Orphaned Case Java

In the previous section, we have discussed the switch statement in detail. In this section, we are going to discuss the rarest error i.e. orphaned case error in Java.

Orphaned Case Error

In Java, it is the rarest error that does not occur usually. The error occurs while dealing with the switch statement.

Reasons to Raise Orphaned Case Error

1. The keyword switch may be capitalizing. For example:

//incorrect
Switch(num)
{
//cases
}

//correct
switch(num)
{
//cases…
}

2. The cases may be out of the switch statement. For example, in the following code snippet case 2 is out of the switch statement.

switch (n) 
{  
case 1:  
// statements…
break;   
}  
case 2:  
//statements…
break;

3. If switch statement unexpectedly terminated.

switch (var); // terminated by ;   
{ 
case 1:   
//statements…   
break;    
}  

4. If we use comparison expression in the case statement.

switch(x)
{
case x>70:
System.out.println("True");
break;
case 65<x<=70:
System.out.println("False");
break;
}

How to fix an orphaned case error?

The keyword switch should be in small letters.
Ensure that all the case statements are inside the switch statement.
The switch statement should not be terminated by a semicolon (;).
Case statement should have number (1, 2, 3, …), character ('a', 'A', …), string ("Sunday", "act2102").
Case statement should not have a conditional expression like x>1.
Beside this, we can also use the four wrapper classes (Byte, Short, Integer, and Long) in switch and case statements. For example, consider the following code snippet.

Integer age = 18;        
switch (age)  
{  
case (16):            
System.out.println("You are under 18.");  
break;  
case (18):                
System.out.println("You are eligible for vote.");  
break;  
}

Example of Orphaned Case Error

OrphanedCaseError.java

public class OrphanedCaseError
{       
public static void main(String args[])  
{         
Integer age = 18;        
Switch (age)  //gives orphaned error
{  
case (16):            
System.out.println("You are under 18.");  
break;  
case (18):                
System.out.println("You are eligible for vote.");  
break;  
case (65):                
System.out.println("You are senior citizen.");  
break;  
default:  
System.out.println("Please give the valid age.");  
break;  
}             
}  
}  

When we compile the above Java program, it gives an orphaned case error.

In order to overcome the above error, write the switch statement in small letters. After making the changes, compile and run the above code. It gives the following output:

You are eligible for vote.

Let's see another Java program that raises orphaned case errors.

OrphanedCaseErrorExample.java

public class OrphanedCaseErrorExample 
{    
public static void main(String args[]) 
{    
char ch='O';    
switch(ch)
{  
case 'a':   
case 'e':   
case 'i':   
case 'o':   
case 'u':  
}
//case statements that are outside the switch statement  
case 'A':   
case 'E':   
case 'I':   
case 'O':   
case 'U':   
System.out.println("Vowel");
break;  
default:   
System.out.println("Consonant");  
}  
}    
}   

When we compile the above program, it gives an orphaned case error because the cases having uppercase letters are outside the switch statement.