Java IO Tutorial

Java I/O Tutorial
Table des matires

Java I/O Tutorial........................................................................................................ 6
1
File................................................................................................................... 6
1.1
How to create a file in Java........................................................................6
1.2
How to construct a file path in Java...........................................................6
1.2.1
File.separator....................................................................................... 7
1.2.2
new File()............................................................................................. 8
1.2.3
Manual file separator...........................................................................8
1.3
How to set the file permission in Java........................................................9
1.3.1
File permission example....................................................................10
1.4
How to read file in Java BufferedInputStream........................................11
1.5
How to read file in Java BufferedReader................................................12
1.6
How to write to file in Java FileOutputStream........................................13
1.7
How to write to file in Java BufferedWriter............................................14
1.8
How to append content to file in Java......................................................15
1.8.1
Append file example..........................................................................15
1.8.2
Result................................................................................................ 16
1.9
How to delete file in Java.........................................................................16
1.9.1
Example............................................................................................ 16
1.10 How to delete files with certain extension only.......................................17

1.11 How to find files with certain extension only...........................................18
1.12 How to rename file in Java.......................................................................19
1.12.1 File.renameTo() Example...................................................................19
1.13 How to copy file in Java............................................................................19
1.13.1 File copy example.............................................................................. 20
1.14 How to move file to another directory in Java..........................................21
1.14.1 File.renameTo().................................................................................. 21
1.14.2 Copy and Delete................................................................................ 21
1.15 How to get the file creation date in Java..................................................22
1.15.1 How it work........................................................................................ 22
1.15.2 Example............................................................................................ 22
1.15.3 Result................................................................................................ 23
1.16 How to get the file last modified date in Java..........................................23
1.16.1 File Last Modified............................................................................... 24
1.16.2 Result................................................................................................ 24
1.17 How to change the file last modified date in Java....................................24
1.17.1 Result................................................................................................ 25
1.18 How to make a file read only in Java........................................................25
1.18.1 Example............................................................................................ 25
1.18.2 Output............................................................................................... 25
1.19 How to get file size in Java.......................................................................26
1.19.1 Example............................................................................................ 26
1.19.2 Result................................................................................................ 26
1.20 How to get the filepath of a file in Java....................................................27
1.20.1 Get file path example........................................................................27
1.20.2 Result................................................................................................ 27
1.21 How to get the total number of lines of a file in Java...............................28
1.21.1 Example............................................................................................ 28
1.21.2 Result................................................................................................ 29
1.22 How to check if a file exists in Java..........................................................29
1.23 How to check if a file is hidden in Java.....................................................29
1.24 How to read UTF-8 encoded data from a file Java.................................30
1.24.1 Result................................................................................................ 31
1.25 How to write UTF-8 encoded data into a file Java..................................31
1.25.1 Result................................................................................................ 32
1.26 How to assign file content into a variable in Java....................................32
1.26.1 Example............................................................................................ 32
1.26.2 Output............................................................................................... 33
1.27 How to generate a file checksum value in Java.......................................33
1.27.1 Result................................................................................................ 34
1.28 How to convert File into an array of bytes...............................................34
1.29 How to convert array of bytes into File....................................................35
1.30 How to convert String to InputStream in Java..........................................35
1.31 How to convert InputStream to String in Java..........................................36
1.32 How to convert File to Hex in Java...........................................................37
1.32.1 Example............................................................................................ 37
1.32.2 Demo................................................................................................. 38
1.33 How to get free disk space in Java...........................................................39
1.33.1 Example............................................................................................ 39
1.33.2 Output............................................................................................... 39
2
File Serialization............................................................................................. 40
2.1
How to write an Object to file in Java.......................................................40
2.1.1
Address.java...................................................................................... 40
2.1.2
Serializer.java.................................................................................... 41
2.2
How to read an Object from file in Java....................................................41
2.2.1
3
File Compression............................................................................................ 42
3.1
How to compress files in ZIP format........................................................42
3.1.1
Simple ZIP example...........................................................................43
3.1.2
Advance ZIP example Recursively..................................................43
3.2
How to decompress files from a ZIP file...................................................45
3.2.1
3.3
3.4
GZIP Example.................................................................................... 49
How to decompress serialized object from a Gzip file..............................50
3.6.1
GZIP example.................................................................................... 50
3.6.2
Output............................................................................................... 51
Temporary File................................................................................................ 51
4.1
How to create temporary file in Java........................................................51
4.1.1
Example............................................................................................ 51
4.1.2
Result................................................................................................ 52
4.2
How to write data to temporary file in Java.............................................52
4.2.1
4.3
4.4
Example............................................................................................ 52
How to delete temporary file in Java........................................................53
4.3.1
Gzip example..................................................................................... 48
How to compress serialized object into file..............................................49
3.5.1
3.6
GZip example.................................................................................... 47
How to decompress file from GZIP file.....................................................48
3.4.1
3.5
Decompress ZIP file example............................................................45
How to compress a file in GZIP format.....................................................47
3.3.1
Deserializer.java................................................................................ 42
Example............................................................................................ 53
How to get the temporary file path in Java..............................................53
4.4.1
Example............................................................................................ 53
4.4.2
Result................................................................................................ 54
Directory........................................................................................................ 54
5.1
How to create directory in Java................................................................54
5.1.1
5.2
How to delete directory in Java................................................................55
5.2.1
Directory recursive delete example...................................................55
5.2.2
Result................................................................................................ 57
5.3
How to copy directory in Java..................................................................57
5.3.1
Example............................................................................................ 57
5.3.2
Result................................................................................................ 59
5.4
How to traverse a directory structure in Java...........................................59
5.4.1
Example............................................................................................ 59
5.4.2
Output............................................................................................... 59
5.5
How to check if directory is empty in Java...............................................60
5.5.1
5.6
Example............................................................................................ 60
How to get the current working directory in Java.....................................60
5.6.1
6
Example............................................................................................ 55
Example............................................................................................ 60
Console IO...................................................................................................... 61
6.1
How to get the standard input in Java......................................................61
Java I/O Tutorial

Java comes with many handy I/O classes to support the input and output through bytes stream
and file system. Heres a list of the Java I/O examples including file, temporary file and
directory manipulation, encoding, serialized and also compression with zip or Gzip.
1
File
List of the File examples to show the use of Java I/O to create, read, write, modify file and get
the files information.
1.1
How to create a file in Java
The File.createNewFile() method is used to create a file in Java, and return a boolean value :
true if the file is created successful; false if the file is already exists or the operation failed.
package com.mkyong.file;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
public class CreateFileExample
{
public static void main( String[] args )
{
try {
File file = new File("c:\\newfile.txt");
if (file.createNewFile()){
System.out.println("File is created!");
}else{
System.out.println("File already exists.");
}
}
}
1.2
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
How to construct a file path in Java
In this tutorial, we will show you three Java examples to construct a file path :
1. File.separator or System.getProperty(file.separator) (Recommended)
2. File file = new File(workingDir, filename); (Recommended)
3. Create the file separator manually. (Not recommend, just for fun)
1.2.1 File.separator
Classic Java example to construct a file path, using File.separator or

System.getProperty("file.separator"). Both will check the OS and returns the file
separator correctly, for example,
1. Windows = \
2. *nix or Mac = /
FilePathExample1.java
public class FilePathExample1 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
String filename = "newFile.txt";
String workingDirectory = System.getProperty("user.dir");
//****************//
String absoluteFilePath = "";
//absoluteFilePath = workingDirectory +
System.getProperty("file.separator") + filename;
absoluteFilePath = workingDirectory + File.separator +
filename;
System.out.println("Final filepath : " + absoluteFilePath);
//****************//
File file = new File(absoluteFilePath);
if (file.createNewFile()) {
} else {
System.out.println("File is already existed!");
}
}
Output
Final filepath :
/Users/mkyong/Documents/workspace/maven/fileUtils/newFile.txt
File is created!
1.2.2 new File()
Some developers are using new File() API to construct the file path.
try {
String filename = "newFile.txt";
String workingDirectory = System.getProperty("user.dir");
//****************//
File file = new File(workingDirectory, filename);
//****************//
System.out.println("Final filepath : " +
file.getAbsolutePath());
} else {
System.out.println("File is already existed!");
}
}
}
Output
Final filepath :
File is created!
1.2.3 Manual file separator
Check the system OS and create file path manually, just for fun, not recommend.
try {
String filename = "testing.txt";
String workingDir = System.getProperty("user.dir");
String absoluteFilePath = "";
//****************//
String your_os =
System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase();
if (your_os.indexOf("win") >= 0) {
//if windows
absoluteFilePath = workingDir + "\\" + filename;
} else if (your_os.indexOf("nix") >= 0 ||
your_os.indexOf("nux") >= 0 ||
your_os.indexOf("mac") >= 0) {
//if unix or mac
absoluteFilePath = workingDir + "/" + filename;
}else{
//unknow os?
absoluteFilePath = workingDir + "/" + filename;
}
System.out.println("Final filepath : " + absoluteFilePath);
//****************//
File file = new File(absoluteFilePath);
System.out.println("Done");
} else {
System.out.println("File already exists!");
}
}
Output
Final filepath :
File is created!
1.3
How to set the file permission in Java
In Java, file permissions are very OS specific: *nix , NTFS (windows) and FAT/FAT32, all
have different kind of file permissions. Java comes with some generic file permission to deal
with it.
Check if the file permission allow :
1. file.canExecute(); return true, file is executable; false is not.
2. file.canWrite(); return true, file is writable; false is not.
3. file.canRead(); return true, file is readable; false is not.
Set the file permission :

1. file.setExecutable(boolean); true, allow execute operations; false to
disallow it.
2. file.setReadable(boolean); true, allow read operations; false to disallow it.
3. file.setWritable(boolean); true, allow write operations; false to disallow it.
In *nix system, you may need to configure more specifies about file permission, e.g set a 777
permission for a file or directory, however, Java IO classes do not have ready method for it,
but you can use the following dirty workaround :
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("chmod 777 file");
1.3.1 File permission example

public class FilePermissionExample
{
{
try {
File file = new File("/mkyong/shellscript.sh");
if(file.exists()){
System.out.println("Is Execute allow : " +
file.canExecute());
System.out.println("Is Write allow : " + file.canWrite());
System.out.println("Is Read allow : " + file.canRead());
}
file.setExecutable(false);
file.setReadable(false);
file.setWritable(false);
System.out.println("Is Execute allow : " +
file.canExecute());
System.out.println("Is Write allow : " + file.canWrite());
System.out.println("Is Read allow : " + file.canRead());
if (file.createNewFile()){
}else{
System.out.println("File already exists.");
}
}
}
1.4
How to read file in Java BufferedInputStream
Here is another example to show how to read a file in Java with BufferedInputStream and
DataInputStream classes.
The readLine() from the type DataInputStream is deprecated. Sun officially
announced this method can not convert property from bytes to characters. Its
advised to use BufferedReader.
You may interest to read this How to read file from Java BufferedReader
package com.mkyong.io;
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.BufferedInputStream;
java.io.DataInputStream;
java.io.File;
java.io.FileInputStream;
java.io.IOException;
public class BufferedInputStreamExample {

File file = new File("C:\\testing.txt");
FileInputStream fis = null;
BufferedInputStream bis = null;
DataInputStream dis = null;
try {
fis = new FileInputStream(file);

bis = new BufferedInputStream(fis);
dis = new DataInputStream(bis);
while (dis.available() != 0) {
System.out.println(dis.readLine());
}
}
}
} finally {
try {
fis.close();
bis.close();
dis.close();
} catch (IOException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
1.5
How to read file in Java BufferedReader
In Java, there are many ways to read a file, here we show you how to use the simplest and
most common-used method BufferedReader.
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileReader;
public class BufferedReaderExample {
BufferedReader br = null;
try {
String sCurrentLine;
br = new BufferedReader(new
FileReader("C:\\testing.txt"));
while ((sCurrentLine = br.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(sCurrentLine);
}
} finally {
try {
if (br != null)br.close();
} catch (IOException ex) {
}
}
}
}
See updated example in JDK 7, which use try-with-resources new feature to close file
automatically.
import java.io.FileReader;
public class BufferedReaderExample {
try (BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new
FileReader("C:\\testing.txt")))
{
String sCurrentLine;
while ((sCurrentLine = br.readLine()) != null) {

System.out.println(sCurrentLine);
}
}
}
1.6
How to write to file in Java FileOutputStream
In Java, FileOutputStream is a bytes stream class thats used to handle raw binary data. To
write the data to file, you have to convert the data into bytes and save it to file. See below full
example.
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
public class WriteFileExample {
FileOutputStream fop = null;
File file;
String content = "This is the text content";
try {
file = new File("c:/newfile.txt");
fop = new FileOutputStream(file);
// if file doesnt exists, then create it
if (!file.exists()) {
file.createNewFile();
}
// get the content in bytes
byte[] contentInBytes = content.getBytes();
fop.write(contentInBytes);
fop.flush();
fop.close();
} finally {
try {
if (fop != null) {
fop.close();
}
}
}
}
}
An updated JDK7 example, using new try resource close method to handle file easily.
public class WriteFileExample {
File file = new File("c:/newfile.txt");
String content = "This is the text content";
try (FileOutputStream fop = new FileOutputStream(file)) {
// if file doesn't exists, then create it
}
// get the content in bytes
byte[] contentInBytes = content.getBytes();
fop.write(contentInBytes);
fop.flush();
fop.close();
}
}
1.7
}
How to write to file in Java BufferedWriter
In Java, BufferedWriter is a character streams class to handle the character data. Unlike
bytes stream (convert data into bytes), you can just write the strings, arrays or characters data
directly to file.
package com.mkyong;
import
import
import
import
java.io.BufferedWriter;
java.io.File;
java.io.FileWriter;
public class WriteToFileExample {

try {
String content = "This is the content to write into
file";
File file = new File("/users/mkyong/filename.txt");
// if file doesnt exists, then create it

}
FileWriter fw = new
FileWriter(file.getAbsoluteFile());
BufferedWriter bw = new BufferedWriter(fw);
bw.write(content);
bw.close();
}
}
1.8
}
How to append content to file in Java
FileWritter, a character stream to write characters to file. By default, it will replace all the
existing content with new content, however, when you specified a true (boolean) value as the
second argument in FileWritter constructor, it will keep the existing content and append the
new content in the end of the file.
1. Replace all existing content with new content.
new FileWriter(file);
2. Keep the existing content and append the new content in the end of the file.
new FileWriter(file,true);
1.8.1 Append file example
A text file named javaio-appendfile.txt and contains the following content.

ABC Hello
Append new content with new FileWriter(file,true)

import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.io.FileWriter;
public class AppendToFileExample

{
{
try{
String data = " This content will append to the end of the
file";
File file =new File("javaio-appendfile.txt");
//if file doesnt exists, then create it
if(!file.exists()){
}
//true = append file
FileWriter fileWritter = new
FileWriter(file.getName(),true);
BufferedWriter bufferWritter = new
BufferedWriter(fileWritter);
bufferWritter.write(data);
bufferWritter.close();
}catch(IOException e){
}
1.8.2 Result
Now, the text file javaio-appendfile.txt content is updated

ABC Hello This content will append to the end of the file
1.9
How to delete file in Java
No nonsense, just issue the File.delete() to delete a file, it will return a boolean value to
indicate the delete operation status; true if the file is deleted; false if failed.
1.9.1 Example
In this example, it will delete a log file named c:\\logfile20100131.log.

public class DeleteFileExample
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
try{
File file = new File("c:\\logfile20100131.log");
if(file.delete()){
System.out.println(file.getName() + " is deleted!");
}else{
System.out.println("Delete operation is failed.");
}
}catch(Exception e){
}
}
1.10 How to delete files with certain extension only
In Java, you can implements the FilenameFilter, override the accept(File dir, String name)
method, to perform the file filtering function.
In this example, we show you how to use FilenameFilter to list out all files that are end
with .txt extension in folder c:\\folder, and then delete it.
import java.io.*;
public class FileChecker {
private static final String FILE_DIR = "c:\\folder";
private static final String FILE_TEXT_EXT = ".txt";
public static void main(String args[]) {
new FileChecker().deleteFile(FILE_DIR,FILE_TEXT_EXT);
}
public void deleteFile(String folder, String ext){
GenericExtFilter filter = new GenericExtFilter(ext);
File dir = new File(folder);
//list out all the file name with .txt extension
String[] list = dir.list(filter);
if (list.length == 0) return;
File fileDelete;
for (String file : list){
String temp = new StringBuffer(FILE_DIR)
.append(File.separator)
.append(file).toString();
fileDelete = new File(temp);
boolean isdeleted = fileDelete.delete();
System.out.println("file : " + temp + " is deleted : " +
isdeleted);
}
}
//inner class, generic extension filter
public class GenericExtFilter implements FilenameFilter {
private String ext;
public GenericExtFilter(String ext) {
this.ext = ext;
}
}
}
public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {

return (name.endsWith(ext));
}
1.11 How to find files with certain extension only
A FilenameFilter example, it will only display files that use .jpg extension in folder
c:\\folder.
import java.io.*;
public class FindCertainExtension {
private static final String FILE_DIR = "c:\\folder";
private static final String FILE_TEXT_EXT = ".jpg";
new FindCertainExtension().listFile(FILE_DIR,
FILE_TEXT_EXT);
}
public void listFile(String folder, String ext) {
GenericExtFilter filter = new GenericExtFilter(ext);
File dir = new File(folder);
FILE_DIR);
if(dir.isDirectory()==false){
System.out.println("Directory does not exists : " +
}
return;
// list out all the file name and filter by the extension
String[] list = dir.list(filter);
if (list.length == 0) {
System.out.println("no files end with : " + ext);
return;
}
for (String file : list) {
String temp = new
StringBuffer(FILE_DIR).append(File.separator)
.append(file).toString();
System.out.println("file : " + temp);
}
}
// inner class, generic extension filter
public class GenericExtFilter implements FilenameFilter {
private String ext;
public GenericExtFilter(String ext) {
this.ext = ext;
}
}
}
public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {

return (name.endsWith(ext));
}
1.12 How to rename file in Java
Java comes with renameTo() method to rename a file. However , this method is really
platform-dependent: you may successfully rename a file in *nix but failed in Windows. So,
the return value (true if the file rename successful, false if failed) should always be checked to
make sure the file is rename successful.
1.12.1
File.renameTo() Example
public class RenameFileExample
{
{
File oldfile =new File("oldfile.txt");
File newfile =new File("newfile.txt");
if(oldfile.renameTo(newfile)){
System.out.println("Rename succesful");
}else{
System.out.println("Rename failed");
}
}
}
1.13 How to copy file in Java
Java didnt comes with any ready make file copy function, you have to manual create the file
copy process. To copy file, just convert the file into a bytes stream with FileInputStream and
write the bytes into another file with FileOutputStream.
The overall processes are quite simple, just do not understand why Java doesnt include this
method into the java.io.File class.
1.13.1
File copy example
Heres an example to copy a file named Afile.txt to another file named Bfile.txt. If the
Bfile.txt is exists, the existing content will be replace, else it will create with the content of
the Afile.txt.
import
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.io.FileOutputStream;
java.io.InputStream;
java.io.OutputStream;
public class CopyFileExample

{
{
InputStream inStream = null;
OutputStream outStream = null;

try{
File afile =new File("Afile.txt");
File bfile =new File("Bfile.txt");
inStream = new FileInputStream(afile);
outStream = new FileOutputStream(bfile);
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
int length;
//copy the file content in bytes
while ((length = inStream.read(buffer)) > 0){
outStream.write(buffer, 0, length);
}
inStream.close();
outStream.close();
System.out.println("File is copied successful!");
}
}
}
1.14 How to move file to another directory in Java
Java.io.File does not contains any ready make move file method, but you can workaround
with the following two alternatives :
1. File.renameTo().
2. Copy to new file and delete the original file.
In the below two examples, you move a file C:\\folderA\\Afile.txt from one directory to
another directory with the same file name C:\\folderB\\Afile.txt.
1.14.1
File.renameTo()
public class MoveFileExample
{
{
try{
File afile =new File("C:\\folderA\\Afile.txt");
if(afile.renameTo(new File("C:\\folderB\\" + afile.getName()))){
System.out.println("File is moved successful!");
}else{
System.out.println("File is failed to move!");
}
}
}
1.14.2
Copy and Delete
import
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
public class MoveFileExample

{
{
InputStream inStream = null;
OutputStream outStream = null;
try{
File afile =new File("C:\\folderA\\Afile.txt");
File bfile =new File("C:\\folderB\\Afile.txt");

inStream = new FileInputStream(afile);
outStream = new FileOutputStream(bfile);
int length;
while ((length = inStream.read(buffer)) > 0){
outStream.write(buffer, 0, length);
}
inStream.close();
outStream.close();
//delete the original file
afile.delete();
System.out.println("File is copied successful!");
}
1.15 How to get the file creation date in Java
There are no official way to get the file creation date in Java. However, you can use the
following workaround to get the file creation date in Windows platform.
1.15.1
How it work
In Windows command prompt, type the command to list the file creation date.
C:\>cmd /c dir c:\logfile.log /tc
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 0410-1EC3
Directory of c:\
31/05/2010
08:05
14 logfile.log
1 File(s)
14 bytes
0 Dir(s) 35,389,460,480 bytes free
The 31/05/2010 08:05 is what you need. The idea is use the Java
Runtime.getRuntime().exec to execute the above command, hold the output, and parse it
by lines until you get the date and time.
1.15.2
Example
In this example, it will get the creation date of file (c:\\logfile.log).

import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.StringTokenizer;
public class GetFileCreationDateExample
{
{
try{
Process proc =
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c dir c:\\logfile.log
/tc");
BufferedReader br =
new BufferedReader(
new InputStreamReader(proc.getInputStream()));
String data ="";
//it's quite stupid but work
for(int i=0; i<6; i++){
data = br.readLine();
}
System.out.println("Extracted value : " + data);
//split by space
StringTokenizer st = new StringTokenizer(data);
String date = st.nextToken();//Get date
String time = st.nextToken();//Get time
System.out.println("Creation Date
System.out.println("Creation Time
: " + date);
: " + time);
}
}
}
1.15.3
Result
Extracted value : 31/05/2010

Creation Date : 31/05/2010
Creation Time : 08:05
08:05
14 logfile.log
1.16 How to get the file last modified date in Java
In Java, you can use the File.lastModified() to get the files last modified timestamps. This
method will returns the time in milliseconds (long value), you may to format it with
SimpleDateFormat to make it a human readable format.
1.16.1
File Last Modified
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
public class GetFileLastModifiedExample

{
{
File file = new File("c:\\logfile.log");
System.out.println("Before Format : " + file.lastModified());
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss");
System.out.println("After Format : " +
sdf.format(file.lastModified()));
}
}
1.16.2
Result
Before Format : 1275265349422

After Format : 05/31/2010 08:22:29
1.17 How to change the file last modified date in Java
Heres an example to show the use of File.setLastModified() to change the files last
modified date. This method accept the new modified date in milliseconds (long type), some
data type conversion are required.
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.text.ParseException;
java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
java.util.Date;
public class ChangeFileLastModifiedExample

{
{
try{
File file = new File("C:\\logfile.log");
//print the original last modified date
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy");
System.out.println("Original Last Modified Date : "
+ sdf.format(file.lastModified()));
//set this date
String newLastModified = "01/31/1998";
//need convert the above date to milliseconds in long value
Date newDate = sdf.parse(newLastModified);
file.setLastModified(newDate.getTime());
//print the latest last modified date
System.out.println("Lastest Last Modified Date : "
+ sdf.format(file.lastModified()));
}catch(ParseException e){
}
}
1.17.1
Result
Original Last Modified Date : 05/31/2010

Lastest Last Modified Date : 01/31/1998
1.18 How to make a file read only in Java
A Java program to demonstrate the use of java.io.File setReadOnly() method to make a file
read only. Since JDK 1.6, a new setWritable() method is provided to make a file to be
writable again.
1.18.1
Example
package com.mkyong;
public class FileReadAttribute
{
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
{
File file = new File("c:/file.txt");
//mark this file as read only, since jdk 1.2
file.setReadOnly();
if(file.canWrite()){
System.out.println("This file is writable");
}else{
System.out.println("This file is read only");
}
//revert the operation, mark this file as writable, since jdk 1.6
file.setWritable(true);
if(file.canWrite()){
System.out.println("This file is writable");
}else{
System.out.println("This file is read only");
}
}
1.18.2
Output
This file is read only

This file is writable
1.19 How to get file size in Java
In Java, you can use the File.length() method to get the file size in bytes.
1.19.1
Example
Get an image file (c:\\java_xml_logo.jpg) 14KB, and display the file size.
public class FileSizeExample
{
{
File file =new File("c:\\java_xml_logo.jpg");
if(file.exists()){
double
double
double
double
double
double
double
double
double
bytes = file.length();
kilobytes = (bytes / 1024);
megabytes = (kilobytes / 1024);
gigabytes = (megabytes / 1024);
terabytes = (gigabytes / 1024);
petabytes = (terabytes / 1024);
exabytes = (petabytes / 1024);
zettabytes = (exabytes / 1024);
yottabytes = (zettabytes / 1024);
System.out.println("bytes : " + bytes);

System.out.println("kilobytes : " + kilobytes);
System.out.println("megabytes : " + megabytes);
System.out.println("gigabytes : " + gigabytes);
System.out.println("terabytes : " + terabytes);
System.out.println("petabytes : " + petabytes);
System.out.println("exabytes : " + exabytes);
System.out.println("zettabytes : " + zettabytes);
System.out.println("yottabytes : " + yottabytes);
}else{
System.out.println("File does not exists!");
}
}
1.19.2
Result
bytes : 13900.0
kilobytes : 13.57421875
megabytes : 0.013256072998046875
gigabytes : 1.2945383787155151E-5
terabytes : 1.2641976354643703E-8
petabytes : 1.234568003383174E-11
exabytes : 1.205632815803881E-14
zettabytes : 1.1773757966834775E-17
yottabytes : 1.1497810514487085E-20
1.20 How to get the filepath of a file in Java
The File.getAbsolutePath() will give you the full complete path name (filepath + filename)
of a file.
For example,
File file = File("C:\\abcfolder\\textfile.txt");
System.out.println("Path : " + file.getAbsolutePath());
It will display the full path : Path : C:\\abcfolder\\textfile.txt.
In most cases, you may just need to get the file path only C:\\abcfolder\\. With the help of
substring() and lastIndexOf() menthods, you can extract the file path easily :
File file = File("C:\\abcfolder\\textfile.txt");
String absolutePath = file.getAbsolutePath();
String filePath = absolutePath.
substring(0,absolutePath.lastIndexOf(File.separator));
1.20.1
Get file path example
In this example, it create a temporary file, and print out the file path of it.
public class AbsoluteFilePathExample
{
{
try{
File temp = File.createTempFile("i-am-a-temp-file", ".tmp" );
String absolutePath = temp.getAbsolutePath();
System.out.println("File path : " + absolutePath);
String filePath = absolutePath.
System.out.println("File path : " + filePath);
}
}
}
1.20.2
Result
File path : C:\Users\mkyong\AppData\Local\Temp\i-am-a-temp-file69424.tmp

File path : C:\Users\mkyong\AppData\Local\Temp
1.21 How to get the total number of lines of a file in Java
The LineNumberReader class is a useful class to handle the lines of a file, you can loop the
LineNumberReader.readLine() method and accumulate it as the total number of lines. A
line is considered a line if it ends with a line feed (\n) or a carriage return (\r).
1.21.1
Example
A text file named c:\\ihave10lines.txt, contains 10 lines

Line
Line
Line
Line
1
2
3
4
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
5
6
7
8
9
10
Counts the line

import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.io.FileReader;
java.io.LineNumberReader;
public class LineNumberReaderExample

{
{
try{
File file =new File("c:\\ihave10lines.txt");
if(file.exists()){
FileReader fr = new FileReader(file);
LineNumberReader lnr = new LineNumberReader(fr);
int linenumber = 0;
while (lnr.readLine() != null){
linenumber++;
}
System.out.println("Total number of lines : " +
linenumber);
lnr.close();
}else{
}
System.out.println("File does not exists!");
}
}
}
1.21.2
Result
Total number of lines : 10
1.22 How to check if a file exists in Java
To determine whether a file is exist in your file system, use the Java IO File.exists().
import java.io.*;
public class FileChecker {
File f = new File("c:\\mkyong.txt");
if(f.exists()){
System.out.println("File existed");
}else{
System.out.println("File not found!");
}
}
}
1.23 How to check if a file is hidden in Java
A Java program to demonstrate the use of java.io.File isHidden() to check if a file is hidden.
package com.mkyong;
public class FileHidden
{
{
File file = new File("c:/hidden-file.txt");
if(file.isHidden()){
System.out.println("This file is hidden");
}else{
System.out.println("This file is not hidden");
}
}
Note
The isHidden() method is system dependent, on UNIX platform, a file is
considered hidden if its name is begins with a dot symbol (.); On Microsoft
Windows platform, a file is considered to be hidden, if its marked as hidden in
the file properties.
1.24 How to read UTF-8 encoded data from a file Java
A text file with UTF-8 encoded data
P.S File is created by this article How to write UTF-8 encoded data into a file
Heres the example to demonstrate how to read UTF-8 encoded data from a file in Java
package com.mkyong;
import
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.BufferedReader;
java.io.File;
java.io.InputStreamReader;
java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
public class test {

public static void main(String[] args){
try {
File fileDir = new File("c:\\temp\\test.txt");

BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(
new InputStreamReader(
new FileInputStream(fileDir), "UTF8"));
String str;
while ((str = in.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(str);
}
}
}
in.close();
}
catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e)
{
System.out.println(e.getMessage());
}
catch (IOException e)
{
}
catch (Exception e)
{
}
1.24.1
Result
Website UTF-8
?? UTF-8
??????? UTF-8
Do not worry about the symbol ???, this is because my output console is not support the
UTF-8 data. The variable str is storing exactly same UTF-8 encoded data as showed in
the text file.
1.25 How to write UTF-8 encoded data into a file Java
Heres the Java example to demonstrate how to write UTF-8 encoded data into a text file
c:\\temp\\test.txt
P.S Symbol ?? is some UTF-8 data in Chinese and Japanese
package com.mkyong;
import
import
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
java.io.Writer;
public class test {

public static void main(String[] args){
try {
File fileDir = new File("c:\\temp\\test.txt");
Writer out = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(
new FileOutputStream(fileDir), "UTF8"));
out.append("Website UTF-8").append("\r\n");
out.append("?? UTF-8").append("\r\n");
out.append("??????? UTF-8").append("\r\n");
out.flush();
out.close();
}
}
}
catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e)
{
}
catch (IOException e)
{
}
catch (Exception e)
{
}
1.25.1
Result
1.26 How to assign file content into a variable in Java
Most people will read the file content and assign to StringBuffer or String line by line. Heres
another trick that may interest you how to assign whole file content into a variable with one
Javas statement, try it :)
1.26.1
Example
In this example, you will use DataInputStreamto convert all the content into bytes, and
create a String variable with the converted bytes.
import java.io.DataInputStream;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
public class App{
public static void main (String args[]) {
try{
DataInputStream dis =
new DataInputStream (
new FileInputStream ("c:\\logging.log"));
byte[] datainBytes = new byte[dis.available()];
dis.readFully(datainBytes);
dis.close();
String content = new String(datainBytes, 0,
datainBytes.length);
System.out.println(content);
}catch(Exception ex){
}
}
}
1.26.2
Output
This will print out all the logging.log file content.
10:21:29,425
10:21:29,441
10:21:29,441
10:21:29,456
10:21:29,456
handling
............
INFO
INFO
INFO
INFO
INFO
Version:15 - Hibernate Annotations 3.3.0.GA

Environment:509 - Hibernate 3.2.3
Environment:542 - hibernate.properties not found
Environment:676 - Bytecode provider name : cglib
Environment:593 - using JDK 1.4 java.sql.Timestamp
1.27 How to generate a file checksum value in Java
Here is a simple example to demonstrate how to generate a file checksum value with SHA1 mechanism in Java.
import java.security.MessageDigest;
public class TestCheckSum {
public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
String datafile = "c:\\INSTLOG.TXT";
MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA1");
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(datafile);
byte[] dataBytes = new byte[1024];
int nread = 0;
while ((nread = fis.read(dataBytes)) != -1) {
md.update(dataBytes, 0, nread);
};
byte[] mdbytes = md.digest();
//convert the byte to hex format
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("");
for (int i = 0; i < mdbytes.length; i++) {
sb.append(Integer.toString((mdbytes[i] & 0xff) + 0x100,
16).substring(1));
}
System.out.println("Digest(in hex format):: " + sb.toString());
}
1.27.1
Result
Digest(in hex format):: bf35fa420d3e0f669e27b337062bf19f510480d4
The INSTLOG.TXT file has a bf35fa420d3e0f669e27b337062bf19f510480d4 SHA-1

checksum value.
For checksum value in MD5 format , you need to change the MessageDigest :
MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
1.28 How to convert File into an array of bytes
The Java.io.FileInputStream can used to convert a File object into an array of bytes. In this
example, you read a file from C:\\testing.txt, convert it into an array of bytes and print out
the content.
package com.mkyong.common;
public class FileToArrayOfBytes
{
{
FileInputStream fileInputStream=null;
byte[] bFile = new byte[(int) file.length()];
try {
//convert file into array of bytes
fileInputStream = new FileInputStream(file);
fileInputStream.read(bFile);
fileInputStream.close();
for (int i = 0; i < bFile.length; i++) {
System.out.print((char)bFile[i]);
}
}
}
1.29 How to convert array of bytes into File
The Java.io.FileOutputStream can used to convert an array of bytes into a file. In this
example, you read a file from C:\\testing.txt, and convert it into an array of bytes, and
write it into another file C:\\testing2.txt.
package com.mkyong.common;
public class ArrayOfBytesToFile
{
{
FileInputStream fileInputStream=null;
byte[] bFile = new byte[(int) file.length()];
try {
//convert file into array of bytes
fileInputStream = new FileInputStream(file);
fileInputStream.read(bFile);
fileInputStream.close();
//convert array of bytes into file
FileOutputStream fileOuputStream =
new FileOutputStream("C:\\testing2.txt");
fileOuputStream.write(bFile);
fileOuputStream.close();
}
}
1.30 How to convert String to InputStream in Java
A simple Java program to convert a String to InputStream, and use BufferedReader to read
and display the converted InputStream.
package com.mkyong;
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
public class StringToInputStreamExample {

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
String str = "This is a String ~ GoGoGo";
// convert String into InputStream
InputStream is = new ByteArrayInputStream(str.getBytes());

// read it with BufferedReader
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
String line;
while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(line);
}
br.close();
}
1.31 How to convert InputStream to String in Java
In Java, you can use BufferedReader + InputStreamReader to convert InputStream to

String.
InputStreamToStringExample.java
package com.mkyong.core;
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
public class InputStreamToStringExample {

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
// intilize an InputStream
InputStream is =
new ByteArrayInputStream("file content..blah
blah".getBytes());
String result = getStringFromInputStream(is);
System.out.println(result);
}
// convert InputStream to String
private static String getStringFromInputStream(InputStream is) {
BufferedReader br = null;
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
String line;
try {
br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
sb.append(line);
}
} finally {
if (br != null) {
try {
br.close();
}
}
}
return sb.toString();
}
}
Output
file content..blah blah
Done
1.32 How to convert File to Hex in Java
A simple Java program to demonstrate the use of String formatter(%02X ) to convert a

File into Hex value. The attached comments should be self-explanatory.
1.32.1
Example
package com.mkyong;
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.io.PrintStream;
public class File2Hex

{
public static void convertToHex(PrintStream out, File file) throws
IOException {
InputStream is = new FileInputStream(file);
int bytesCounter =0;
int value = 0;
StringBuilder sbHex = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder sbText = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder sbResult = new StringBuilder();
while ((value = is.read()) != -1) {
//convert to hex value with "X" formatter
sbHex.append(String.format("%02X ", value));
//If the chracater is not convertable, just print a dot symbol
"."
if (!Character.isISOControl(value)) {
sbText.append((char)value);
}else {
sbText.append(".");
}
//if 16 bytes are read, reset the counter,
//clear the StringBuilder for formatting purpose only.
if(bytesCounter==15){
sbResult.append(sbHex).append("
").append(sbText).append("\n");
sbHex.setLength(0);
sbText.setLength(0);
bytesCounter=0;
}else{
bytesCounter++;
}
}
//if still got content
if(bytesCounter!=0){
//add spaces more formatting purpose only
for(; bytesCounter<16; bytesCounter++){
//1 character 3 spaces
sbHex.append("
");
}
sbResult.append(sbHex).append("
").append(sbText).append("\n");
}
out.print(sbResult);
is.close();

{
//display output to console
convertToHex(System.out, new File("c:/file.txt"));
//write the output into a file
convertToHex(new PrintStream("c:/file.hex"), new
File("c:/file.txt"));
}
}
1.32.2
Demo
A File with some dummy content

ABCDEFG
12345678
!@#$%^&*()
Testing only
After processed by above class, will display the following Hex values :
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 0D 0A 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
38 0D 0A 21 40 23 24 25 5E 26 2A 28 29 0D 0A 54
65 73 74 69 6E 67 20 6F 6E 6C 79
ABCDEFG..1234567
8..!@#$%^&*()..T
esting only
1.33 How to get free disk space in Java
In Java old days, it lacks of method to determine the free disk space on a partition. But this is
changed since JDK 1.6 released, a few new methods getTotalSpace(), getUsableSpace()
and getFreeSpace(), are bundled with java.io.File to retrieve the partition or disk space detail.
1.33.1
Example
package com.mkyong;
public class DiskSpaceDetail
{
{
File file = new File("c:");
long totalSpace = file.getTotalSpace(); //total disk space in
bytes.
long usableSpace = file.getUsableSpace(); ///unallocated / free
disk space in bytes.
long freeSpace = file.getFreeSpace(); //unallocated / free disk
space in bytes.
System.out.println(" === Partition Detail ===");
System.out.println(" === bytes
System.out.println("Total size
System.out.println("Space free
System.out.println("Space free
mb");
mb");
mb");
}
}
1.33.2
===");
: " + totalSpace + " bytes");
: " + usableSpace + " bytes");
: " + freeSpace + " bytes");
System.out.println(" === mega bytes ===");

System.out.println("Total size : " + totalSpace /1024 /1024 + "
System.out.println("Space free : " + usableSpace /1024 /1024 + "
System.out.println("Space free : " + freeSpace /1024 /1024 + "
Output
Display the disk space detail in c: partition.

=== Partition Detail ===
=== bytes ===
Total size : 52428795904 bytes
Space free : 33677811712 bytes
Space free : 33677811712 bytes
=== mega bytes ===
Total size : 49999 mb
Space free : 32117 mb
Space free : 32117 mb
Note
Both getFreeSpace() and getUsableSpace() methods are return the same
total free disk space of a given partition. But the real different is not clear, even
in the java doc. Tell me if you know whats the different in between.
2
File Serialization
Take any object that implements the Serialization interface, convert it into bytes and store it
into file; The file can be fully restore back to the original object later.
2.1
How to write an Object to file in Java
Java object can write into a file for future access, this is called serialization. In order to do
this, you have to implement the Serializableinterface, and use ObjectOutputStream to write
the object into a file.
FileOutputStream fout = new FileOutputStream("c:\\address.ser");
ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fout);
oos.writeObject(address);
2.1.1 Address.java
Create an Address object and implement Serializable interface. This object is going to
write into a file.
import java.io.Serializable;
public class Address implements Serializable{
String street;
String country;
public void setStreet(String street){
this.street = street;
}
public void setCountry(String country){
this.country = country;
}
public String getStreet(){
return this.street;
}
public String getCountry(){
return this.country;
}
@Override
public String toString() {
return new StringBuffer(" Street : ")
.append(this.street)
.append(" Country : ")
.append(this.country).toString();
}
}
2.1.2 Serializer.java
This class will write the Address object and its variable value (wall street, united state)
into a file named address.ser, locate in c drive.
import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
public class Serializer {

Serializer serializer = new Serializer();

serializer.serializeAddress("wall street", "united state");
public void serializeAddress(String street, String country){

Address address = new Address();
address.setStreet(street);
address.setCountry(country);
try{
FileOutputStream fout = new
FileOutputStream("c:\\address.ser");
ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fout);
oos.close();
}
}
2.2
}
How to read an Object from file in Java
In previous example, you learn about how to write an Object into a file in Java. In this
example, you will learn how to read an object from the saved file or how to deserialize the
serialized file.
The deserialize process is quite similar with the serialization, you need to use
ObjectInputStream to read the content of the file and convert it back to Java object.
FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream("c:\\address.ser");
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fin);
address = (Address) ois.readObject();
2.2.1 Deserializer.java
This class will read a serialized file c:\\address.ser created in this example, and convert it
back to Address object and print out the saved value.
import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
public class Deserializer{
Deserializer deserializer = new Deserializer();
Address address = deserializer.deserialzeAddress();
System.out.println(address);
}
public Address deserialzeAddress(){
Address address;
try{
FileInputStream fin = new
FileInputStream("c:\\address.ser");
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fin);
ois.close();
return address;
return null;
}
}
File Compression
File compression examples, ZIP and GZip.

3.1
How to compress files in ZIP format
Java comes with java.util.zip library to perform data compression in ZIp format. The
overall concept is quite straightforward.
1. Read file with FileInputStream
2. Add the file name to ZipEntry and output it to ZipOutputStream
3.1.1 Simple ZIP example
Read a file C:\\spy.log and compress it into a zip file C:\\MyFile.zip.

package com.mkyong.zip;
import
import
import
import
import
java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;
public class App

{
{
try{
FileOutputStream fos = new

FileOutputStream("C:\\MyFile.zip");
ZipOutputStream zos = new ZipOutputStream(fos);
ZipEntry ze= new ZipEntry("spy.log");
zos.putNextEntry(ze);
FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("C:\\spy.log");
int len;
while ((len = in.read(buffer)) > 0) {
zos.write(buffer, 0, len);
}
in.close();
zos.closeEntry();
//remember close it
zos.close();
}catch(IOException ex){
}
}
3.1.2 Advance ZIP example Recursively
Read all files from folder C:\\testzip and compress it into a zip file C:\\MyFile.zip. It
will recursively zip a directory as well.
import
import
import
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.util.ArrayList;
java.util.List;
java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;
public class AppZip

{
List<String> fileList;
private static final String OUTPUT_ZIP_FILE = "C:\\MyFile.zip";
private static final String SOURCE_FOLDER = "C:\\testzip";
AppZip(){
fileList = new ArrayList<String>();
}
{
AppZip appZip = new AppZip();
appZip.generateFileList(new File(SOURCE_FOLDER));
appZip.zipIt(OUTPUT_ZIP_FILE);
}
/**
* Zip it
* @param zipFile output ZIP file location
*/
public void zipIt(String zipFile){
try{
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(zipFile);
ZipOutputStream zos = new ZipOutputStream(fos);
System.out.println("Output to Zip : " + zipFile);
for(String file : this.fileList){
System.out.println("File Added : " + file);
ZipEntry ze= new ZipEntry(file);
zos.putNextEntry(ze);
FileInputStream in =
new FileInputStream(SOURCE_FOLDER + File.separator +
file);
int len;
zos.write(buffer, 0, len);
}
}
in.close();
zos.closeEntry();
//remember close it
zos.close();
}
/**
* Traverse a directory and get all files,
* and add the file into fileList
* @param node file or directory
*/
public void generateFileList(File node){
//add file only
if(node.isFile()){
fileList.add(generateZipEntry(node.getAbsoluteFile().toString()));
}
if(node.isDirectory()){
String[] subNote = node.list();
for(String filename : subNote){
generateFileList(new File(node, filename));
}
}
}
/**
* Format the file path for zip
* @param file file path
* @return Formatted file path
*/
private String generateZipEntry(String file){
return file.substring(SOURCE_FOLDER.length()+1, file.length());
}
}
Output
Output to Zip : C:\MyFile.zip
File Added : pdf\Java-Interview.pdf
File Added : spy\log\spy.log
File Added : utf-encoded.txt
File Added : utf.txt
Done
3.2
How to decompress files from a ZIP file
In previous article, we show you how to compress files to a zip file format. In this article we
will show you how to unzip it.
1. Read ZIP file with ZipInputStream
2. Get the files to ZipEntry and output it to FileOutputStream
3.2.1 Decompress ZIP file example
In this example, it will read a ZIP file from C:\\MyFile.zip, and decompress all zipped files
to C:\\outputzip folder.
import
import
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.util.List;
java.util.zip.ZipInputStream;
public class UnZip

{
List<String> fileList;
private static final String INPUT_ZIP_FILE = "C:\\MyFile.zip";
private static final String OUTPUT_FOLDER = "C:\\outputzip";
{
UnZip unZip = new UnZip();
unZip.unZipIt(INPUT_ZIP_FILE,OUTPUT_FOLDER);
}
/**
* Unzip it
* @param zipFile input zip file
* @param output zip file output folder
*/
public void unZipIt(String zipFile, String outputFolder){
try{
//create output directory is not exists
File folder = new File(OUTPUT_FOLDER);
if(!folder.exists()){
folder.mkdir();
}
//get the zip file content
ZipInputStream zis =
new ZipInputStream(new FileInputStream(zipFile));
//get the zipped file list entry
ZipEntry ze = zis.getNextEntry();
while(ze!=null){
fileName);
String fileName = ze.getName();

File newFile = new File(outputFolder + File.separator +
System.out.println("file unzip : "+ newFile.getAbsoluteFile());
//create all non exists folders
//else you will hit FileNotFoundException for compressed folder
new File(newFile.getParent()).mkdirs();
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(newFile);
int len;
while ((len = zis.read(buffer)) > 0) {
fos.write(buffer, 0, len);
}
fos.close();
ze = zis.getNextEntry();
}
zis.closeEntry();
zis.close();
}
}
Output
file
file
file
file
unzip
unzip
unzip
unzip
:
:
:
:
C:\outputzip\pdf\Java-Interview.pdf
C:\outputzip\spy\log\spy.log
C:\outputzip\utf-encoded.txt
C:\outputzip\utf.txt
Done
3.3
How to compress a file in GZIP format
Gzip is a popular tool to compress a file in *nix system. However, Gzip is not a ZIP tool, it
only use to compress a file into a .gz format, not compress several files into a single
archive.
3.3.1 GZip example
In this example, it will compress a file /home/mkyong/file1.txt into a gzip file

/home/mkyong/file1.gz.
package com.mkyong.gzip;
import
import
import
import
java.util.zip.GZIPOutputStream;
public class GZipFile

{
private static final String OUTPUT_GZIP_FILE = "/home/mkyong/file1.gz";
private static final String SOURCE_FILE = "/home/mkyong/file1.txt";
{
GZipFile gZip = new GZipFile();
gZip.gzipIt();
}
/**
* GZip it
* @param zipFile output GZip file location
*/
public void gzipIt(){
try{
GZIPOutputStream gzos =
new GZIPOutputStream(new
FileOutputStream(OUTPUT_GZIP_FILE));
FileInputStream in =
new FileInputStream(SOURCE_FILE);
int len;
gzos.write(buffer, 0, len);
}
in.close();
gzos.finish();
gzos.close();
}
}
}
3.4
How to decompress file from GZIP file
In previous article, you learn about how to compress a file into a GZip format. In this article,
you will learn how to unzip it / decompress the compressed file from a Gzip file.
3.4.1 Gzip example
In this example, it will decompress the Gzip file /home/mkyong/file1.gz back to

/home/mkyong/file1.txt.
package com.mkyong.gzip;
import
import
import
import
java.util.zip.GZIPInputStream;
public class GZipFile

{
private static final String INPUT_GZIP_FILE = "/home/mkyong/file1.gz";
private static final String OUTPUT_FILE = "/home/mkyong/file1.txt";
{
GZipFile gZip = new GZipFile();
gZip.gunzipIt();
}
/**
* GunZip it
*/
public void gunzipIt(){
try{
GZIPInputStream gzis =
new GZIPInputStream(new FileInputStream(INPUT_GZIP_FILE));
FileOutputStream out =
new FileOutputStream(OUTPUT_FILE);
int len;
while ((len = gzis.read(buffer)) > 0) {
out.write(buffer, 0, len);
}
gzis.close();
out.close();
}
}
3.5
How to compress serialized object into file
In last section, you learn about how to write or serialized an object into a file. In this
example , you can do more than just serialized it , you also can compress the serialized object
to reduce the file size.
The idea is very simple, just using the GZIPOutputStream for the data compression.
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("c:\\address.gz");
GZIPOutputStream gz = new GZIPOutputStream(fos);
ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(gz);
3.5.1 GZIP Example
In this example, you will create an Address object , compress it and write it into a file
c:\\address.gz.
P.S Address object can refer to this article.
import
import
import
import
java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
java.io.Serializable;
java.util.zip.GZIPOutputStream;
public class Serializer implements Serializable{

Serializer serializer = new Serializer();

serializer.serializeAddress("wall street", "united state");
public void serializeAddress(String street, String country){

Address address = new Address();
address.setStreet(street);
address.setCountry(country);
try{
FileOutputStream fos = new
FileOutputStream("c:\\address.gz");
GZIPOutputStream gz = new GZIPOutputStream(fos);
ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(gz);
oos.close();
}
}
3.6
How to decompress serialized object from a Gzip file
In last section, you learn about how to compress a serialized object into a file, now you learn
how to decompress it from a Gzip file.
FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream("c:\\address.gz");
GZIPInputStream gis = new GZIPInputStream(fin);
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(gis);
3.6.1 GZIP example
In this example, you will decompress a compressed file address.gz, and print it out the
value.
import
import
import
import
java.io.ObjectInputStream;
java.io.Serializable;
java.util.zip.GZIPInputStream;
public class Deserializer implements Serializable{

Deserializer deserializer = new Deserializer();
Address address = deserializer.deserialzeAddress();
System.out.println(address);
}
public Address deserialzeAddress(){
Address address;
try{
FileInputStream fin = new
FileInputStream("c:\\address.gz");
GZIPInputStream gis = new GZIPInputStream(fin);
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(gis);
ois.close();
return address;
return null;
}
3.6.2 Output
Street : wall street Country : united state
Temporary File
List of the temporary file manipulation examples.

4.1
How to create temporary file in Java
Heres an example to create a temporary file in Java.

4.1.1 Example
public class CreateTempFileExample
{
{
try{
//create a temp file
File temp = File.createTempFile("temp-file-name", ".tmp");
System.out.println("Temp file : " + temp.getAbsolutePath());
}
}
4.1.2 Result
Temp file : C:\Users\mkyong\AppData\Local\Temp\temp-file-name623426.tmp
4.2
How to write data to temporary file in Java
Heres an example to write data to temporary file in Java. Actually, there are no different
between normal file and temporary file, what apply to normal text file, will apply to
temporary file as well.
4.2.1 Example
In this example, it will create a temporary file named tempfile.tmp, and write the text This
is the temporary file content inside.
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
java.io.FileWriter;
public class WriteTempFileExample

{

{
try{
File temp = File.createTempFile("tempfile", ".tmp");
//write it
BufferedWriter bw = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(temp));
bw.write("This is the temporary file content");
bw.close();
}
}
4.3
How to delete temporary file in Java
Temporary file is used to store the less important and temporary data, which should always be
deleted when your system is terminated. The best practice is use the File.deleteOnExit() to
do it.
For example,
File temp = File.createTempFile("abc", ".tmp");
temp.deleteOnExit();
The above example will create a temporary file named abc.tmp and delete it when the
program is terminated or exited.
P.S If you want to delete the temporary file manually, you can still use the File.delete().
4.3.1 Example
public class DeleteTempFileExample
{
{
try{
File temp = File.createTempFile("temptempfilefile", ".tmp");
//delete temporary file when the program is exited
temp.deleteOnExit();
//delete immediate
//temp.delete();
}
}
4.4
How to get the temporary file path in Java
Heres an example to get the temporary file path in Java.

4.4.1 Example
public class GetTempFilePathExample
{
{
try{
File temp = File.createTempFile("temp-file-name", ".tmp");
System.out.println("Temp file : " + temp.getAbsolutePath());
//Get tempropary file path
String absolutePath = temp.getAbsolutePath();
String tempFilePath = absolutePath.
System.out.println("Temp file path : " + tempFilePath);
}
}
}
4.4.2 Result
Temp file : C:\Users\mkyong\AppData\Local\Temp\temp-file-name79456440.tmp
Temp file path : C:\Users\mkyong\AppData\Local\Temp
Directory
List of the directory manipulation examples.

5.1
How to create directory in Java
To create a directory in Java, uses the following code :
1. Create a single directory.

new File("C:\\Directory1").mkdir();
2. Create a directory named Directory2 and all its sub-directories Sub2 and Sub-Sub2
together.
new File("C:\\Directory2\\Sub2\\Sub-Sub2").mkdirs()
Both methods are returning a boolean value to indicate the operation status : true if succeed,
false otherwise.
5.1.1 Example
A classic Java directory example, check if directory exists, if no, then create it.
public class CreateDirectoryExample
{
{
File file = new File("C:\\Directory1");
if (file.mkdir()) {
System.out.println("Directory is created!");
} else {
System.out.println("Failed to create directory!");
}
}
File files = new File("C:\\Directory2\\Sub2\\Sub-Sub2");
if (files.exists()) {
if (files.mkdirs()) {
System.out.println("Multiple directories are
created!");
} else {
System.out.println("Failed to create multiple
directories!");
}
}
}
}
5.2
How to delete directory in Java
To delete a directory, you can simply use the File.delete(), but the directory must be empty in
order to delete it.
Often times, you may require to perform recursive delete in a directory, which means all its
sub-directories and files should be delete as well, see below example :
5.2.1 Directory recursive delete example
Delete the directory named C:\\mkyong-new, and all its sub-directories and files as well.
The code is self-explanatory and well documented, it should be easy to understand.
public class DeleteDirectoryExample
{
private static final String SRC_FOLDER = "C:\\mkyong-new";
{
File directory = new File(SRC_FOLDER);
//make sure directory exists
if(!directory.exists()){
System.out.println("Directory does not exist.");
System.exit(0);
}else{
try{
delete(directory);
System.exit(0);
}
}
public static void delete(File file)
throws IOException{
if(file.isDirectory()){
//directory is empty, then delete it
if(file.list().length==0){
file.delete();
System.out.println("Directory is deleted : "
+ file.getAbsolutePath());
}else{
//list all the directory contents
String files[] = file.list();
for (String temp : files) {
//construct the file structure
File fileDelete = new File(file, temp);
//recursive delete
delete(fileDelete);
//check the directory again, if empty then delete it
if(file.list().length==0){
file.delete();
System.out.println("Directory is deleted : "
+
}
}
}else{
//if file, then delete it
file.delete();
System.out.println("File is deleted : " +
}
}
}
5.2.2 Result
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\404.php
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\archive.php
...
Directory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\includes
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\index.php
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\index.php.hacked
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\hoverIntent.js
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\jquery-1.4.2.min.js
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\jquery.bgiframe.min.js
Directory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-1.4.8\css
Directory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-1.4.8\images
Directory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-1.4.8
File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-navbar.css
...
Directory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new
Done
5.3
How to copy directory in Java
Heres an example to copy a directory and all its sub-directories and files to a new destination
directory. The code is full of comments and self-explanatory, left me comment if you need
more explanation.
5.3.1 Example
Copy folder c:\\mkyong and its sub-directories and files to another new folder
c:\\mkyong-new.
import
import
import
import
import
import
java.io.File;
public class CopyDirectoryExample

{
{
File srcFolder = new File("c:\\mkyong");
File destFolder = new File("c:\\mkyong-new");

//make sure source exists
if(!srcFolder.exists()){
System.out.println("Directory does not exist.");
//just exit
System.exit(0);
}else{
try{
copyFolder(srcFolder,destFolder);
//error, just exit
System.exit(0);
}
}
public static void copyFolder(File src, File dest)
throws IOException{
if(src.isDirectory()){
//if directory not exists, create it
if(!dest.exists()){
dest.mkdir();
System.out.println("Directory copied from "
+ src + " to " + dest);
}
//list all the directory contents
String files[] = src.list();
for (String file : files) {
//construct the src and dest file structure
File srcFile = new File(src, file);
File destFile = new File(dest, file);
//recursive copy
copyFolder(srcFile,destFile);
}
}else{
//if file, then copy it
//Use bytes stream to support all file types
InputStream in = new FileInputStream(src);
OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(dest);
int length;
while ((length = in.read(buffer)) > 0){
out.write(buffer, 0, length);
}
in.close();
out.close();
System.out.println("File copied from " + src + " to " +
dest);
}
5.3.2 Result
Directory copied from c:\mkyong to c:\mkyong-new
File copied from c:\mkyong\404.php to c:\mkyong-new\404.php
File copied from c:\mkyong\footer.php to c:\mkyong-new\footer.php
File copied from c:\mkyong\js\superfish.css to c:\mkyongnew\js\superfish.css
File copied from c:\mkyong\js\superfish.js to c:\mkyong-new\js\superfish.js
File copied from c:\mkyong\js\supersubs.js to c:\mkyong-new\js\supersubs.js
Directory copied from c:\mkyong\images to c:\mkyong-new\images
File copied from c:\mkyong\page.php to c:\mkyong-new\page.php
Directory copied from c:\mkyong\psd to c:\mkyong-new\psd
...
Done
5.4
How to traverse a directory structure in Java
In this example, the program will traverse the given directory and print out all the directories
and files absolute path and name one by one.
5.4.1 Example
public class DisplayDirectoryAndFile{
displayIt(new File("C:\\Downloads"));
}
public static void displayIt(File node){
System.out.println(node.getAbsoluteFile());
if(node.isDirectory()){
String[] subNote = node.list();
for(String filename : subNote){
displayIt(new File(node, filename));
}
}
}
}
5.4.2 Output
C:\Downloads
C:\Downloads\100 Java Tips.pdf
C:\Downloads\1590599799.rar
C:\Downloads\2009
C:\Downloads\573440.flv
C:\Downloads\575492.flv
C:\Downloads\avira_antivir_personal_en.exe
C:\Downloads\backup-mkyong.com-12-24-2009.tar.gz
......
5.5
How to check if directory is empty in Java
Heres an example to check if a directory is empty.

5.5.1 Example
public class CheckEmptyDirectoryExample
{
{
File file = new File("C:\\folder");
if(file.isDirectory()){
if(file.list().length>0){
System.out.println("Directory is not empty!");
}else{
System.out.println("Directory is empty!");
}
}else{
System.out.println("This is not a directory");
}
}
5.6
How to get the current working directory in Java
The current working directory means the root folder of your current Java project, it can be
retrieved by using the following system property function.
5.6.1 Example
public class App{
System.out.println("Current working directory : " + workingDir);
}
}
Output
Current working directory : E:\workspace\HibernateExample
Console IO
List of the Console IO examples.

6.1
How to get the standard input in Java
A quick example to show how to read the standard input in Java.

import java.io.InputStreamReader;
public class printStdIn{
try{
BufferedReader br =
new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
String input;
while((input=br.readLine())!=null){
System.out.println(input);
}
}catch(IOException io){
io.printStackTrace();
}
}

Java IO Tutorial

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Java IO Tutorial

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Java IO Tutorial

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Java I/O Tutorial

Table des matires

How to create a file in Java........................................................................6

How to construct a file path in Java...........................................................6

Manual file separator...........................................................................8

How to set the file permission in Java........................................................9

File permission example....................................................................10

How to read file in Java BufferedInputStream........................................11

How to read file in Java BufferedReader................................................12

How to write to file in Java FileOutputStream........................................13

How to write to file in Java BufferedWriter............................................14

How to append content to file in Java......................................................15

Append file example..........................................................................15

How to delete file in Java.........................................................................16

1.10 How to delete files with certain extension only.......................................17

How to write an Object to file in Java.......................................................40

How to read an Object from file in Java....................................................41

How to compress files in ZIP format........................................................42

Simple ZIP example...........................................................................43

Advance ZIP example Recursively..................................................43

How to decompress files from a ZIP file...................................................45

How to decompress serialized object from a Gzip file..............................50

How to create temporary file in Java........................................................51

How to write data to temporary file in Java.............................................52

How to delete temporary file in Java........................................................53

How to compress serialized object into file..............................................49

How to decompress file from GZIP file.....................................................48

Decompress ZIP file example............................................................45

How to compress a file in GZIP format.....................................................47

How to get the temporary file path in Java..............................................53

How to create directory in Java................................................................54

How to delete directory in Java................................................................55

Directory recursive delete example...................................................55

How to copy directory in Java..................................................................57

How to traverse a directory structure in Java...........................................59

How to check if directory is empty in Java...............................................60

How to get the current working directory in Java.....................................60

How to get the standard input in Java......................................................61

Java I/O Tutorial

How to create a file in Java

How to construct a file path in Java

Classic Java example to construct a file path, using File.separator or

1.2.2 new File()

1.2.3 Manual file separator

How to set the file permission in Java

3. file.canRead(); return true, file is readable; false is not.

Set the file permission :

1.3.1 File permission example

How to read file in Java BufferedInputStream

public class BufferedInputStreamExample {

fis = new FileInputStream(file);

How to read file in Java BufferedReader

while ((sCurrentLine = br.readLine()) != null) {

How to write to file in Java FileOutputStream

How to write to file in Java BufferedWriter

public class WriteToFileExample {

// if file doesnt exists, then create it

How to append content to file in Java

1.8.1 Append file example