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How do you convert a text file into a 2D character array?

I am trying to convert a text file into a 2 dimensional character array. I am part of the way there but the last line of my array is not fully correct. Here's my code:
protected void readMap(String fileName) throws IOException {
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName));
char[] chars;
int lines=0;
while (br.readLine() != null) {
lines++;
}
File file = new File(fileName);
try (FileReader reader = new FileReader(file)) {
chars = new char[(int) file.length()];
reader.read(chars);
reader.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
}
int columns = ((int) file.length())/lines;
map = new char[lines][columns];
for(int i=0; i<lines;i++){
for(int j=0;j<columns;j++){
map[i][j] = chars[j%columns+i*columns];
}
}
for(int ro=0; ro<map.length; ro++){
for(int colum=0; colum<(map[0].length); colum++){
System.out.print(map[ro][colum]);
}
}
return null;
}
Here's the output:
##########################
#........................#
#.....###........###.....#
#......G..........G......#
#........................#
#...........E............#
#......G.........G.......#
#........G.....G.........#
#..........###...........#
#........................#
#################
^missing #'s here
I'm very confused on why this is occuring. I've tried changing how I print the array but i'm pretty sure its how its to do with how i've converted the 1d 'chars' array to the 2d 'map' array.
I'm really lost so any help would be much appreciated! Thank you.

I'm guessing your file looks something like this
##########################
#........................#
#.....###........###.....#
#......G..........G......#
#........................#
#...........E............#
#......G.........G.......#
#........G.....G.........#
#..........###...........#
#........................#
##########################
If you print the file length, you will see that the file length is 296
As Your code row = 11 and columns = 26
When you are copying to map you are copying up to 11 * 26 = 286
Try the UPDATED code below
public void readMap(String fileName) throws IOException {
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName));
int lines = 0, columns = 0;
String str;
List<String> lineList = new ArrayList<>();
while ((str = br.readLine()) != null && str.length() != 0) {
lines++;
columns = Math.max(columns, str.length()); // as it's not fixed
lineList.add(str);
}
System.out.println("Row : " + lines);
System.out.println("Columns : " + columns);
char[][] map = new char[lines][columns];
for (int i = 0; i < lines; i++) {
String currentLine = lineList.get(i);
int idx = 0;
for (int j = 0; j < currentLine.length(); j++) {
map[i][j] = currentLine.charAt(idx++);
}
}
for (int r = 0; r < map.length; r++) {
for (int c = 0; c < (map[0].length); c++) {
System.out.print(map[r][c]);
}
System.out.println();
}
}

I've just executed the code and the map prints as expected. The issue may be down to the file itself as that is the uncommon factor.
edit:
The results you have observed is because you may have a new line character, or other special character, at the end of or somewhere in the file. Removing this you should see the consistent map you want.
Alternative
protected static void readMap(String fileName) throws IOException {
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName));
String line = "";
List<String> lines = new ArrayList<>();
while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
lines.add(line);
}
char[][] chars = new char[lines.size()][];
for (int col = 0; col < lines.size(); col++) {
for (int row = 0; row < lines.get(col).length(); row++) {
chars[col] = lines.get(col).toCharArray();
}
}
for (int col = 0; col < chars.length; col++) {
for (int row = 0; row < chars[col].length; row++) {
System.out.print(chars[col][row]);
}
System.out.println();
}
}//My rows and cols may be back to front
Few other notes:
You shouldn't be returning a value from a void method, even null (You'll want to return null if the return type is Void).
Your compiler may complain if you don't initialize chars initially, as mine did. char[] chars = null; would do it in this scenario.

Having trouble with file output

I want to be able to read in 20 random names from the file and put them into a new file. How do i go about this?
public class Assignment2 {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
{
// Read in the file into a list of strings
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("textfile.txt"));
//BufferedWriter bw = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("out.txt"));
List<String> lines = new ArrayList<String>();
String line = reader.readLine();
while( line != null ) {
lines.add(line);
line = reader.readLine();
}
// Choose a random one from the list
Random r = new Random();
for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++)
{
int rowNum = r.nextInt(lines.size ());
System.out.println(lines.get(rowNum));
}
}
}

try (BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("randomNames.txt"))) {
Random random = new Random();
for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
int rowNum = random.nextInt(lines.size());
writer.write(lines.get(rowNum));
writer.newLine();
}
}
If you need to check if some number was already used, add it to a set:
try (BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("randomNames.txt"))) {
Set<Integer> usedNumbers = new HashSet<Integer>(20);
Random random = new Random();
int addedCount = 0;
while (addedCount < 20) {
int rowNum = random.nextInt(lines.size());
if (usedNumbers.add(rowNum)) {
writer.write(lines.get(rowNum));
writer.newLine();
addedCount++;
}
}
}
To check if there is another name with same first character:
private static void containsNameWithSameFirstCharacter(Collection<String> names, String name) {
for (String anotherName : names) {
if (anotherName.charAt(0) == name.charAt(0)) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
Then you do:
Random random = new Random();
Set<String> usedNames = new HashSet<String>(20);
while (usedNames.size() < 20) {
int rowNum = random.nextInt(lines.size());
String name = lines.get(rowNum);
if (!containsNameWithSameFirstCharacter(usedNames, name)) {
usedNames.add(name);
writer.write(name);
writer.newLine();
}
}

Replace letters with *

Making a hangman style of game
I have the random word now. How do I replace the letters of the word with an asterix * so that when the program starts the word is shown as *.
I assume that when someone inputs a letter for the hangman game you get the index of that character in the word and then replace the corresponding *.
public class JavaApplication10 {
public static String[] wordArray = new String[1];
public static String file_dir = "Animals.txt";
public static String selectedWord = "";
public static char[] wordCharacter = new char[1];
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
wordArray = get_word(file_dir);
selectedWord = select_word(wordArray);
System.out.println(selectedWord);
}
public static String[] get_word(String file_dir) throws IOException {
FileReader fileReader = new FileReader(file_dir);
BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(fileReader);
List<String> lines = new ArrayList<String>();
String line = null;
while ((line = bufferedReader.readLine()) != null) {
lines.add(line);
}
bufferedReader.close();
return lines.toArray(new String[lines.size()]);
}
public static String select_word(String[] wordArray) {
Random rand = new Random();
int lines = Math.abs(rand.nextInt(wordArray.length)- 1);
return wordArray[lines];
}
}

If you know how many lines are there you could use Random method in java with a specific range to pick out a line at random.
Then you could read the file line-by-line till you reach that random line and print it.
// Open the file
FileInputStream fstream = new FileInputStream("testfile.txt");
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(fstream));
String strLine;
int counter=0;
//While-loop -> Read File Line By Line till the end of file
//And will also terminate when the required line is printed
while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null && counter!=randomValue){
counter++;
//You need to set randomValue using the Random method as suggested
if(counter==randomValue)
// Print the content on the console
System.out.println (strLine+"\n");
}
//Close the input stream
br.close();

Assuming Java 8:
// Loading ...
Random R = new Random(System.currentTimeMillis());
List<String> animals = Files.readAllLines(Paths.get(path));
// ...
// When using
String randomAnimal = animals.get(R.nextInt(animals.size()));

Answer of your first question :
First you have to get the total number of lines
Then you have to generate a random number between 1 and that total number.
Finally, get the required word
try {
InputStream is = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream("D:\\test.txt"));
byte[] c = new byte[1024];
int count = 0;
int readChars = 0;
boolean empty = true;
while ((readChars = is.read(c)) != -1) {
empty = false;
for (int i = 0; i < readChars; ++i) {
if (c[i] == '\n') {
++count;
}
}
}
int noOfLines = count+1;
System.out.println(noOfLines);
Random random = new Random();
int randomInt = random.nextInt(noOfLines);
FileReader fr = new FileReader("D:\\test.txt");
BufferedReader bufferedReader =
new BufferedReader(fr);
String line = null;
int counter =1;
while((line = bufferedReader.readLine()) != null) {
if(counter == randomInt)
{
System.out.println(line); // This the word you want
}
counter++;
}
} catch (Exception e) {
// TODO: handle exception
e.printStackTrace();
}
finally {
//is.close();
}

Reading CSV file without third-party libraries

I'm trying to read a csv file into either an ArrayList or a String [][] array. In this I'm trying to read it into a list and then form the list, using a tokenizer, into an array. The csv file have 7 columns (A - G) and 961 rows (1-961). My for loop for the 2D array keeps returning a null pointer, but I think it should be working..
public class FoodFacts
{
private static BufferedReader textIn;
private static BufferedReader foodFacts;
static int numberOfLines = 0;
static String [][] foodArray;
public static String aFact;
static int NUM_COL = 7;
static int NUM_ROW = 961;
// Make a random number to pull a line
static Random r = new Random();
public static void main(String[] args)
{
try
{
textIn = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
foodFacts= new BufferedReader(new FileReader("foodfacts.csv"));
Scanner factFile = new Scanner(foodFacts);
List<String> facts = new ArrayList<String>();
String fact;
System.out.println("Please type in the food you wish to know about.");
String request = textIn.readLine();
while ( factFile.hasNextLine()){
fact = factFile.nextLine();
StringTokenizer st2 = new StringTokenizer(fact, ",");
//facts.add(fact);
numberOfLines++;
while (st2.hasMoreElements()){
for ( int j = 0; j < NUM_COL ; j++) {
for (int i = 0; i < NUM_ROW ; i++){
foodArray [j][i]= st2.nextToken(); //NULL POINTER HERE
System.out.println(foodArray[j][i]);
}
}
}
}
}
catch (IOException e)
{
System.out.println ("Error, problem reading text file!");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Initialize your foodArray as foodArray = new String[NUM_ROW][NUM_COL]; before using it.
Also, there is no need for inner for loop as you are reading one row at a time.
use numberOfLines as row:
while ( factFile.hasNextLine() && numberOfLines < NUM_ROW){
fact = input.nextLine();
StringTokenizer st2 = new StringTokenizer(fact, ",") ;
//facts.add(fact);
while (st2.hasMoreElements()){
for ( int j = 0; j < NUM_COL ; j++) {
foodArray [numberOfLines][j]= st2.nextToken();
System.out.println(foodArray[numberOfLines][i]);
}
}
numberOfLines++;
}
Alternatively, I think you can use split to get all columns as once e.g.
while ( factFile.hasNextLine() && numberOfLines < NUM_ROW){
fact = input.nextLine();
foodArray [numberOfLines++] = fact.split(",");
}
One question: Is there any specific purpose for declaring all variables as static class variables? Most of them fit as local variable inside the method e.g. numberOfLines?

You can use this String [][] foodArray = csvreadString(filename); method. It actually reads the file twice, but I don't know how to get the csv dimension without reading the data (you need the dimension in order to initialize the array), and this is very fast in comparison to other methods that I tried.
static public class PairInt {
int rows = 0;
int columns = 0;
}
static PairInt getCsvSize(String filename) throws Throwable {
PairInt csvSize = new PairInt();
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(new File(filename)));
String line;
while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
if (csvSize.columns == 0) {
csvSize.columns = line.split(",").length;
}
csvSize.rows++;
}
reader.close();
return csvSize;
}
static String[][] csvreadString(String filename) throws Throwable {
PairInt csvSize = getCsvSize(filename);
String[][] data = new String[csvSize.rows][csvSize.columns];
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(new File(filename)));
for (int i = 0; i < csvSize.rows; i++) {
data[i] = reader.readLine().split(",");
}
return data;
}

read file, convert string to double, store in 2d array

I need to read a list of numbers in a file and store it into a 2d array.
This is what I have so far. How would I go about achieving this goal?
//this is only part of my code
public class RainFall
{
double[][] precip;
public RainFall()
{
precip = new double [5][12];
}
public void readFile(BufferedReader infile) throws IOException
{
FileInputStream infile = new FileInputStream("numbers.dat");
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(infile));
String[][] myarray = new String[5][12];
while (infile.readLine() != null)
{
for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 12; i++)
{
myarray[j][i] = infile.readLine();
}
}
}
infile.close();
}
numbers.dat is 60 lines of:
1.01
0.03
2.14
0.47

//Is each number on a new line? You're very close, I added a few lines below.
public class RainFall
{
double[][] precip;
public RainFall()
{
precip = new double [5][12];
}
public void readFile(BufferedReader infile) throws IOException
{
//FileInputStream infile = new FileInputStream("numbers.dat");
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("numbers.dat"));
String line = "";
String[][] myarray = new String[5][12];
while ((line = br.readLine()) != null)
{
double num = Double.parseDouble(line.trim());
for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 12; i++)
{
precip[j][i] = num;
}
}
}
br.close();
}

Instead of
String[][] myarray = new String[5][12];
use
double[][] myarray = new double[5][12];
Then sub this into the loop:
myarray[j][i] = Double.parseDouble(infile.readLine());