getColor() method not found? Chess Game Help Java

Question

so I'm trying to code a Chess Program in Java but I'm having some trouble with my getColor() method. I'm relying on some of the code from Gridworld. I've created a class for each piece. I want the piece to work like a critter from Gridworld in the sense that I have a method that creates an ArrayList of possible locations to choose from when moving. This is where I've hit a problem. I've tried to create a getColor() method, but for some reason it is not working. I asked my teacher for help but he was as puzzled as I was. I tried debugging it but I don't see anything wrong with it. The exact error I get is this:

"Cannot find symbol - method getColor()"

Here's all my code, I'm using BlueJ for the record:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.awt.Color;

public interface Piece
{
    public enum PieceType {pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, king}
}

Next is the ChessPiece Abstract Class. I haven't worked on the selectMoveLocation method yet though:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.awt.Color;
import info.gridworld.grid.Location;
import info.gridworld.grid.BoundedGrid;

public abstract class ChessPiece implements Piece
{
    Color colorOfPiece;
    PieceType typeOfPiece;
    public BoundedGrid<Object> board;
    public Location location;
    public ArrayList moveLocations;

    public ChessPiece( Color whiteOrBlack, PieceType selectedType)
    {
        if (whiteOrBlack == Color.BLACK || whiteOrBlack == Color.WHITE)
        {
            if ((selectedType == PieceType.pawn || selectedType == PieceType.rook || selectedType == PieceType.knight || selectedType == PieceType.bishop ||selectedType == PieceType.queen || selectedType == PieceType.king))
            {
                colorOfPiece = whiteOrBlack;
                typeOfPiece = selectedType;
                location = null;
            }
        }
    }

    public Color getColor()
    {
        return colorOfPiece;
    }

    public void makeMove(Location newLocation)
    {
        if (board == null)
            throw new IllegalStateException("This actor is not in a board.");
        if (board.get(location) != this)
            throw new IllegalStateException(
                "The board contains a different actor at location "
                + location + ".");
        if (!board.isValid(newLocation))
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Location " + newLocation
                + " is not valid.");

        if (newLocation.equals(location))
            return;
        board.remove(location);
        location = newLocation;
        board.put(location, this);
    }

    public Location getLocation()
    {
        return location;
    }

    public BoundedGrid<Object> getBoard()
    {
        return board;
    }

    public Location selectMoveLocation(ArrayList<Location> moveLocations)
    {
        Location selection;
        selection = null;
        //mouse stuff
        return selection;
    }

}

And finally, the code that gives me the compiler error. This is just the code for my King piece, though it gives me the error for every piece where I try and implement it:

import java.awt.Color;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import info.gridworld.grid.Location;
import info.gridworld.grid.BoundedGrid;

//must fix problem with getColor()
public class King extends ChessPiece
{
    ArrayList<Location> moveLocations;
   // private Color colorOfPiece;

    public King( Color whiteOrBlack )
    {
        super(whiteOrBlack, PieceType.king);
        //colorOfPiece = whiteOrBlack;
    }

    public void getMoveLocations()
    {
        moveLocations.clear();
        for (int i = 0; i < 360; i += 45)
        {
            if ((getBoard().isValid(getLocation().getAdjacentLocation(i))) && (((getBoard().get(getLocation().getAdjacentLocation(i))) == null) || (((getBoard().get(getLocation().getAdjacentLocation(i)))).getColor() == colorOfPiece)))
            {
                moveLocations.add(getLocation().getAdjacentLocation(i));
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

getBoard().get(..) returns a template type E according to the doc I found online, and in your case, E is type Object (since your board data member in ChessPiece is a collection of Objects.) Object has no getColor() method. You'll want to cast (((getBoard().get(getLocation().getAdjacentLocation(i)))) to a class that has a getColor method. (Or maybe change your board to a collection of ChessPieces)