Java Setter Using User Input - nullpointerexception

Question

To make sure this doesn't get closed, read this. This isn't a duplicate post because the only other user input setter is in C or c something and if not that it's for a completly different application. How can I set up my setWord method to use user input and not be null. My current code gives off a null pointer because the variable is null, but I can't find out a viable way to set it's value using user input. Current code: Subclass:
package hangman;
public class Hangman {
private String word;
public void setWord(String word) {
this.word = toString();
}
public String getWord() {
return this.word;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
System.out.println("Enter secret word: ");
return (this.getWord());
}
}
Main
public static void main(String[] args) {
Hangman hangman = new Hangman();
hangman.setWord();
String secretWord = hangman.getWord();
StringBuilder b = new StringBuilder(secretWord.length());
}
Again, the issue is that I can't find a way to set the private String "word" to user input without it ending up being null. Please dont mark this as duplicate I already looked at the generic cookie cutter nullpointerexception threads but haven't helped me at all. I've been stuck on this and it's my last part of my program. The null pointer is always at the stringbuilder, which suggests that secretWord is null.

Answer 1

Think about it: where do you ever set the word? setWord assigns the return of toString, which returns the result of getWord, but getWord just returns what this.word already was! Nowhere do you ever set a word, so it's never initialized! You just set this.word to what it was originally, which was null. This causes an NPE when you call secretWord.length(), since secretWord is null.
You have another problem, which I'm assuming is a typo here, where your call to setWord in your main isn't given an argument. That's illegal and creates an error of its own, so it should never reach the StringBuilder line.
Change setWord to:
public void setWord(String word) {
this.word = word; ; Set it to its argument
}
Then call it with a word as the argument:
hangman.setWord("Word");

Answer 2

Originally I had a toString which served no functional purpose. And the setWord method required a parameter which I didn't have so to fix it I replaced the setWord code with this
public void setWord() {
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Enter the secret word: (Under 7 letters)");
this.word = scan.nextLine();
this.word = word;
}