Develop Reference

How to create a new text file based on the user input in Java?

I'm trying to create a new text file in java by having the user input their desired file name. However, when I look in the directory for the file after I run the code once, it doesn't show up.
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.File;
public class TestFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter the desired name of your file: ");
String fileName = input.nextLine();
fileName = fileName + ".txt";
File file = new File(fileName);
}
}
Although, when I don't have the user input a file name and just have the code written with the name in quotation marks, the file ends up being created when I look back in the directory.
File file = new File("TestFile.txt")
Why won't it create a file when I try to use the String input from the user?

You must be mistaken because just calling new File(String) won't create a file. It will just create an instance of File class.
You need to call file.createNewFile().
Adding this at the end creates the file:-
if (file.createNewFile()) {
System.out.println("File created.");
} else {
System.out.println("File already exists.");
}

The following code worked for me:
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter the desired name of your file: ");
String fileName = input.nextLine();
fileName = fileName + ".txt";
File file = new File(fileName);
boolean isFileCreated = file.createNewFile(); // New change
System.out.print("Was the file created? -- ");
System.out.println(isFileCreated);
The only change made to your code is to call createNewFile method. This worked fine in all cases. Hope this helps.
From the API:
Atomically creates a new, empty file named by this abstract pathname
if and only if a file with this name does not yet exist. The check for
the existence of the file and the creation of the file if it does not
exist are a single operation that is atomic with respect to all other
filesystem activities that might affect the file. Note: this method
should not be used for file-locking, as the resulting protocol cannot
be made to work reliably. The FileLock facility should be used
instead.

Please use below code to solve your issue. You just have to call createNewFile() method it will create file in your project location. You can also provide the location where you want to create file otherwise it will create file at your project location to create file at specified location you have to provide location of your system like below
String fileLocation="fileLocation"+fileName;
File file = new File(fileLocation);
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.File;
public class TestFile {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter the desired name of your file: ");
String fileName = input.nextLine();
fileName = fileName + ".txt";
File file = new File(fileName);
file.createNewFile();
}
}

When faced with issues like this, it's really, really, really important to go hit the JavaDocs, because 90% of the time, it's just a misunderstanding of how the APIs work.
File is described as:
An abstract representation of file and directory pathnames.
This means that creating an instance of File does not create a file nor does the file have to exist, it's just away of describing a virtual concept of a file.
Further reading of the docs would have lead you to File#createNewFile which is described as doing:
Atomically creates a new, empty file named by this abstract pathname if and only if a file with this name does not yet exist. The check for the existence of the file and the creation of the file if it does not exist are a single operation that is atomic with respect to all other filesystem activities that might affect the file.

When you initialize your File file = new File("TestFile.txt"), it is not created yet.
You should write something to your file using FileWriter or others.
File f = new File(fileName);
FileWriter w = new FileWriter(f);
w.write("aaa");
w.flush();
or using f.createNewFile() as suggested in other answer.
Then you can see your file and its content.

Java Scanning 2 Files and second file not found

Ok I am having a HUGE problem. I"m a Senior in College and this is my Senior project I'm working on in order to graduate so your help will be GREATLY appreciated.
I am having a problem with a scanner reading a file. Here is my method.
//This sets the text file to scan which is the List of all Employees ID number and Name only
try {
File file = new File("ListemployeeIDandName.txt");
scan = new Scanner(file);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
System.out.println("Could not find file: "+" ListemployeeIDandName.txt");
}
//First I need to get each employees name so this loop cycles through the file and loads the ID and name into a List
//Odd indexes will be the name of employee and Even will be the ID number
while(scan.hasNext())
{
Listemployeenames.add(scan.next());
}
//scan.reset();
//scan.close();
scanfile = scan.reset();
//Now that I have the List of all employees ID and names...I just want the names so I can search for the respective files
//This method will make a temp list of ONLY employee names by making a list of only the ODD indexes which are the names
LinkedList<String> List_names = new LinkedList<String>();
for(int y = 0;y<Listemployeenames.size();y++)
{
//this means if y is an even number than do nothing otherwise if its ODD add the index to the list
if((y%2) == 0)
{
}
else
{
List_names.add(Listemployeenames.get(y));
}
}
for(int z = 0;z<List_names.size();z++)
{
System.out.println(List_names.get(z));
}
//OK so now that I have the names of all the employees I need to use their names to find their file and load all their info to a the main list
String filepath = "";
for(int a = 0;a<List_names.size();a++)
{
//Ok so this will grab each bio file and send to the Employee Constructor which will set all the data from the file
try {
filepath = List_names.get(a)+"bio.txt";
File file2 = new File(filepath);
scanfile = new Scanner(file2);
}
catch (FileNotFoundException e)
{
System.out.println("Could not find file: "+filepath);
}
finally{
//scanfile.close();
//scan.reset();
}
//this method sends the scanner file to that employee and sets their data
List_AllEmployees.add(new Employee(scanfile));
}
Now this method READS from 2 files...and THEY DO EXIST the first file at the top of the method is working fine ...but for some reason the 2nd file cannot be found even though it does exist.
Now here is where it gets wierd...soo...both files are in the java default...so I tried something wierd...since I know the second files do exist but for some reason scanner can't find them i decided to simply use file explorer and go to the directory where it is and cut and paste it to another directory then immediatly cut and paste it back into the java default directory...i ran the method again AND THEN IT WORKS...
My question is wtf? Why did java scanner recognize the file after I simply cut and pasted it back into its default directory? and how come the first file is working with no problem but the 2nd file needs to manually be placed into the default folder? please help this is my first time using this site so I don't know how to paste my code other than in here. Thanks for your help.

reading an external file using TextIO

I don't understand how to use TextIO's readFile(String Filename)
Can someone please explain how can I read an external file?
public static void readFile(String fileName) {
if (fileName == null) // Go back to reading standard input
readStandardInput();
else {
BufferedReader newin;
try {
newin = new BufferedReader( new FileReader(fileName) );
}
catch (Exception e) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Can't open file \"" + fileName + "\" for input.\n"
+ "(Error :" + e + ")");
}
if (! readingStandardInput) { // close current input stream
try {
in.close();
}
catch (Exception e) {
}
}
emptyBuffer(); // Added November 2007
in = newin;
readingStandardInput = false;
inputErrorCount = 0;
inputFileName = fileName;
}
}

I had to use TextIO for a school assignment and I got stuck on it too. The problem I had was that using the Scanner class I could just pass the name of the file as long as the file was in the same folder as my class.
Scanner fileScanner = new Scanner("data.txt");
That works fine. But with TextIO, this won't work;
TextIO.readfile("data.txt"); // can't find file
You have to include the path to the file like this;
TextIo.readfile("src/package/data.txt");
Not sure if there is a way to get it to work like the Scanner class or not, but this is what I've been doing in my course at school.

The above answer (about using the correct file name) is correct, however, as a clarification, make sure that you actually use the proper file path. The file path suggested above, i.e. src/package/ will not work in all circumstances. While this will be obvious to some, for those of you who need clarification, keep reading.
For example (and I use NetBeans), if you have already moved the file into NetBeans, and the file is already in the folder you want it to be in, then right click on the folder itself, and click 'properties'. Then expand the 'file path' section by clicking on the three dots next to the hidden file path. You will see the actual file path in its entirety.
For example, if the entire file path is:
C:\Users..\NetBeansProjects\IceCream\src\icecream\icecream.dat
Then, in the java code file itself, you can write:
TextIo.readfile("src/icecream/icecream.dat");
In other words, make sure you include the words 'src' but also everything that follows the src as well. If it's in the same folder as the rest of the files, you won't need anything prior to the 'src'.

Scanning file from user input

It has been a long time since I messed with files. I am trying to take a txt file I make in eclipse and use it in this code. The code to handle getting file name, finding file, and scanning it is:
System.out.println("Input from a file");
System.out.print("Enter file name: ");
String str = expression.nextLine();
int i = 0;
File file = new File(str);
Scanner fScan = new Scanner(file);
All I get are FileNotFoundExceptions. My file is in the same exact folder that all my classes for this program are in. I can't find an actual helpful answer online either .
So if someone could point out where I am going wrong that would be great :)

all of these lines of code you are having should be inside a try{} and outside have a catch, that would catch the fileNotFoundException, for example,
Try{
/*your code here*/
// but try this
Scanner scannerName = new Scanner("FileName.<extension>"); //extension being .txt, etc
String str;
while(scannerName.hasNext());{
str = scannerName.nextLine();
/*work with str here*/
}
Catch(FileNotFoundException e){
System.out.println("File not found");
}

Are you sure that the file is in the root folder ? The default working directory, is the project directory.
If you are sure that your file is there then it's either your mistaken when typing the name of your file, or somethine else is happening, to figure it out, I suggest you to try the following 3 tests :
1-make sure when you type the name of the file there is no mistake
2-Try to put the full path of the file and see if now it will find it
3-Try to put as name something like
new File("src/pa/Yourinput.txt").

If you have the file in the same package where is the class file then you can try this one also:
Scanner fScan = new Scanner(this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("abc.txt"));
//do not forget to close the Scanner in the end
fScan.close()
OR
Looking a file abc.txt from resources folder
File file = new File("resources/abc.txt");
Here is the project structure

Text input and output java

I am trying to read 2 files after i read the files i want to get their contents and manipulate the contents of the two files then update a new file which is the output. The files are in the same folder as the program but the program always throws a FileNotFoundException.
Below is my code:-
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Scanner;
public class UpdateMaster {
public static void main(String[] args)
{
String master = "Customer.dat";
String trans = "Transactns.dat";
String newMaster = "Temp.txt";
Scanner inputStreamMaster = null;
Scanner inputStreamTrans = null;
PrintWriter inputStreamNewMaster = null;
try
{
inputStreamMaster = new Scanner(new File(master));
inputStreamTrans = new Scanner(new File(trans));
inputStreamNewMaster = new PrintWriter(newMaster);
}
catch(FileNotFoundException e)
{
System.out.println("Error: you opend a file that does not exist.");
System.exit(0);
}
catch(IOException e)
{
System.out.println("Error.");
System.exit(0);
}
do
{
String transLine = inputStreamTrans.nextLine();
String masterLine = inputStreamMaster.nextLine();
String[] transLineArr = transLine.split(",");
String[] masterLineArr = masterLine.split(",");
int trAccNo = Integer.parseInt(transLineArr[0]);
int sales = Integer.parseInt(transLineArr[1]);
int masterAccNo = Integer.parseInt(masterLineArr[0]);
int balance = Integer.parseInt(masterLineArr[1]);
while(masterAccNo== trAccNo){
inputStreamNewMaster.println(trAccNo+ " , "+masterAccNo);
masterLine = inputStreamMaster.nextLine();
masterLineArr = masterLine.split(",");
masterAccNo = Integer.parseInt(masterLineArr[0]);
balance = Integer.parseInt(masterLineArr[1]);
}
balance = balance + sales;
inputStreamNewMaster.println(masterAccNo+ " , "+balance);
}while(inputStreamTrans.hasNextLine());
inputStreamMaster.close();
inputStreamTrans.close();
inputStreamNewMaster.close();
//System.out.println(" the line were written to "+ newMaster);
}
}

Like #Ankit Rustagi said in the comments, you need the full path of the files if you want to keep the current implementation.
However, there is a solution where you only need the file names: use BufferedReader / BufferedWriter. See here an example on how to use these classes (in the example it uses the full path but it works without it too).

Use absolute path
String master = "C:/Data/Customer.dat";
String trans = "C:/Data/Transactns.dat";
String newMaster = "C:/Data/Temp.txt";

The code works for me, i guess you misspelled some filename(s) or your files are in the wrong folder. I created your files on the same level as the src or the project. Also this is the folder where the files are exspected.

There's nothing wrong with using relative paths like tihis. What's happening is that your program is looking for the files in the directory where you execute the program, which doesn't have to be the folder of the program. You can confirm this by logging the absolute path of the files before you try to read them. For example:
File masterFile = new File(master);
System.out.printf("Using master file '%s'%n", masterFile.getAbsolutePath());
inputStreamMaster = new Scanner(masterFile);
In general you should not hardcode file paths but allow the user to specify them in someway, for example using command line arguments, a configuration file with a well known path, or an interactive user interface.
There is a way to locate the program's class file but it's a little tricky because Java allows classes to be loaded from compressed archives that may be located in remote systems. It's better to solve this problem in some other manner.

Try this:
String current = new java.io.File( "." ).getCanonicalPath();
System.out.println("I look for files in:"+current);
To see what directory your program expects to find its input files. If it shows the correct directory, check spelling of filenames. Otherwise, you have a clue as to what's gone wrong.