Java: instanceof doesn't compile

Question

I'm a newbie to Java and want to write a method checking if this object is of a sub class of given class <p_SuperClassName>. Eclipse denies compilation of the following code giving the message that "cls_Super can not be resolved to a type". I don't know why. Do you have a quick answer to this? Thx a lot in advance!

protected boolean isOfSubClassOf(String p_SuperClassName) {
    boolean res = false;

    Class<?> cls_Super = null;
    try {
        cls_Super = Class.forName(p_SuperClassName);
        res = (this instanceof cls_Super);
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException cnfe) {
        System.out.println("ClassNotFoundException: Did not find class '" + p_SuperClassName + "'.");
        cnfe.printStackTrace();
    }
    return res;
}

as described previously

Answer 1

You can't use a Class variable with the instanceof keyword, only the literal type name (e.g. obj instanceof ActualSuperClassName). With an instance of type Class (i.e. cls_Super, in your example), you can perform the same test by using the Class.isInstance method, i.e.:

res = cls_Super.isInstance(this);