Java Read Files

Read a File

In the previous chapter, you learned how to create and write to a file.

In the following example, we use the Scanner class to read the contents of the text file we created in the previous chapter:

Example

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();
    }
  }
}

The output will be:


Files in Java might be tricky, but it is fun enough!

Run Example »

Get File Information

To get more information about a file, use any of the File methods:

Example

import java.io.File;  // Import the File class

public class GetFileInfo { 
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
    if (myObj.exists()) {
      System.out.println("File name: " + myObj.getName());
      System.out.println("Absolute path: " + myObj.getAbsolutePath());
      System.out.println("Writeable: " + myObj.canWrite());
      System.out.println("Readable " + myObj.canRead());
      System.out.println("File size in bytes " + myObj.length());
    } else {
      System.out.println("The file does not exist.");
    }
  }
}

The output will be:


File name: filename.txt

Absolute path: C:\Users\MyName\filename.txt

Writeable: true

Readable: true

File size in bytes: 0

Run Example »

Note: There are many available classes in the Java API that can be used to read and write files in Java: FileReader, BufferedReader, Files, Scanner, FileInputStream, FileWriter, BufferedWriter, FileOutputStream, etc. Which one to use depends on the Java version you're working with and whether you need to read bytes or characters, and the size of the file/lines etc.

Tip: To delete a file, read our Java Delete Files chapter.

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