What causes error “No enclosing instance of type Foo is accessible” and how do I fix it?

by

I have the following code:

class Hello {
    class Thing {
        public int size;

        Thing() {
            size = 0;
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Thing thing1 = new Thing();
        System.out.println("Hello, World!");
    }
}

I know Thing does nothing, but my Hello, World program compiles just fine without it. It’s only my defined classes that are failing on me.

And it refuses to compile. I get No enclosing instance of type Hello is accessible." at the line that creates a new Thing. I’m guessing either:

  1. I have system level problems (either in DrJava or my Java install) or
  2. I have some basic misunderstanding of how to construct a working program in java.

Any ideas?

10 Answers
10

Leave a Comment