Input and Output Streams

(Byte) Streams
– Represented in memory as a sequence of bytes (low
level file); no “real” notion of type of data represented
Computer Science II – Used to store data read from or to be written to system
devices (e.g. physical file on disc, monitor, keyboard,
4003-232-08 (Winter 2007-2008) pen/stylus input)
– In Java: represented and utilized through objects (most
found in java.io package)
Week 4: Files Continued
Default Streams for Programs in Most OS’s
Richard Zanibbi Standard input (System.in) – usually from keyboard.
Rochester Institute of Technology Standard output (System.out) – usually sent to terminal.
Standard error (System.err) – usually sent to terminal also

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e.g. Scanner or objects used to abstract

FileReader or
FileInputStream or
requests for OS operations
that manipulate streams
“Low Level Files” = Byte Stream Files
DataInputStream

(file in memory) Name: Test (ASCII)

(Java)
Byte Value
File Pointer
On file open:
0 0100 0001 A
(default) pointer set to 0 1 0100 0010 B
Read/Write K bytes: 2 0100 0011 C
Advance pointer by K
3 0100 0100 D
Setting File Pointer:
(file in memory)
e.g. PrintWriter or skip(),mark(),reset()(Java) 4 0100 0101 E
FileWriter or lseek() (POSIX)
FileOutputStream or SetFilePointer() (Win) 5 0100 0110 F
DataOutputStream

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Treated as “raw” bytes

Java Byte Stream Classes

Text vs. Binary I/O
(Binary I/O)
(Conversion to ASCII)
See Fig 18.3 (p. 608) for inheritance
hierarchy
main (abstract) classes:
(No Conversion)
InputStream, OutputStream
(summary: pp. 608-609)
0x : prefix for hexadecimal
values (base 16) ** All methods declared to throw java.io.IOException (IOException)
(4 bits per symbol) or one of its subclasses (e.g. FileNotFoundException)
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1
FileInputStream, FileOutputStream ‘FileStream’ Example
FileInputStream (see Fig. 18.6): TestFileStream.java (p. 610 in text)
Produces an input stream from a file on disk. Constructors
take a File object or a string giving the path to the file. Unix: to view file contents, can use od
(octal dump)
e.g. od –Ad –tx1 temp.dat
FileOutputStream (see Fig. 18.7): • Shows file contents, one byte at a time in hexadecimal (with
decimal numbering for bytes in the file)
Produce output stream (file) that will be stored on disk.
Constructors also take a File object or path string, but od –Ad –a temp.dat
• Shows file contents, interpreted as (named) characters (ASCII)
have an alternate form that takes a boolean flag indicating
whether to overwrite (‘delete’) or append data to the end of od –Ad –t x1 –a –c temp.dat
• Show file contents in hexadecimal, as named characters, and as
the file. ASCII characters (including escape sequences)
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“Filtered” Streams
‘DataStream’ Example
(FilterInputStream, FilterOutputStream)
Purpose TestDataStream.java (p. 613, text)
Converting bytes to other data types in java (for use with streams)
– Syntax: done through “wrapping” another class around an existing
stream

FilterInputStream, FilterOutputStream
– Used to convert primitive types and Strings to and from bytes
– Subclasses of interest: DataInputStream (see Fig 18.9),
DataOutputStream (see Fig 18.10)
• These classes write Java variables directly to a byte stream (quietly
making the necessary conversion), or convert byte stream data to Java
variable primitive (e.g. int, double) or String types (e.g. to store in a
variable).
– Methods for the conversions are defined by the DataInput interface.

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Buffered Streams in Java

(also Filtered Streams) Example of Buffering
Buffering
– Using additional intermediate storage (a ‘buffer’) to allow Copy.java (p. 615)
reading ahead and writing behind
– Reduces the number of (actual) read and write operations
needed, improves performance
– Default buffer size is 512 bytes (can be changed using a
constructor)

Java Syntax (Example; mod. TestDataStream.java)

DataOutputStream output = new DataOutputStream(new
BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(“temp.dat”)));
DataInputStream input = new DataInputStream(new
BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(“temp.dat”)));
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2
 Reader and Writer Classes (abstract):
Standard Streams in Java Alternate Classes to Read, Write Text Files in the
java.io Package (see Java API)
System.out PrintWriter
Is a subclass of Writer
Is a PrintStream reference (subclass of Has same interface as PrintStream (e.g. as used by System.out)
FilterOutputStream) Can be used to write to a

FileReader
System.err Is a subclass of Reader used to read text files
Also a PrintStream reference
BufferedFileReader
– Subclass of Reader
System.in – Use a buffer for read/write operations for concrete Reader instances
(e.g. FileReader)
Is an InputStream reference • BufferedFileReader in = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(“foo.in”))

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Exercise: Files Part B

1. What is stored in a stream? Where do
Part A
streams exist?
1. Can the File class be used for I/O? If not, what is it
used for? 2. What three streams exist for all programs in a
2. What is the (parent) type of checked exception modern OS?
thrown by classes in the java.io package?
3. How must this be handled within a method using
3. What type of data do FileInputStream and
these operations? (Hint: two possibilities) FileOutputStream support?
4. Write java statements to create a PrintWriter object 4. What types of data do DataInputStream and
for a file “foo.txt” in the current directory, write “hello” DataOutputStream support?
to the file, and then close the file.
5. What sources can a Scanner object read data from? 5. What is buffering? Why is it used?
How does this differ for a FileInputStream? 6. Write Java statements to construct a buffered
6. What kind of data ‘unit’ are Scanners normally used FileInputStream for “foo.txt” (current dir.), read
to recover?
a byte, and close the stream.
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