I would like to be able to define a class<?> variable of a class that is in my Processing workspace using Class.forName(), and then instantiate an object from that class<?> variable using newInstance(). For example:

1. void setup() {
2.   size(100,100);
3.    try {
   
4.      println("Start");
   
5.      Class<?> cls = Class.forName("MyExampleClass");
   
6.      println("Middle");
   
7.      Object myExampleObject = cls.newInstance();
   
8.      println("End");
   
9.    }
   
10.    catch(Exception e) {
    
11.      System.err.println("There was an error loading class");
    
12.      System.err.println(e);
    
13.      System.exit(0);
    
14.    }
    
15. }
    
16. 
    
17. void draw() {
    
18.   println("We made it!");
    
19. }

In this example, MyExampleClass is a class in its own tab in Processing. When I try to run this program, I get the following error from line 5:

1. Start
   
2. There was an error loading class
   
3. java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: MyExampleClass

If I change the string in line 5 of my program to "classTest$MyExampleClass", I get another error, this time from line 7:

1. Start
   
2. Middle
   
3. There was an error loading class
   
4. java.lang.InstantiationException: classTest$MyExampleClass

Changing the string in the original example to "classTest.MyExampleClass" (i.e. with a period instead of a dollar sign), I get my first error.

Any ideas how I can get this to work? My overall goal is to be able to get an instance of a class based on a string of it's name.