18 Jan Java File Handling

File Handling in Java includes creating, reading, and writing a file. It also includes deleting a file. To work on files in Java, we have the File class. It is part of the following package, which you need to import while working on the File class:

import java.io.File;

We will now see some examples of:

1. Create a File in Java
2. Write to a File in Java
3. Read a File in Java
4. Delete a File
5. Delete a Folder

Create a File in Java

To create a File in Java, use the createNewFile() method of the File class in Java. First, import the required package:

import java.io.File;

Let’s say the name of the file we want to create is myfile.txt at the following location. Use the double backslash in Windows for the path as shown below:

E:\\Amit\\myfile.txt

Let us now see an example to create a file in Java:

import java.io.File; 
import java.io.IOException;

public class Studyopedia {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
      File f = new File("E:\\Amit\\myfile.txt");
      if (f.createNewFile()) {
        // Displaying the file name if it gets created successfully
        System.out.println("New file created successfully: " + f.getName());
      } else {
        System.out.println("File "+ f.getName()+ "you want to create already exists.");
      }
    } catch (IOException e) {
        System.out.println("Error!");
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

Output

New file created successfully: myfile.txt

The file gets created at the location. The file is empty since we did not add any text to it:

Write to a File in Java

To write to a File in Java, use the write() method of the FileWriter class. First, import the required package:

import java.io.FileWriter;

Let us now see the Java program to write text to the above file myfile.txt:

import java.io.FileWriter; 
import java.io.IOException;

public class Studyopedia {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
      FileWriter fWrite = new FileWriter("E:\\Amit\\myfile.txt");
	  
      // The write() method of the FileWriter class writes to a file
      fWrite.write("This is a demo text written to a file.");
	  
      // Close the file
      fWrite.close();
	  
      // This gets displayed on screen
      System.out.println("File written!!!");     
    } catch (IOException e) {
        System.out.println("Error!");
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

Output

File written!!!

The myfile.txt file is now having the following text as shown below:

Read a File in Java

To read a File in Java, use the nextLine() method of the Scanner class. First, import the required package:

import java.io.File; 
import java.util.Scanner;

We will read the above myfile.txt with the following text:

Let us now see the example to read the above file:

import java.io.File; 
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;

public class Studyopedia {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
      File f = new File("E:\\Amit\\myfile.txt");
	  
      // Read the File
      System.out.println("Reading the File");
      Scanner scanner = new Scanner(f);
      while (scanner.hasNextLine()) {
        String s = scanner.nextLine();
        System.out.println(s);
      }
      System.out.println("Closing the File");
      scanner.close();
    } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
      System.out.println("Error!");
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

Output

Reading the File
This is a demo text written to a file.
Closing the File

Delete a File in Java

To delete a file in Java, use the delete() method of the File class. Let us now see the Java program to delete a file, Demo.txt:

// Delete a File in Java

import java.io.File;

class Demo125 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        File obj = new File("E:\\Demo.txt");

        if(obj.delete()) {
            System.out.println("File Deleted = "+obj.getName());
        } else {
            System.out.println("File Not Deleted");
        }
    }
}

Output

File Deleted = Demo.txt

Delete a Folder in Java

To delete a folder in Java, use the delete() method of the File class. Let us now see the Java program to delete a folder, Amit:

// Delete a Folder in Java

import java.io.File;

class Demo126 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            File obj = new File("E:\\Amit");

            if (obj.delete()) {
                System.out.println("Folder Deleted = " + obj.getName());
            } else {
                System.out.println("Folder Not Deleted");
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println(e.toString());
        }
    }
}

Output

Folder Deleted = Amit

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