Java Scanner example – read & write contents to/ from file (example)

  • Scanner is text parser which used to parse primitives & strings using regular expression.
  • Scanner split the input into token using delimiter pattern.
    • Default pattern delimiter is whitespace.
  • We will write content to a file using FileWriter class.
    • Then, we will read content from as file using Scanner class.
  • Scanner class extends object & implements Closeable & Iterable interface.

Scanner class hierarchy is as follows:

scanner read write console
Fig: Scanner class hierarchy

Scanner class constructors (Java IO):

No.Constructors Description
1Scanner(File source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified file.
2Scanner(File source, String charsetName) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified file.
3Scanner(InputStream source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified input stream.
4Scanner(InputStream source, String charsetName) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified input stream.
5Scanner(Path source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified file.
6Scanner(Path source, String charsetName) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified file.
7Scanner(Readable source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified source.
8Scanner(ReadableByteChannel source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified channel.
9Scanner(ReadableByteChannel source, String charsetName) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified channel.
10Scanner(String source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified string.

Important methods of Scanner class (Java IO):

No.Methods Description
1boolean hasNext() Returns true if this scanner has another token in its input.
2boolean hasNextDouble() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be interpreted as a double value using the nextDouble() method.
3boolean hasNextFloat() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be interpreted as a float value using the nextFloat() method.
4boolean hasNextInt() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be interpreted as an int value in the default radix using the nextInt() method.
5String next() Finds and returns the next complete token from this scanner..
6String nextLine() Moves scanner position to the next line & returns the value as a string.
7byte nextByte() Scans the next token of the input as a byte.
8short nextShort() Scans the next token of the input as a short.
9int nextInt() Scans the next token of the input as a short.
10long nextLong() Scans the next token of the input as a long.
11float nextFloat() Scans the next token of the input as a float.
12double nextDouble() Scans the next token of the input as a double.

Program: Write file & read file in java using Scanner class (example)

package org.learn.io.scan;

import java.io.FileReader;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Scanner;

public class ReadFileUsingScanner {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        //Write content to file
        writeFileContents();
        //Reading content of file using Scanner class
        readFileContents();
    }

    private static void writeFileContents() throws IOException {

        try (FileWriter fileWriter = new FileWriter("info.txt")) {
            fileWriter.write("10 ");
            fileWriter.write("20.5 ");
            fileWriter.write("Employee ");
            fileWriter.write("50.00 ");
            fileWriter.write("Coffee");
        }
    }

    private static void readFileContents() throws IOException {
        System.out.println("Reading contents of file using Scanner class:");
        try (FileReader fileReader = new FileReader("info.txt");
                Scanner scanner=new Scanner(fileReader)){
            while (scanner.hasNext()) {
                if(scanner.hasNextInt()) {
                    System.out.println(scanner.nextInt());
                } else if(scanner.hasNextDouble()) {
                    System.out.println(scanner.nextDouble());
                } else if(scanner.hasNext()) {
                    System.out.println(scanner.next());
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Output: Read file in java using Scanner class (example)

Reading contents of file using Scanner class:
10
20.5
Employee
50.0
Coffee
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