FILE HANDLING
In java
Introduction
The File class from the java.io package, allows us to work with files.
To use the File class, create an object of the class, and specify the filename or
directory name:
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
File myObj = new File("filename.txt"); // Specify the filename
The File class has many useful methods for creating and getting information about
files. For example:
Method Type Description
canRead() Boolean Tests whether the file is readable or not
canWrite() Boolean Tests whether the file is writable or not
createNewFile() Boolean Creates an empty file
delete() Boolean Deletes a file
exists() Boolean Tests whether the file exists
getName() String Returns the name of the file
getAbsolutePath() String Returns the absolute pathname of the file
length() Long Returns the size of the file in bytes
list() String[] Returns an array of the files in the directory
mkdir() Boolean Creates a directory
Create a File
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
import java.io.IOException; // Import the IOException class to handle errors
public class CreateFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
if (myObj.createNewFile()) {
System.out.println("File created: " + myObj.getName());
} else {
System.out.println("File already exists.");
}
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("An error occurred.");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Write To a File
we use the FileWriter class together with its write() method to write some text to the file we
created in the example above. Note that when you are done writing to the file, you should
close it with the close() method:
import java.io.FileWriter; // Import the FileWriter class
import java.io.IOException; // Import the IOException class to handle errors
public class WriteToFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
FileWriter myWriter = new FileWriter("filename.txt");
myWriter.write("Files in Java might be tricky, but it is fun enough!");
myWriter.close();
System.out.println("Successfully wrote to the file.");
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("An error occurred.");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Read a File
we use the Scanner class to read the contents of the text file
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
import java.io.FileNotFoundException; // Import this class to handle errors
import java.util.Scanner; // Import the Scanner class to read text files
public class ReadFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
Scanner myReader = new Scanner(myObj);
while (myReader.hasNextLine()) {
String data = myReader.nextLine();
System.out.println(data);
}
myReader.close();
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
System.out.println("An error occurred.");
e.printStackTrace();
}
Delete a File
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
public class DeleteFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
if (myObj.delete()) {
System.out.println("Deleted the file: " + myObj.getName());
} else {
System.out.println("Failed to delete the file.");
}
}
}
