BufferedReader Question

[stormswimmer]

Does anyone know how to read in a char using BufferedReader

[destin]

it has a read() method which takes in a single character, it returns an int so you'll just have to cast this to a char.

import java.io.*;

public class BufferedReaderTest {
    public static void main ( String args[] ) {
		BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader( new InputStreamReader( System.in ));
		
		try {
			char c = (char) in.read();
			System.out.println( c );
		} catch (IOException ioe) { }
    }
}

This will wait for input from the user, then when the user enters a line, it will spit back the first character:

test <-- user input
t <-- computer response

[nspils]

These are classes which work with streams. If you are creating an input stream reading from a file, create an instance of BufferedReader, let's say it is named "in":

BufferedReader in
= new BufferedReader(new FileReader("foo.in"));

If you are using some other input stream, such as from the console,

BufferedReader in
= new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));

The "Reader" class translates the bytes in the stream into characters in the stream, and the BufferedReader is a wrapper class for the stream which enables you to better control the stream.

To read the first character, now use:

char myChar = in.read();

[destin]

char myChar = in.read();

That will get an error, the read() method returns an int. You'd have to cast it:

char myChar = (char) in.read();

[nspils]

Yup ... I didn't go back to the API to refresh my recollection of the return type of the read() method. Thanks for correcting me!

[vcinfy]

I have compiled all possible questions. Feel free to suggest your own q/a.