Reference External Variables in Map Function (Inner class)

[Sunny Khatri]

I have a class defining an inner static class (map function). The inner
class tries to refer the variable instantiated in the outside class, which
results in a NullPointerException. Sample Code as follows:

class SampleOuterClass {

     private static ArrayList<String> someVariable;

     SampleOuterClass() {
           // initialize someVariable
     }

    public static class Parse implements Function<...> {
          public TypeReturn call (...) {
                  // Try using someVariable: *Raises NullPointerException*
          }
    }

    public void run() {
        RDD<> rdd = data.map(new Parse()).rdd()
    }
}

Am I missing something with how Closures work with Spark or something else
is wrong ?

Thanks
Sunny