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Save a binary file in the same folder for every PC

I'm making a game that saves information into a binary file so that I can start at the point I left the game on the next use.
My problem is that it works fine on my PC because I chose a path that already existed to save the file, but once I run the game on another PC, I got an error saying the path of the file is invalid (because i doesn't exist yet, obviously).
Basically I'm using the File class to create the file and then the ObjectOutputStream and ObjectInputStream to read/write info.
Sorry for the noob question, I'm still pretty new to using files.

You must first check if the directory exists and if it does not exist then you must create it.
String folderPath = System.getProperty("user.home") + System.getProperty("file.separator") + "MyFolder";
File folder = new File(folderPath);
if(!folder.exists())
{
folder.mkdirs();
}
File saveFile = new File(folderPath, "fileName.ext");
Please note that the mkdirs() method is more useful in this case instead of the mkdir() method as it will create all non existing parent folders.
Hope this helps. Good luck and have fun programming!
Cheers,
Lofty

You are looking for File mkdirs()
Which will create all the directories necessary that are named in your path.
For example:
File dirs= new File("/this/path/does/not/exist/yet");
dirs.mkdir();
File file = new File(dirs, "myFile.txt");
Take in consideration that it may fail, due to proper file permissions.

My solution has been create a subdirectory within the user's home directory (System.getProperty("user.home")), like
File f = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/CtrlAltDelData");
f.mkdir();
File mySaveFile = new File (f, "save1.txt");

Specifying a relative path in File in Java

I'm uploading images using Spring and Hibernate. I'm saving images on the server as follows.
File savedFile = new File("E:/Project/SpringHibernet/MultiplexTicketBooking/web/images/" + itemName);
item.write(savedFile);
Where itemName is the image file name after parsing the request (enctype="multipart/form-data"). I however need to mention the relative path in the constructor of File. Something like the one shown below.
File savedFile = new File("MultiplexTicketBooking/web/images/" + itemName);
item.write(savedFile);
But it doesn't work throwing the FileNotFoundException. Is there a way to specify a relative path with File in Java?

Try printing the working directory from your program.
String curDir = System.getProperty("user.dir");
Gets you that directory. Then check if the directories MultiplexTicketBooking/web/images/ exist in that directory.
Can't count the number of times I've been mistaken about my current dir and spent some time looking for a file I wrote to...

It seems the server should offer functionality as might be seen in the methods getContextPath() or getRealPath(String). It would be common to build paths based on those types of server related and reproducible paths. Do not use something like user.dir which makes almost no sense in a server.
Update
ServletContext sc=request.getSession().getServletContext();
File savedFile = new File(sc.getRealPath("images")+"\\" + itemName);
Rather than use "\\" I'd tend to replace that with the following which will cause the correct file separator to be used for each platform. Retain cross-platform compatibility for when the client decides to swap the MS/ISS based server out for a Linux/Tomcat stack. ;)
File savedFile = new File(sc.getRealPath("images"), itemName); //note the ','
See File(String,String) for details.

You could get the path of your project using the following -
File file = new File("");
System.out.println("" + file.getAbsolutePath());
So you could have a constants or a properties file where you could define your path which is MultiplexTicketBooking/web/images/ after the relative path.
You could append your path with the path you get from file.getAbsolutePath() and that will be the real path of the file. - file.getAbsolutePath() + MultiplexTicketBooking/web/images/.
Make sure the folders after the Project path i.e. MultiplexTicketBooking/web/images/ exist.

You can specify the path both absolute and relative with File. The FileNotFoundException can be thrown because the folder might be there. Try using the mkdirs() method first in to create the folder structure you need in order to save your file where you're trying to save it.

What is my directory when writing files in Android?

FileOutputStream fos = openFileOutput(FILENAME, Context.MODE_WORLD_READABLE);
fos.write(string.getBytes());
fos.close();
When trying to delete one of those files, this is what I use, but it's returning false.
String tag = v.getTag().toString();
File file = new File(System.getProperty("user.dir")+"/"+tag);
String s = new Boolean (file.exists()).toString();
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), s, 1500).show();
file.delete();
How can I overcome this problem?

Use getFileStreamPath(FILENAME) to find your file. From the docs:
Returns the absolute path on the filesystem where a file created with openFileOutput(String, int) is stored.

Your current working directory.
To help diagnose the problem, use file.getAbsolutePath() to see the full path.
It could also be a permissions problem, if you're trying to delete from another application. If so, you may need to change to MODE_WORLD_WRITEABLE (insecure), or restructure your code so the create and delete are called by the same app.
EDIT: That was mostly incorrect. I didn't realize that openFileOutput didn't use the current working directory.

Use same contents as 'FILENAME' variable in your first snippet in the second snippet while trying to delete.

String RootDir = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory()
+ File.separator + "Video";
File RootFile = new File(RootDir);
RootFile.mkdir();
FileOutputStream f = new FileOutputStream(new File(RootFile, "Sample.mp4"));
i used this code to save the video files to non-default location. Hope this will be useful to you.By default it is storing in sd card
For each application the Android system creates a "data/data/package of the application" directory.
Files are saved in the "files" folder under this directory
to change the default directory the above code will be used
the default working directory can be displayed using fileobject.getAbsolutePath()

Java: File output help

Fixed: Instead of calling isFile() I used exists() and it seems to be working fine. If possible could someone explain why this change worked?
I'm attempting to write out to an excel file but am having a problem when trying to create that file if the name already exists.
Basically I am taking a file that is uploaded to a server, reading it, and then outputting a report file in a new location with the same filename. I tried to do this by simply checking if the file already existed and then adding a number onto the filename. My code works if the file doesn't exist or if it exists without a number (e.g. filename.xls). If a file exists with the name "filename1.xls" the server just seems to hang when trying to write the file. What can do to fix this?
Here is my code:
String destination = "c:/apache-tomcat-7.0.8/webapps/reports/" + fileName.substring( fileName.lastIndexOf("\\")+1, fileName.lastIndexOf(".")) + ".xls";
int filenum = 1;
while (new File(destination).isFile()) {
destination = "c:/apache-tomcat-7.0.8/webapps/reports/" + fileName.substring( fileName.lastIndexOf("\\")+1, fileName.lastIndexOf(".")) + filenum + ".xls";
filenum++;
}
WritableWorkbook workbook = Workbook.createWorkbook(new File(destination));

That will happen if some process is still keeping the file open. E.g. you've created a FileInputStream on the file to read it, but are never calling close() on it after reading.
Unrelated to the problem, the expanded WAR folder is not the best place to use as a permanent storage. All those files in the expanded WAR folder will get lost whenever you redeploy the WAR. Also hardcoding a servletcontainer-specific path in the code makes it totally unportable.
If your actual intent is to return the Excel file on a per-request basis to the client using a servlet, then you should be using
WritableWorkbook workBook = Workbook.createWorkbook(response.getOutputStream());
// ...
This way it writes to the response immediately without the need for an intermediate file.

Use the File.createTempFile(prefix, suffix, directory) API:
String localName = new File(fileName).getName();
String nameNoExt = localName.substring(0, fileName.lastIndexOf("."));
String extension = localName.substring(fileName.lastIndexOf(".")); // need to include the .
File directory = new File("c:/apache-tomcat-7.0.8/webapps/reports/");
File destFile = File.createTempFile(nameNoExt, extension, directory)

Find Path During Runtime To Delete File

The code basically allows the user to input the name of the file that they would like to delete which is held in the variable 'catName' and then the following code is executed to try and find the path of the file and delete it. However, it doesn't seem to work, as it won't delete the file this way. Is does however delete the file if I input the whole path.
File file = new File(catName + ".txt");
String path = file.getCanonicalPath();
File filePath = new File(path);
filePath.delete();

If you're deleting files in the same directory that the program is executing in, you don't need specify a path, but if it's not in the same directory that your program is running in and you're expecting the program to know what directory your file is in, that's not going to happen.
Regarding your code above: the following examples all do the same thing. Let's assume your path is /home/kim/files and that's where you executed the program.
// deletes /home/kim/files/somefile.txt
boolean result = new File("somefile.txt").delete();
// deletes /home/kim/files/somefile.txt
File f = new File("somefile.txt");
boolean result = new File(f.getCanonicalPath()).delete();
// deletes /home/kim/files/somefile.txt
String execPath = System.getProperty("user.dir");
File f = new File(execPath+"/somefile.txt");
f.delete();
In other words, you'll need to specify the path where the deletable files are located. If they are located in different and changing locations, then you'll have to implement a search of your filesystem for the file, which could take a long time if it's a big filesystem. Here's an article on how to implement that.

Depending on what file you want to delete, and where it is stored, chances are that you are expecting Java to magically find the file.
String catName = 'test'
File file = new File(catName + '.txt');
If the program is running in say C:\TestProg\, then the File object is pointing to a file in the location C:\TestProg\test.txt. Since the file object is more of just a helper, it has no issues with pointing to a non-existent file (File can be used to create new files).
If you are trying to delete a file that is in a specific location, then you need to prepend the folder name to the file path, either canonically, or relative to the execution location.
String catName = 'test'
File file = new File('myfiles\\'+ catName +'.txt');
Now file is looking in C:\TestProg\myfiles\test.txt.
If you want to find that file anywhere, then you need a recursive search algorithm, that will traverse the filesystem.

The piece of code that you provided could be compacted to this:
boolean success = new File(catName + ".txt").delete();
The success variable will be true if the deletion was successful. If you do not provide the full absolute path (e.g. C:\Temp\test for the C:\Temp\test.txt file), your program will assume that the path is relative to its current working directory - typically the directory from where it was launched.
You should either provide an absolute path, or a path relative to the current directory. Your program will not try to find the file to delete anywhere else.