Dot operator not clickable and lightbulb icon appearing in IntelliJ

Question

I'm currently working on a Java Spring project and trying to add elements to a List<String> using the .add() method. However, when I type the dot (.) after declaring my list the (.) is not functioning i.e. after clicking the '.' it is not shown in the editor, IntelliJ doesn't recognize the dot operator. a lightbulb icon appears next to the line, and the tooltip suggests "Not a statement."

@Bean
public Subjects Msub() {
    Subjects subj = new Subjects();
    List<String> subjList = new ArrayList<>();
    
    // Issue occurs here when I try to use the .add() method
    subjList.add("Math");  // The dot operator is not clickable, and IntelliJ shows a lightbulb.
    
    return subj;
}`

I ensured that my list was initialized properly and checked for syntax errors, but the issue persists.

Troubleshooting Attempts:

• Checked imports: I verified that java.util.List and java.util.ArrayList are imported correctly.
• Rebuilt the project: I tried rebuilding the project to ensure all dependencies were loaded.
• Invalidated caches and restarted IntelliJ: This didn’t resolve the issue.
• Used IntelliJ suggestions (Alt/Option + Enter): IntelliJ offers no helpful suggestions, just stating "Not a statement."

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• but when I directly copy and paste the code, it works

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Answer 1

If you're facing an issue where the dot (.) operator is not functioning in IntelliJ, the solution is simple. Try either reinstalling IntelliJ or resetting your keymap to default settings. This should resolve the problem effectively.