Description
1. Introduction
In this assignment you will write a Java program to model an email client. This is another
way of saying an “email program”. This email client will run from the console window, and
it will not actually send or receive email.
Later we’ll add a GUI to it and have it interact with a real mail server. Hypothetically, this
email program will be able to send and receive email from your actual UConn / GMail
email account.
2. Due Date
This project is due by midnight at the end of the day on Sunday, April 19, 2015. A penalty
of 20% per day will be deducted from your grade, starting at 12:00:01am. See this link for
additional information.
3. Value
This program is worth a maximum of 20 points. See the grading rubric at the end for a
breakdown of the values of different parts of this project.
4. Objectives
The purpose of this assignment is to give you experience writing classes from a
specification that’s more vague than usual. You will be left to fill in more of the details.
Also you will get experience using the ArrayList class.
5. Background
5.1. ArrayList
Read about the ArrayList class in section 6.13, starting on page 496 in the Pearson Custom
book.
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An ArrayList is like an array, except that it is a class from which you make instances and
call methods. The biggest benefit to using an ArrayList instead of a normal array is that an
ArrayList instance will adjust its size automatically as you add elements to it.
There is some new syntax associated with using the ArrayList class. This is a collection or
container class in Java, meaning that it’s used to store other instances. Each collection
class is parameterized over the type of instance you can store in it. Just like the type of an
array that can store strings is String[], the type of ArrayList that can store strings is
ArrayList. Whatever class type you want to store in the ArrayList, that type must
appear within the angle brackets.
Here are some examples of the similarities between an array and an ArrayList.
Array ArrayList
String[] a; ArrayList a;
a = new String[5]; a = new ArrayList();
a[0] = “Hello”; a.add(“Hello”);
a[1] = “World”; a.add(“World”);
String s = a[0]; String s = a.get(0);
You may also use an ArrayList instance in an enhanced for loop:
ArrayList a = new ArrayList();
a.add(whatever); // do a few of these
for(String s: a)
System.out.println(a);
I’ve used the example of an ArrayList, but you may use any class type within the
angle brackets like ArrayList or ArrayList.
6. Assignment
Read through all of the subsections in this section before you start, to make sure you
understand how you must proceed with the assignment.
6.1. Create a new project
Create a Main class with a main method. You don’t have to put anything in the main
method yet. I just want you to do this so that you can have a class in the default package
before you do the next step.
In this assignment, the remainder of the classes that you create will go into a specific
package called client. Create that package now. Right-click on the project in Eclipse,
select New, then Package, and name it client.
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6.2. Contact class
Summary
The Contact class represents people to whom you can send email. Contact instances will
be stored in an address book.
Do this
Create this class in the client package. This class should have three fields (member
variables):
1. An email address
2. A full name
3. A nick name
All of these should be Strings.
Provide two constructors: one full constructor (parameters for all three member variables),
and one that has a parameter only for the email address. This second constructor will leave
the other two fields null.
Add a toString method (and use the @Override annotation) that works like this:
Contact c1 = new Contact(“jeffm@engr.uconn.edu”);
c2.toString() should return “<jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>”.
Contact c2 = new Contact(“jeffm@engr.uconn.edu”, “Jeff Meunier”, “jeff”);
c2.toString() should return “Jeff Meunier (jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>”.
Ensure that there are spaces between the sections in that string (i.e., after the full name and
after the nick name).
6.3. AddressBook class
Summary
This class stores a collection of Contact instances.
Do this
1. Create this class and have a single member variable of type ArrayList. Define
the variable, don’t just declare it (i.e., assign a new instance to it). I will refer to this as the
contact list.
You do not need a constructor.
2. Write an add method that has a Contact parameter and adds the contact to the contact
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list.
3. Write a remove method that has a String parameter, which is the nick name of the
contact to remove. Remove that contact from the contact list. Have it return the contact
that was removed, or null if there was no contact found.
Hint: Use the search method that you already wrote in order to find the contact, then
remove that contact from the contact list. See the online documentation for ArrayList for
how the remove method works in the ArrayList class.
Be sure that the remove method does not crash if you give it a nick name that does not
exist in the list. Display a message that the nick name can’t be found.
4. Write a search method that has a String parameter, which is a nick name to search for.
The method must iterate over the contact list. If the nick name is found (use .equals),
return that contact. If no contact is found, return null.
5. Write a show method that displays each Contact instance. It has no parameters and
returns nothing. Display one contact per line, and number each line. Like this:
1. Jeff Meunier (jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>
2. Bill Gates (money) <billg@microsoft.com>
3. Vladimir Putin (vman) <vlad@kremlin.ru>
Make sure that the numbers shown start at 1, not at 0.
[Note: Some of you may understand that using an ArrayList here may not be the best way
to implement an address book. Yes, you are correct, but we’ll get to that later. We need to
go one step at a time.]
Testing
Add some statements to the main method that create two or three Contact instances and
add them to an AddressBook. Then search for each address, and search for one that
doesn’t exist. Display the result of each search to see if each was retrieved correctly. Then
remove one of them and show the list to be sure that it was removed correctly.
6.4. Message class
Summary
This class represents email messages.
Do this
1. Create this class. This class must have the following fields: two contacts representing
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whom the message is from and whom it’s to, two strings representing the subject and body
of the message, and a Date (in java.util) that’s the time that the message was created
(you’ll also use this field for the time that a message was received — that can be
considered to be its creation time).
2. Write a constructor that has a parameter for each member variable except the Date
variable. To initialize the Date variable, just create a new instance of Date without any
arguments (that represents the exact time of day that the Date instance was created).
3. Write a show method that displays the message. It has no parameters and returns
nothing. Here’s an example of a correctly formatted message:
Date: 2015/04/12 17:16:33
From: Jeff Meunier (jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>
Subj: a test message
This is a test of the Message class.
You will need to use a SimpleDateFormat instance in order to display the date the way
that I show it. Google it.
4. Write a toString method that returns a one-line summary of the message, everything but
the body, like this:
“FROM: Jeff Meunier (jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>, TO: Bill Gates (money)
<billg@microsoft.com>, SUBJ: wasssup, DATE: 2015/04/12 17:16:33”
Testing
Add some statements to the main method to test all the methods in this class.
6.5. MailBox class
Summary
A mail box is where a group of related messages is stored. In this application you’ll use a
mail box to hold messages received, and another one for out-going messages that have not
yet been delivered.
Do this
1. Create this class. Also give it a member variable that can hold a list of Message
instances. When I say list I mean for you to use an ArrayList. (Yes, Java has linked lists, but
we’re not using them here.)
You do not need to write a constructor for this class.
2. Write an add method that lets you add a message to this mail box, where the message is
a parameter. The method returns nothing. Just add the message to the list of messages.
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3. Write a count method that returns the number of messages in this mail box. Have a look
at the documentation for the ArrayList class to determine what method to use.
4. Write a getMessage method that has an integer parameter and returns the message at
that index from the list, or returns null if that message does not exist. Recall that messages
are numbered starting at 0.
5. Write a remove method that deletes a message from this mail box. There should be one
parameter, which is the index number of the message to delete. Have it return the message
that was removed, or null if there was no message at that location.
6. Write a show method that displays each message. It should work a lot like the show
method, in that it shows each message on one line (or as close to it as possible), and
numbers each message. Use the Message.toString method.
Make sure that the numbers shown start at 1, not at 0.
1. FROM: Jeff Meunier (jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>, TO: Bill Gates (money)
<billg@microsoft.com>, SUBJ: wasssup, DATE: 2015/04/12 17:16:33
2. FROM: Bill Gates (money) <billg@microsoft.com>, TO: Jeff Meunier (jeff)
<jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>, SUBJ: hey dude, DATE: 2015/04/12 17:19:41
Testing
Add some statements to the main method to test all the methods in this class.
6.6. MailClient class
Summary
This class will hold the address book, an inbox, and an outbox. It also contains the contact
information for the sender, meaning it keeps track of your account information.
Do this
1. Create this class with the following properties: a Contact instance that is for the user
(meaning, you), an AddressBook, and two Mailboxes, one for in-coming mail and one for
out-going mail.
2. Create a constructor that has a Contact parameter. This will be the contact information
for the user. Make sure you create new instances of the address book and two mailboxes
and store them in the member variables. You can do that either here in the constructor or
where you declare the member variables.
Add the user’s contact instance to the address book.
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3. Write an addToInBox method that provides the ability to add a Message (parameter) to
the inbox.
4. Write an addToOutBox method that provides the ability to add a Message (parameter)
to the outbox.
5. Write getInBox, getOutBox, and getMyAddress accessors. The getMyAddress method
returns the contact instance that was provided when the constructor was called.
6. Write a searchForContact method that takes a nick name (String) and returns that
contact from the address book, or null if the nick name is not found. This is the same
behavior as the AddressBook.search method, so you’d better just call that method.
Testing
Add some statements to the main method to test all the methods in this class.
6.7. CmdLoop class
Summary
This class will allow a user to interact with this mail client. The user will be able to enter
simple commands to manage an address book, compose and read messages, and manage
the inbox and outbox.
Do this
1. Create this class, and give it a constructor that has a MailClient parameter. Store this in
an instance member variable.
2. Write a run method that repeats these steps indefinitely:
1. It displays the prompt “Mail: “.
2. On the same line, it lets the user enter a command that consists of a few characters.
3. After the user enters the command, compare the command string to a few built-in
commands (use the .equals method):
⁃ “q”: This quits the loop, exiting the method.
⁃ “h”: This displays a list of commands that are available to the user. Have this
command call a method that displays all the commands — this method is
not needed outside this class, so make it private.
4. If the command that the user entered is not recognized, display a message.
5. If no command at all was entered (i.e., empty string), then do not display anything.
Example:
Mail: x
x not understood, type h for help
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Mail: h
h Show this help menu
q Quit
Mail: ← I just hit Enter here without typing anything
Mail: ← Same here
Mail: q
You may change the spacing between commands (like adding a blank line), or change the
prompt style a bit if you want to.
6.8. Test the CmdLoop
Delete the statements in the main method and then add statements to do this:
1. Create a new Contact instance with your information in it. For example, my contact
instance looks like this:
new Contact(“jeffm@engr.uconn.edu”, “Jeff Meunier”, “jeff”)
2. Create a new MailClient instance. Give it your Contact instance.
3. Create a new CmdLoop instance.
4. Run it.
Make sure it works the same as what I show you in the previous section.
6.9. Add commands
For each of the following commands, add the check for the command string inside the run
method, then have it call a specific private method in order to handle the command, just
like you did for the help command.
Please use exactly the same command names as I’ve shown you here. Your TAs will be
testing these commands.
Command: la
Description: List address book
If the user enters the string “la”, then show all the entries in the address book. This should
be an easy method to write. You already have a reference to a MailClient instance, and the
MailClient instance contains an address book. You’ll probably need to add a
getAddressBook method to the MailClient class. Then be sure to call the show method that
you wrote for the AddressBook class.
There should already be one Contact in the address book when you run the program.
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Command: li
Description: List inbox
Works similar to the “la” command. You may need to add a getter to the MailClient class.
Command: lo
Description: List outbox
Almost the same as the “li” command.
Command: aa
Description: Add to address book
This method prompts the user to enter an email address, full name, and nick name. Then it
creates a new Contact instance and stores it in the AddressBook. Like this (I’ve underlined
the stuff that the user has typed):
Email: jeffm@engr.uconn.edu
Full name: Jeff Meunier
Nick name: jeff
The user will be expected to type all the information correctly the first time.
Command: da
Description: Delete from address book
Ask the user which nick name to delete, then delete that contact if it exists. If it does not
exist, display a message indicating that the nick name can’t be found.
You’ll probably need to write a loop to do this: iterate through the contacts until you find
the right one, then delete it.
Command: cm
Description: Compose message
This lets the user enter the following things:
1. Either an email address or a nick name — determine which it is by checking for an
“at” sign @ in the string
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2. A subject
3. A message (one line is sufficient)
If the user enters an email address, then just create a new Contact with just that email
address. An email address is any string that contains an “at” sign: @ (yes, it’s actually more
complex than that, but keep this simple for now).
If the user did not enter a proper email address, consider it to be a nick name. Find that
Contact instance in the address book. If the contact is found, display it and use it,
otherwise ask the user all over again to enter a new name or email address.
The subject and message can just each be a single line.
After all the information is collected from the user, create a new Message instance from
that information and place the message in the outbox. Don’t forget you also need to use
your own contact instance as the “from” contact in the message. You may need to add a
getter to the MailClient class to help you with this.
Then use the “lo” command to be sure the message was placed in the outbox correctly.
Here’s an example:
Mail: cm
To: mom
Unknown recipient mom
To: jeff ← yours will have your nickname, not mine
Found Jeff Meunier (jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>
Subject: hi
Message: This is the message.
Mail: lo
1. FROM:Jeff Meunier (jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>, TO:Jeff Meunier
(jeff) <jeffm@engr.uconn.edu>, SUBJ:hi, DATE: 2015/04/14 19:30:57
Mail:
Command: ro
Description: Read outbox message
If the outbox contains 1 or more messages, prompt the user for a message number. Display
that message in full. Note that the user will enter a number 1 or greater, but the messages
are numbered 0 and greater. You will need to handle this. If the user enters an incorrect
number, display the message “Message number n can’t be found.” If there are no messages
in the outbox, display the message “Outbox empty.”
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Command: do
Description: Delete from outbox
Ask the user which message number to delete, then delete that message. Handle the
number in the same way as for the “ro” command: empty mailbox, or incorrect number.
Command: sr
Description: Send and receive
This command will eventually(™) connect to a real (or simulated) email server, send all
messages in the outbox, and download new messages into the inbox.
Right now have it do this: Move each message from the outbox into the inbox.
Command: ri
Description: Read inbox message
This should work the same way as for the “ro” command, except for the inbox instead of
the outbox.
Command: di
Description: Delete from inbox
Just like “do”, except for the inbox.
6.10. Update the h command
Make sure you add all the commands and descriptions to the help command method.
7. Report
Create a Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Word file (or some other format that your TA
agrees on — ask him or her if you are not sure). Save the file with a .doc or .docx format.
At the beginning of the document include this information:
Project title goes here
CSE1102 Project project-number, semester
Your name goes here
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The current date goes here
TA: Your TA’s name goes here
Section: Your section number goes here
Instructor: Jeffrey A. Meunier
Be sure to replace the parts that are underlined above.
Now create the following three sections in your document.
1. Introduction
In this section copy & paste the text from the introduction section of this
assignment. (It’s not plagiarism if you have permission to copy something. I give
you permission.
2. Output
Run your program and copy & paste the output from the command window here.
Demonstrate that each of the commands works. You do not need to write anything.
3. Source code
Copy & paste the contents of your Java file(s) here. You do not need to write
anything.
8. Submission
Submit the following things things on HuskyCT:
1. Your exported Eclipse project.
2. The report document.
If for some reason you are not able to submit your files on HuskyCT, email your TA before
the deadline. Attach your files to the email.
9. Grading Rubric
Your TA will grade your assignment based on these criteria:
• (2 points) The comment block at the beginning of the Main class file is correct.
• (10 points) The program displays the correct output and uses the correct
calculations to generate the answers.
• (4 points) The program is formatted neatly.
• (4 points) The document contains all the correct information and is formatted
neatly.
10. Getting help
Start your project early, because you will probably not be able to get help in the last few
hours before the project is due.
• If you need help, send e-mail to your TA immediately.
• Go to the office hours for (preferably) your TA or any other TA. I suggest you seeing
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your own TA first because your TA will know you better. However, don’t let that
stop you from seeing any TA for help.
• Send e-mail to Jeff.
• Go to Jeff’s office hours.