public class

FileInputStream

extends InputStream
implements Closeable
java.lang.Object
   ↳ java.io.InputStream
     ↳ java.io.FileInputStream
Known Direct Subclasses
Known Indirect Subclasses

Class Overview

An input stream that reads bytes from a file. 

   File file = ...
   InputStream in = null;
   try {
     in = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(file));
     ...
    finally {
     if (in != null) {
       in.close();
     }
   }
 }

This stream is not buffered. Most callers should wrap this stream with a BufferedInputStream.

Use FileReader to read characters, as opposed to bytes, from a file.

See Also

Summary

Public Constructors
FileInputStream(File file)
Constructs a new FileInputStream that reads from file.
FileInputStream(FileDescriptor fd)
Constructs a new FileInputStream that reads from fd.
FileInputStream(String path)
Equivalent to new FileInputStream(new File(path)).
Public Methods
int available()
Returns an estimated number of bytes that can be read or skipped without blocking for more input.
void close()
Closes this stream.
FileChannel getChannel()
Returns a read-only FileChannel that shares its position with this stream.
final FileDescriptor getFD()
Returns the underlying file descriptor.
int read(byte[] buffer)
Reads bytes from this stream and stores them in the byte array b.
int read()
Reads a single byte from this stream and returns it as an integer in the range from 0 to 255.
int read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int byteCount)
Reads at most length bytes from this stream and stores them in the byte array b starting at offset.
long skip(long byteCount)
Skips at most n bytes in this stream.
Protected Methods
void finalize()
Ensures that all resources for this stream are released when it is about to be garbage collected.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From class java.io.InputStream
From class java.lang.Object
From interface java.io.Closeable

Public Constructors

public FileInputStream (File file)

Since: API Level 1

Constructs a new FileInputStream that reads from file.

Parameters
file the file from which this stream reads.
Throws
FileNotFoundException if file does not exist.
SecurityException if a SecurityManager is installed and it denies the read request.

public FileInputStream (FileDescriptor fd)

Since: API Level 1

Constructs a new FileInputStream that reads from fd.

Parameters
fd the FileDescriptor from which this stream reads.
Throws
NullPointerException if fd is null.
SecurityException if a SecurityManager is installed and it denies the read request.

public FileInputStream (String path)

Since: API Level 1

Equivalent to new FileInputStream(new File(path)).

Throws
FileNotFoundException

Public Methods

public int available ()

Since: API Level 1

Returns an estimated number of bytes that can be read or skipped without blocking for more input.

Note that this method provides such a weak guarantee that it is not very useful in practice.

Firstly, the guarantee is "without blocking for more input" rather than "without blocking": a read may still block waiting for I/O to complete — the guarantee is merely that it won't have to wait indefinitely for data to be written. The result of this method should not be used as a license to do I/O on a thread that shouldn't be blocked.

Secondly, the result is a conservative estimate and may be significantly smaller than the actual number of bytes available. In particular, an implementation that always returns 0 would be correct. In general, callers should only use this method if they'd be satisfied with treating the result as a boolean yes or no answer to the question "is there definitely data ready?".

Thirdly, the fact that a given number of bytes is "available" does not guarantee that a read or skip will actually read or skip that many bytes: they may read or skip fewer.

It is particularly important to realize that you must not use this method to size a container and assume that you can read the entirety of the stream without needing to resize the container. Such callers should probably write everything they read to a ByteArrayOutputStream and convert that to a byte array. Alternatively, if you're reading from a file, length() returns the current length of the file (though assuming the file's length can't change may be incorrect, reading a file is inherently racy).

The default implementation of this method in InputStream always returns 0. Subclasses should override this method if they are able to indicate the number of bytes available.

Returns
  • the estimated number of bytes available
Throws
IOException

public void close ()

Since: API Level 1

Closes this stream. Concrete implementations of this class should free any resources during close. This implementation does nothing.

Throws
IOException

public FileChannel getChannel ()

Since: API Level 1

Returns a read-only FileChannel that shares its position with this stream.

public final FileDescriptor getFD ()

Since: API Level 1

Returns the underlying file descriptor.

Throws
IOException

public int read (byte[] buffer)

Since: API Level 1

Reads bytes from this stream and stores them in the byte array b.

Parameters
buffer the byte array in which to store the bytes read.
Returns
  • the number of bytes actually read or -1 if the end of the stream has been reached.
Throws
IOException

public int read ()

Since: API Level 1

Reads a single byte from this stream and returns it as an integer in the range from 0 to 255. Returns -1 if the end of the stream has been reached. Blocks until one byte has been read, the end of the source stream is detected or an exception is thrown.

Returns
  • the byte read or -1 if the end of stream has been reached.
Throws
IOException

public int read (byte[] buffer, int offset, int byteCount)

Since: API Level 1

Reads at most length bytes from this stream and stores them in the byte array b starting at offset.

Parameters
buffer the byte array in which to store the bytes read.
offset the initial position in buffer to store the bytes read from this stream.
byteCount the maximum number of bytes to store in b.
Returns
  • the number of bytes actually read or -1 if the end of the stream has been reached.
Throws
IOException

public long skip (long byteCount)

Since: API Level 1

Skips at most n bytes in this stream. This method does nothing and returns 0 if n is negative, but some subclasses may throw.

Note the "at most" in the description of this method: this method may choose to skip fewer bytes than requested. Callers should always check the return value.

This default implementation reads bytes into a temporary buffer. Concrete subclasses should provide their own implementation.

Parameters
byteCount the number of bytes to skip.
Returns
  • the number of bytes actually skipped.
Throws
IOException

Protected Methods

protected void finalize ()

Since: API Level 1

Ensures that all resources for this stream are released when it is about to be garbage collected.

Throws
IOException if an error occurs attempting to finalize this stream.