Develop Reference

Appendable Binary File

I'm working on appending objects to a binary file. My file is:
File f=new File("person.dat");
I'm getting an error (java.io.StreamCorruptedException: invalid stream header: 79737200) when I attempt to open the binary file. As far as I can tell the program writes the data just fine, but as soon as I try reading from it, I get the above error. Any help is appreciated!
My Code to write:
AppendObjectOutputStream out = null;
try {
out = new AppendObjectOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(f, true));
out.writeObject(new Student(name, age));
out.flush();
}
catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally {
out.close();
}
My class for making appendable:
public class AppendObjectOutputStream extends ObjectOutputStream {
public AppendObjectOutputStream(OutputStream out) throws IOException {
super(out);
}
#Override
protected void writeStreamHeader() throws IOException {
reset();
}
}
My partial code for reading and adding objects to an ArrayList:
Course course = new Course();
Student st = null;
ObjectInputStream in = null;
try {
in = new ObjectInputStream(new FileInputStream("person.dat"));
try
{
while (true)
{
st = (Student) in.readObject();
course.addAccount(st); //adds student object to an ArrayList in
//class Course
}
}
catch (EOFException ex) {
}
}
catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
} finally {
in.close();
}
UPDATE:
Current code to read but its not printing anything to screen:
try(ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(
new BufferedInputStream(Files.newInputStream(f))))
{
while (ois.available() > 0)
{
st = (Student) ois.readObject();
studentlist.addAccount(st);
System.out.println(st.getStudentNumber());
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
This is how I write to file:
Path f = Paths.get("person.dat");
try (ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(
new BufferedOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(f, StandardOpenOption.APPEND))))
{
oos.writeObject(new Student(name,age));
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}

Rather than trying to fix your utility classes, I suggest to use the standard classes of the NIO.2 File API.
Try something like (untested):
Path personDataFilePath = Paths.get("person.dat");
// or Java 11:
// Path personDataFilePath = Path.of("person.dat");
try (ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(new BufferedOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(personDataFilePath, StandardOpenOption.APPEND)))){
oos.writeObject(new Student(name,age));
} catch (IOException ex) {
// do some error handling here
}
and to read the file, something like (untested):
List<Student> students = new ArrayList<>();
try (ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(new BufferedInputStream(Files.newInputStream(personDataFilePath)))){
while (ois.available() > 0){
students.add((Student) ois.readObject());
}
} catch (IOException ex) {
// do some error handling here
}

I have modified the code to work around making a file "appendable". I write a single arraylist object to the file (the arraylist holds a list of student objects). When I want to add a student, I read the object (arraylist) from the file, add my new student to the arraylist and write the arraylist back to the file. It is now working and my file does not have an append format.

Appending to ObjectOutputStream [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Appending to an ObjectOutputStream
(6 answers)
Closed 5 years ago.
I have a program utilizing the memento design pattern and want to save the state of each object into a file using serialization and return the object back. The problem is that I get a "java.io.StreamCorruptedException: invalid type code: AC" exception due to corrupt headers. I looked at Appending to an ObjectOutputStream and tried to implement the class but still can't get the program to work properly. Multiple objects should be saved in a file and the user passes a string into a function which should match part of the object's string representation.
public class Caretaker implements Serializable {
public void addMemento(Memento m) {
try {
// write object to file
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("ConeOutput1.txt", true);
BufferedOutputStream outputBuffer = new BufferedOutputStream(fos);
AppendableObjectOutputStream objectStream = new AppendableObjectOutputStream(outputBuffer);
objectStream.writeObject(m);
objectStream.reset();
objectStream.close();
}
catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public Memento getMemento(String temp) {
try {
Memento result = null;
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("ConeOutput1.txt");
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fis);
result = (Memento) ois.readObject();
while (result != null) {
Matcher m = Pattern.compile(temp).matcher(result.toString());
if (m.find()) {
return result;
}
else {
result = (Memento) ois.readObject();
}
ois.close();
}
}
catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}
}
public class AppendableObjectOutputStream extends ObjectOutputStream {
public AppendableObjectOutputStream(OutputStream out) throws IOException {
super(out);
}
#Override
protected void writeStreamHeader() throws IOException {}
}

You should only use the appending ObjectOutputStream if the file already exists with data in it. If the file is new it needs the object stream header.

How to determine if a file is empty without getting EOFException

I'm trying to create a file called manager.txt and read it. If it is empty (which it is) it will call a method to add things into it but I keep getting EOFException. I know the file is empty but it's just a part of a programI'm working on. How to determine a file is empty without getting EOFException
try(ObjectOutputStream outManager = new ObjectOutputStream(new
FileOutputStream("manager.txt"))){
try(ObjectInputStream inManager = new ObjectInputStream(new
FileInputStream("manager.txt"))){
while(true){
manager.add((Manager)inManager.readObject());
if(manager.isEmpty()){
//A method to add
}
}catch(IOException e){
}
}catch (IOException e){
}

You can read from file as follows:
try (FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("manager.txt");
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fis);)
{
while (fis.available() > 0) {
Object obj = ois.readObject();
if (obj instanceof Manager) {
Manager manager = (Manager) obj;
System.out.println(manager);
}
}
} catch (IOException | ClassNotFoundException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
Basically, what you are looking for is fis.available().

reading objects from file

I have a problem with reading objects from file Java.
file is anarraylist<projet>
This is the code of saving objects :
try {
FileOutputStream fileOut = new FileOutputStream("les projets.txt", true);
ObjectOutputStream out = new ObjectOutputStream(fileOut);
for (projet a : file) {
out.writeObject(a);
}
out.close();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
And this is the code of reading objects from file ::
try {
FileInputStream fileIn = new FileInputStream("les projets.txt");
ObjectInputStream in = new ObjectInputStream(fileIn);
while (in.available() > 0){
projet c = (projet) in.readObject();
b.add(c);
}
choisir = new JList(b.toArray());
in.close();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Writing is working properly. The problem is the reading... it does not read any object (projet) What could be the problem?

As mentioned by EJP in comment and this SO post . if you are planning to write multiple objects in a single file you should write custom ObjectOutputStream , because the while writing second or nth object header information the file will get corrupt.
As suggested by EJP write as ArrayList , since ArrayList is already Serializable you should not have issue. as
out.writeObject(file) and read it back as ArrayList b = (ArrayList) in.readObject();
for some reason if you cant write it as ArrayList. create custome ObjectOutStream as
class MyObjectOutputStream extends ObjectOutputStream {
public MyObjectOutputStream(OutputStream os) throws IOException {
super(os);
}
#Override
protected void writeStreamHeader() {}
}
and change your writeObject as
try {
FileOutputStream fileOut= new FileOutputStream("les_projets.txt",true);
MyObjectOutputStream out = new MyObjectOutputStream(fileOut );
for (projet a : file) {
out.writeObject(a);
}
out.close();
}
catch(Exception e)
{e.printStackTrace();
}
and change your readObject as
ObjectInputStream in = null;
try {
FileInputStream fileIn = new FileInputStream("C:\\temp\\les_projets1.txt");
in = new ObjectInputStream(fileIn );
while(true) {
try{
projet c = (projet) in.readObject();
b.add(c);
}catch(EOFException ex){
// end of file case
break;
}
}
}catch (Exception ex){
ex.printStackTrace();
}finally{
try {
in.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

Where and when should I use the close() method to avoid IOException in ObjectInputStream?

I'm trying to read an object from client program over tcp. As you can see in this line I created objectInput:
ObjectInputStream objectInput = new ObjectInputStream(incoming.getInputStream());
And then read my input from the other program. It used to work fine until i made minor changes to clean up the program. Personally Assume I added
objectInput.clsoe();
My question is, After reading the object should I close the objectInputStream or Keep remain without close? Should I close it straight away after using it or at the end of if block or at the end of program? What are the effect of the close? By the way I have read the close documentation.
Here is the error:
java.io.EOFException
at java.io.ObjectInputStream$PeekInputStream.readFully(ObjectInputStream.java:2280)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream$BlockDataInputStream.readShort(ObjectInputStream.java:2749)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readStreamHeader(ObjectInputStream.java:779)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.<init>(ObjectInputStream.java:279)
at Server.ClientWorker.run(MyCollectionServer.java:116)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:680)
Here is my code:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ServerSocket serverSocket = null;
try
{
serverSocket = new ServerSocket(port);
}
catch (IOException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
while(true)
{
ClientWorker w;
try
{
w = new ClientWorker(serverSocket.accept());
Thread t = new Thread(w);
t.start();
}
catch(IOException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
break;
}
}
}
}
class ClientWorker implements Runnable
{
.....
private Socket incoming;
public ClientWorker(Socket incoming)
{
myList = new ArrayList<PureAlbum>();
loadList();
this.incoming = incoming;
}
.....
public synchronized void run()
{
else if(request.compareTo("AddAlbum")==0)
{
try
{
ObjectInputStream objectInput = new ObjectInputStream(incoming.getInputStream()); //This is the line mentioned in the error
PureAlbum object = (PureAlbum) objectInput.readObject();
if(object instanceof CDAlbum)
{
CDAlbum a = (CDAlbum) object;
myList.add(a);
System.out.println("Artist = " + a.getArtist());
}
else if(object instanceof Client.au.edu.uow.Collection.DVDAlbum)
{
myList.add((DVDAlbum) object);
}
else
{
System.err.println("Warning : The object to add to database is unknown! "+ object.getClass() + "*");
System.exit(0);
}
}
catch (UnknownHostException e)
{
System.err.println("Can not read the host name");
e.printStackTrace();
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.err.println("Can not read the FILE name"); //This exception has been called
e.printStackTrace();
}
catch (ClassNotFoundException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

Your code fragment is pretty long, so I will try to give you a general answer and it will hopefully help you.
The typical patterns of usage of stream.close() prior to java 7 are:
InputStream in = null;
try {
InputStream in = .....; // create your input stream;
// use input stream
} catch (IOException e) {
// do what you need here
} finally {
if (in != null) {
in.close();
}
}
or simply declare the method as throws IOException and then write:
InputStream in = null;
try {
InputStream in = .....; // create your input stream;
// use input stream
} finally {
if (in != null) {
in.close();
}
}
Pay atention that this example does not contain catch section.
Starting from java 7 we can enjoy the new facilities of the language:
try (
InputStream in = .....; // create your input stream;
) {
// use input stream
}
You even do not have to call close() at all. All resources defined into header of try block that implement interface Closable will be closed automatically.

This line of stack trace shows that the exception is occurring when you are initializing the ObjectInputStream, not when you are closing.
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.<init>(ObjectInputStream.java:279)
The most likely cause is that the remote client did not open an ObjectOutputStream. It might have written some other kind of data, or it might have closed its output stream or simply exited.

You should close the Stream when you have completed your reading or writing.
here in this case , you should close the InputStream when you have read the file completely and you no longer require to read file from stream.
In Short , You should close the Stream when its work is over.
It may be in the end of program or after if loop....depends on your use case.
Hope this will help.

I am doing it this way (different example):
private void readFile() throws Exception {
FileInputStream fis = null;
ObjectInputStream ois = null;
Object aux = null;
try {
fis = new FileInputStream("lib.dat");
ois = new ObjectInputStream(fis);
do {
aux = ois.readObject();
if (aux instanceof MyObject)
this.myObjectInstance.add((MyObject) aux);
} while (true);
} catch (EOFException e) {
ois.close();
}
}
This way I am sending any relevant "Error" Exception upstairs to be handled, and once the EndOfFileException is launched this is specifically captured to close the stream properly.
The object has to be defined outside the Try block to be accessible from the Catch block.
The close() method could as well throw an IOException and this can't be caught by our Try block, this would have to be passed by the generic "throw Exception" of readFile() method.