CO6- Develop Program For
Handling I/O And File Stream
Prof: Naresh R. Shende
HOD, Computer Engineering
Shivajirao S. Jondhle Polytechnic
Streams and Files
The objectives of this chapter are:
To understand the principles of I/O streams and
where to use them.
To understand the options and limitations of I/O
streams.
To become comfortable with the mechanisms for
accessing the file system.
Stream Classes
There are many classes in the java.io package
To deal with the complexity of the java.io, our
approach is:
Address the different types of streams
Byte-oriented versus Character Oriented
For each type, cover:
Input and Output oriented streams
The associated class hierarchy for input and output
Outline the basic methods for input and output
Provide a basic outline for the purpose of each class
in the hierarchy
Elaborate upon Filter Streams
Although a stream can be used in isolation, they are
generally used together with filter streams.
What are Streams?
The I/O System in Java is based on Streams
Input Streams are data sources
Programmers read data from input streams
Output Streams are data sinks
Programmers write data to output streams
Java has two main types of Streams
Byte Oriented
Each datum is a byte
uses InputStream class hierarchy & OutputStream
class hierarchy
Character-based I/O streams
each datum is a Unicode character
uses Reader class hierarchy & Writer class hierarchy
Byte Oriented Streams
There are many different types of Byte-Oriented Streams
Represented by different classes within the java.io.package.
All byte-oriented streams are subclasses of a common Stream
class
Input Streams are subclasses of the abstract class
java.io.InputStream
Output Streams are subclasses of the abstract class
java.io.OutputStream
All byte-oriented streams inherit basic methods from their
respective superclasses.
Byte-oriented streams are closely related to the I/O streams
provided by other programming languages like C, C++, and
pascal.
Because they are byte-oriented they are suitable for reading
binary and ASCII data.
Byte-oriented streams do not work well with unicode text.
Use character oriented streams for unicode.
Byte-Oriented Input Stream Classes
The following is the byte-oriented input stream class hierarchy:
InputStream
ByteArrayInputStream FileInputStream SequenceInputStream
ObjectInputStream PipedInputStream
FilterInputStream
BufferedInputStream DataInputStream PushbackInputStream
ZipInputStream ZipInputStream is defined in: java.util.zip
InputStream Methods
Reading
read() methods will block until data is available to be read
two of the three read() methods return the number of bytes
read
-1 is returned if the Stream has ended
throws IOException if an I/O error occurs. This is a checked
exception
There are 3 main read methods:
int read():Reads a single character. Returns it as integer
int read(byte[] buffer):Reads bytes and places them into
buffer (max = size of buffer) returns the number of bytes
read
int read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int length)
Reads up to length bytes and places them into buffer, First
byte read is stored in buffer[offset] ,returns the number of
bytes read
InputStream Methods
available(): method returns the number of bytes
which can be read without blocking.
skip(): method skips over a number of bytes in the
input stream.
close(): method will close the input stream and
release any system resources.
input streams optionally support repositioning the
stream.
methods that support repositioning are:
markSupported(): returns true if repositioning is supported
mark() : places a mark in the stream
reset() : 'rewinds' the stream to a previously set mark
Creating an InputStream
InputStream is an abstract class
Programmers can only instantiate subclasses.
ByteArrayInputStream:
Constructor is provided with a byte array.
This byte array contains all the bytes provided by this
stream
Useful if the programmer wishes to provide access to a byte
array using the stream interface.
FileInputStream:
Constructor takes a filename, File object or FileDescriptor
Object.
Opens a stream to a file.
FilterInputStream:
Provides a basis for filtered input streams
Creating an InputStream
ObjectInputStream
Created from another input stream (such as FileInputStream)
Reads bytes from the stream (which represent serialized
Objects) and converts them back into Objects
PipedInputStream:
Connects to an Instance of PipedOutputStream
A pipe represents a one-way stream through which 2 threads
may communicate
Thread1 writes to a PipedOutputStream
Thread2 reads from the PipedInputStream
SequenceInputStream:
Constructor takes multiple InputStreams
Allows reading. When one stream ends, it continues reading
from next stream in the list
Byte-Oriented Output Stream Classes
The following is the byte-oriented input stream
class hierarchy:
OutputStream
PipedOutputStream
ByteArrayOutputStream FileOutputStream
ObjectOutputStream
FilterOutputStream
BufferedOutputStream DataOutputStream PrintStream
ZipOutputStream ZipOutputStream is defined in: java.util.zip
OutputStream Methods
Writing:
write() methods write data to the stream. Written data is
buffered.
Use flush() to flush any buffered data from the stream.
throws IOException if an I/O error occurs. This is a
checked exception
There are 3 main write methods:
void write(int data): Writes a single character
Note: even though data is an integer, data must be set
such that : 0 <= data <= 255
void write(byte[] buffer):Writes all the bytes contained
in buffer to the stream
void write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int length):Writes
length bytes to stream starting from buffer[offset]
OutputStream Methods
flush():
To improve performance, almost all output protocols
buffer output.
Data written to a stream is not actually sent until
buffering thresholds are met.
Invoking flush() causes the OutputStream to clear its
internal buffers.
close():
Closes stream and releases any system resources.
Creating an OutputStream
OutputStream is an abstract class.
Programmers instantiate one of its subclasses
ByteArrayOutputStream:
Any bytes written to this stream will be stored in a byte
array
The resulting byte array can be retrieved using
toByteArray() method.
FileOutputStream:
Constructor takes a filename, File object, or
FileDescriptor object.
Any bytes written to this stream will be written to the
underlying file.
Has one constructor which allows for appending to file:
FileOutputStream(String filename, boolean append)
FilterOutputStream:
Provides a basis for Output Filter Streams.
Creating an OutputStream
ObjectOutputStream
Created from another output stream (such as
FileOutputStream)
Programmers serialize objects to the stream using the
writeObject() method
PipedOutputStream:
Connects to an Instance of PipedInputStream
A pipe represents a one-way stream through which 2 threads
may communicate
Thread1 writes to a PipedOutputStream
Thread2 reads from the PipedInputStream
Example - Copy a File
import java.io.*;
public class CopyFile
{
public void copyFile(String inputFilename, String outputFilename)
{
try
{
FileInputStream fpin = new FileInputStream(inputFilename);
FileOutputStream fpout = new FileOutputStream(outputfilename);
byte buffer = new byte[8192];
int length = 0;
while ((length = fpin.read(buffer, 0, buffer.length)) > 0)
{
fpout.write(buffer, 0, length);
}
fpout.flush();
fpout.close();
fpin.close();
}
catch (IOException x)
{
System.out.println("Error:" + x);
}
}
}
Limitations of Byte Oriented Streams
Byte oriented streams
attractive to programmers familiar with C, C++ or who have
UNIX experience.
They are identical to what these programmers are used to
because they are byte-oriented, they are inflexible when
dealing with multi-byte characters.
Byte oriented streams only directly support ASCII.
International fonts would require extra work for the
programmer
Character based streams
Abstract classes are Reader and Writer
Can be used in conjunction with byte-oriented streams
Useful when reading and writing text (character data)
Readers and Writers support a wide variety of character
encodings including multi-byte encodings like Unicode.
Character-Oriented Streams
There are many different types of Character-Oriented
Streams
Represented by different classes within the java.io.package
All character-oriented streams are subclasses of an abstract
class
Writers are subclasses of the abstract class java.io.Writer
Readers are subclasses of the abstract class java.io.Reader
All character-oriented streams inherit basic methods from
their respective superclasses
Some define new methods pertinent to the type of data they
provide.
Character oriented streams can be used in conjunction
with byte-oriented streams:
Use InputStreamReader to "convert" an InputStream to a
Reader
Use OutputStreamWriter to "convert" an OutputStream to a
Writer
Character-Oriented Reader Classes
The following is the byte-oriented input stream
class hierarchy:
Reader
PipedReader CharArrayReader StringReader
BufferedReader FilterReader InputStreamReader
LineNumberReader PushbackReader FileReader
Reader Methods
Reading
read() methods will block until data is available to be read
two of the three read() methods return the number of bytes
read
-1 is returned if the Stream has ended
throws IOException if an I/O error occurs. This is a checked
exception
There are 3 main read methods:
int read():Reads a single character. Returns it as integer
int read(char[] buffer):Reads bytes and places them into
buffer (max = size of buffer)returns the number of bytes
read.
int read(char[] buffer, int offset, int length):Reads up to
length bytes and places them into buffer, First byte read is
stored in buffer[offset],returns the number of bytes read
Reader Methods
close() method closes the stream
mark(int readAheadLimit) marks the current location
Parameter specifies the number of characters which
can be read before the marks becomes invalid
ready() returns true if there is data to be read from
the stream
returns true if the stream is guaranteed not to block
upon next read.
reset() returns the stream to its previously marked
location
skip(long n) skips over n byte
Creating a Reader Object
Reader is abstract class which is Programmers
instantiate one of its subclasses.
BufferedReader
Reads text from the character input stream
Provides buffering to provide efficient reading of
characters, arrays and lines
CharArrayReader
Similar to ByteArrayInputStream
Constructor takes a character array. The character array
provides the characters for the stream.
FilterReader
An abstract class for filtering character streams
Creating a Reader Object
InputStreamReader
This class acts as a bridge from byte streams to character
streams
InputStreamReader takes an InputStream parameter to its
constructor
The InputStreamReader reads bytes from the InputStream and
translates them into characters according to the specified
encoding.
PipedReader
Similar to PipedInputStream
Connects to an Instance of PipedWriter
A pipe represents a one-way stream through which 2 threads
may communicate
Thread1 writes to a PipedWriter
Thread2 reads from the PipedReader
StringReader
Provides a character stream where the data is obtained from
a String
Creating a Reader Object
LineNumberReader (subclass of BufferedReader)
A stream which keeps track of how many lines there have
been
A line is terminated with a linefeed, carriage return or a
carriage return followed immediately by a linefeed.
PushbackReader (subclass of FilterReader)
A stream which allows characters to be pushed back into the
stream after being read
The number of characters which can be pushed back is
specified when instantiated. Default = 1
FileReader (subclass of InputStreamReader)
A convenience class to provide a character based stream
from file.
Alternatively, open the file using a FileInputStream and
then pass that stream to an InputStreamReader instance.
Character-Oriented Writer Classes
The following is the byte-oriented input stream class
hierarchy:
Writer
PipedWriter
CharArrayWriter FileWriter StringWriter
BufferedWriter OutputStreamWriter PrintWriter
FileWriter
Writer Methods
There are 5 main write methods:
void write(int c): Writes a single character.
void write(char[] buffer): Writes an array of characters
void write(char[] buffer, int offset, int length): Writes a
portion of an array of characters, First character written
is starts at buffer[offset], length indicates how many
characters to write.
void write(String aString):Writes aString to the stream
void write(String aString, int offset, int length): Writes
a portion of a String to the stream, First character
written is starts at aString.charAt(offset), length
indicates how many characters to write.
Creating a Writer Object
Writer is abstract.Programmers instantiate one of
its subclasses.
BufferedWriter
Writes text to the character stream
Provides buffering to provide efficient writing of
characters, arrays and lines
CharArrayWriter
Similar to ByteArrayOutputStream
Characters written to the stream are stored in a buffer.
The buffer can be retrieved by calling toCharArray() or
toString()
FilterWriter
An abstract class for writing filtered character streams
Creating a Writer Object
OutputStreamWriter
This class acts as a bridge from character streams to byte
streams
OutputStreamWriter takes an OutputStream parameter to its
constructor
Characters written to the OutputStreamWriter are translated
to bytes (based on the encoding) and written to the
underlying OuputStream.
PipedWriter
Similar to PipedOutputStream
Connects to an Instance of PipedReader
A pipe represents a one-way stream through which 2 threads
may communicate
Thread1 writes to a PipedWriter
Thread2 reads from the PipedReader
StringWriter
Characters written to this stream are collected in a
StringBuffer.
The StringBuffer can be used to construct a String.
Creating a Writer Object
PrintWriter
Provides print() and println() methods for standard output
both print() and println() are overloaded to take a variety
of types
When println is used, the stream will output the
appropriate sequence (either linefeed, carriage return or
carriage return/linefeed) for the current platform
System.out and System.err are PrintWriters
FileWriter (subclass of OutputStreamWriter)
A convenience class for writing characters to file
FileWriters assume that the default character encoding is
acceptable
Alternatively, open the file using a FileOutputStream and
then pass that stream to an OutputStreamWriter instance.
Filter Streams
What are filter streams?
Filter streams are similar to filters in Unix
The basic idea is that while the data is being read (or
written) the data is modified by a filter or series of
filters.
How the data is modified is depends on which filters are
used.
Example:
A programmer creates a FileOuputStream
OutputStreams are byte-oriented, but the programmer wishes
to use character-oriented streams instead.
The programmer knows that the OutputStreamWriter class can
convert between character oriented streams and byte
oriented streams
The programmer creates an OuputStreamWriter and passes the
FileOutputStream reference to it
The programmer wishes to improve performance using a
BufferedWriter.
The programmer creates a BufferedWriter and passes the
OutputStreamWriter object to the constructor
Filter Streams - Example
import java.io.*;
public class MyClass
{
public void test()
{
try
{
FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("Test");
OutpuStreamWriter oswOut = new OutputStreamWriter(out);
BufferedWriter bufOut = new BufferedWriter(oswOut);
// programmer now uses bufOut
}
catch (IOException x)
{
}
}
}
bufOut oswOut out
Programmer
Writes BufferedWrite OutputStream FileOutputStre File
Data r Writer am named
"Test"
Data Buffered in Character Data converted Byte Data written to file
BufferedWriter to byte data
FilterStreams Provided with the JSDK
Standard Byte-oriented Filter Streams:
ObjectInputStream, ObjectOutputStream
BufferedInputStream, BufferedOutputStream
DataInputStream, DataOutputStream
PushbackInputStream
Compression filter Streams
GZIPInputStream, GZIPOutputStream
ZipInputStream, ZipOutputStream
InflatorInputStream, DeflatorOutputStream
Character-oriented Filter Streams:
PushbackReader
FileWriter
Object Serialization
When an object is instantiated, the system reserves enough
memory to hold all of the object's instance variables
The space includes inherited instance variables.
The object exists in memory.
Instance methods read and update the memory for a given
object.
The memory which represents an object can be written to an
ObjectOutputStream.
Objects are serialized to an ObjectOutputStream
Any other objects referred to by the Serialized object are
also serialized to the stream
Unless they are marked as "transient“
When an object is serialized, the stream checks to ensure
that the object implements the java.io.Serializable
interface.
If not, the Stream throws a NotSerializableException
The Serializable interface does not define any methods.
Example - Serialize an Object
import java.io.*;
public class Test
{
public void saveObject(String outputFilename, Object anObject)
{
try
{
FileOutputStream fpout = new FileOutputStream(outputFilename);
ObjectOutputStream obOut = new ObjectOutputStream(fpout);
obOut.writeObject(anObject);
obOut.flush();
obOut.close();
}
catch (IOException x)
{
System.out.println("Error:" + x);
}
}
}
Example - Read in a Serialized Object
import java.io.*;
public class Test
{
public Object readObject(String inputFilename)
{
try
{
FileInputStream fpin = new FileInputStream(inputFilename);
ObjectInputStream obIn = new ObjectInputStream(fpin);
Object anObject = obIn.readObject();
obIn.close();
return anObject;
}
catch (IOException x)
{
System.out.println("Error:" + x);
}
}
}
Example - Serialize an Object and Compress
import java.io.*;
import java.util.zip.*;
public class Test
{
public void saveObject(String outputFilename, Object anObject)
{
try
{
FileOutputStream fpout = new FileOutputStream(outputFilename);
DeflaterOutputStream dOut = new DeflaterOutputStream(fpout);
ObjectOutputStream obOut = new ObjectOutputStream(dOut);
obOut.writeObject(anObject);
obOut.flush();
obOut.close();
}
catch (IOException x)
{
System.out.println("Error:" + x);
}
}
}
Example - Read in a Compressed Serialized Object
import java.io.*;
public class Test
{
public Object readObject(String inputFilename)
{
try
{
FileInputStream fpin = new FileInputStream(inputFilename);
InflaterInputStream inflateIn = new InflaterInputStream(fpin);
ObjectInputStream obIn = new ObjectInputStream(inflateIn);
Object anObject = obIn.readObject();
obIn.close();
return anObject;
}
catch (IOException x)
{
System.out.println("Error:" + x);
}
}
}
The File Class
Java IO provides a class which is an abstract representation
of a file or directory within the file system.
The File class has 2 constructors:
File(String pathName)
File(File parent, String child)
The File class provides several query methods:
canRead(), canWrite(), exists(), getAbsolutePath(),
getName(), getParent(), getPath(), isAbsolute(),
isDirectory(), isHidden(), lastModified(), length(), and
list()
The File class also provides several methods which act on the
file system:
createTempFile(), delete(), deleteOnExit(), mkdir(),
mkdirs(), renameTo(), setLastModified(), setReadOnly()
