                     Item.COLUMN_CATEGORY_ID)
                                      .where()
                                      .like(Item.COLUMN_NAME, "%" + searchName + "%");
    } catch (SQLException e) { e.printStackTrace(); }
    return null;
}

This looks pretty :

public Where<Item, Integer> getWhereSearchOnNameLight(String searchName) {
    try {
        return itemsDao.queryBuilder().selectColumns(Item.COLUMN_ID,
                                                     Item.COLUMN_NAME,
                                      .where()       Item.COLUMN_CATEGORY_ID)
                                      .like(Item.COLUMN_NAME, "%" + searchName + "%");
    } catch (SQLException e) { e.printStackTrace(); }
    return null;
}

But the compiler is associating the .where() with the Item.COLUMN_CATEGORY_ID), just because they are on the same line.

I'd like to make him understand that it's only for display purpose, but I can't.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

In java, you can't do that. Maybe you can change their position.
It looks pretty too.

public Where<Item, Integer> getWhereSearchOnNameLight(String searchName) {
    try {
        return itemsDao.queryBuilder().where()
                                      .like(Item.COLUMN_NAME, "%" + searchName + "%")
                                      .selectColumns(Item.COLUMN_ID,
                                                     Item.COLUMN_NAME,
                                                     Item.COLUMN_CATEGORY_ID);
    } catch (SQLException e) { e.printStackTrace(); }
    return null;
}

Answer 2

Compilers strip and ignore all whitespace so you need to respect the correct ordering of elements (i.e., have the where() after the ) of selectColumns).

Answer 3

There's really not much you can do, but try to reorganize it in a way that reads best. Many programmers will pick and choose their style; my advice is to pick a style and stick to it.

For instance, a hit of the return key and a few keystrokes in IntelliJ 13 gets me this:

public Where<Item, Integer> getWhereSearchOnNameLight(String searchName) {
    try {
        return itemsDao.queryBuilder()
                .selectColumns(Item.COLUMN_ID,
                        Item.COLUMN_NAME,
                        Item.COLUMN_CATEGORY_ID)
                .where()
                .like(Item.COLUMN_NAME, "%" + searchName + "%");
    } catch (SQLException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return null;
}

And that is my preferred style, where applicable.