Make a custom ArrayList toString() that displays contents line by line? - arrays

Question

I understand with toString() methods, their must be a return type, when an external method is called.
The comment block below describes what I'm trying to do.
Later on when I work with setters and getters, this knowledge will most definitely be invaluable.
import java.util.*;
public class Display_ArrayList {
static ArrayList<String> cars = new ArrayList<String>();
public static void main(String[] args) {
cars.add("Nissan Maxima");
cars.add("Toyota Prius");
cars.add("Renault Clio");
cars.add("Ford Focus");
cars.add("Volkwagen Passat");
System.out.println("");
System.out.println("[Standard toString()]:");
System.out.println(cars.toString());
System.out.println("");
System.out.println("[Custom toString()]:");
System.out.println(custom_cars_toString());
}
// Array list displays the car list all on the same line
public static String getCarList() {
return cars.toString();
}
// *************************************************************************
// I want Array list contents to be displayed on their own lines without
// commas or brackets, while at the same allowing this method to be
// retrieved by a toString() method
// *************************************************************************
// public static void getCarList() {
// for (String element : cars)
// System.out.println(element);
// }
public static String custom_cars_toString() {
return "The cars contained are: \n" + getCarList();
}
}

Answer 1

Can't you just make a class that extends ArrayList which overrides the toString method? Then you could make something like this:
public class DisplayArrayList<T> extends ArrayList {
#Override
public String toString() {
String res = "";
for (int i = 0; i < size(); i++) {
res += (i == 0 ? "" : "\n") + get(i).toString();
}
return res;
}
}
Then you can just put your cars in a DisplayArrayList instead of an ArrayList and then when you print that you will get them all on individual lines.
For example this:
DisplayArrayList<String> list = new DisplayArrayList<>();
list.add("test1");
list.add("test2");
list.add("test3");
list.add("test4");
list.add("test5");
System.out.println(list);
Would output this:
test1
test2
test3
test4
test5
Sorry if this doesn't do what you want to, couldn't completely figure out what you want from your post.