File

The system-dependent path-separator character, represented as a string for convenience. This string contains a single character, namely pathSeparatorChar.

The system-dependent path-separator character. This field is initialized to contain the first character of the value of the system property path.separator. This character is used to separate filenames in a sequence of files given as a path list. On UNIX systems, this character is ':'; on Microsoft Windows systems it is ';'.

The system-dependent default name-separator character, represented as a string for convenience. This string contains a single character, namely separatorChar.

The system-dependent default name-separator character. This field is initialized to contain the first character of the value of the system property file.separator. On UNIX systems the value of this field is '/'; on Microsoft Windows systems it is '\\'.

Creates a new File instance by converting the given pathname string into an abstract pathname. If the given string is the empty string, then the result is the empty abstract pathname.

Creates a new File instance from a parent pathname string and a child pathname string.

If parent is null then the new File instance is created as if by invoking the single-argument File constructor on the given child pathname string.

Otherwise the parent pathname string is taken to denote a directory, and the child pathname string is taken to denote either a directory or a file. If the child pathname string is absolute then it is converted into a relative pathname in a system-dependent way. If parent is the empty string then the new File instance is created by converting child into an abstract pathname and resolving the result against a system-dependent default directory. Otherwise each pathname string is converted into an abstract pathname and the child abstract pathname is resolved against the parent.

Creates a new File instance from a parent abstract pathname and a child pathname string.

If parent is null then the new File instance is created as if by invoking the single-argument File constructor on the given child pathname string.

Otherwise the parent abstract pathname is taken to denote a directory, and the child pathname string is taken to denote either a directory or a file. If the child pathname string is absolute then it is converted into a relative pathname in a system-dependent way. If parent is the empty abstract pathname then the new File instance is created by converting child into an abstract pathname and resolving the result against a system-dependent default directory. Otherwise each pathname string is converted into an abstract pathname and the child abstract pathname is resolved against the parent.

Tests whether the application can read the file denoted by this abstract pathname.

Tests whether the application can modify the file denoted by this abstract pathname.

Compares two abstract pathnames lexicographically. The ordering defined by this method depends upon the underlying system. On UNIX systems, alphabetic case is significant in comparing pathnames; on Microsoft Windows systems it is not.

Atomically creates a new, empty file named by this abstract pathname if and only if a file with this name does not yet exist. The check for the existence of the file and the creation of the file if it does not exist are a single operation that is atomic with respect to all other file system activities that might affect the file.

Note: this method should not be used for file-locking, as the resulting protocol cannot be made to work reliably.

Creates an empty file in the default temporary-file directory, using the given prefix and suffix to generate its name. Invoking this method is equivalent to invoking createTempFile(prefix, suffix, null).

Creates a new empty file in the specified directory, using the given prefix and suffix strings to generate its name. If this method returns successfully then it is guaranteed that:

1. The file denoted by the returned abstract pathname did not exist before this method was invoked, and
2. Neither this method nor any of its variants will return the same abstract pathname again in the current invocation of the virtual machine.

The prefix argument must be at least three characters long. It is recommended that the prefix be a short, meaningful string such as "hjb" or "mail". The suffix argument may be null, in which case the suffix ".tmp" will be used.

To create the new file, the prefix and the suffix may first be adjusted to fit the limitations of the underlying platform. If the prefix is too long then it will be truncated, but its first three characters will always be preserved. If the suffix is too long then it too will be truncated, but if it begins with a period character ('.') then the period and the first three characters following it will always be preserved. Once these adjustments have been made the name of the new file will be generated by concatenating the prefix, five or more internally-generated characters, and the suffix.

If the directory argument is null then the system-dependent default temporary-file directory will be used. The default temporary-file directory is specified by the system property java.io.tmpdir. On UNIX systems the default value of this property is typically "/tmp" or "/var/tmp"; on Microsoft Windows systems it is typically "C:\\WINNT\\TEMP". A different value may be given to this system property when the Java virtual machine is invoked, but programmatic changes to this property are not guaranteed to have any effect upon the temporary directory used by this method.

Deletes the file or directory denoted by this abstract pathname. If this pathname denotes a directory, then the directory must be empty in order to be deleted.

Tests this abstract pathname for equality with the given object. Returns true if and only if the argument is not null and is an abstract pathname that denotes the same file or directory as this abstract pathname. Whether or not two abstract pathnames are equal depends upon the underlying system. On UNIX systems, alphabetic case is significant in comparing pathnames; on Microsoft Windows systems it is not.

Tests whether the file or directory denoted by this abstract pathname exists.

Returns the absolute pathname string of this abstract pathname.

If this abstract pathname is already absolute, then the pathname string is simply returned as if by the getPath() method. If this abstract pathname is the empty abstract pathname then the pathname string of the current user directory, which is named by the system property user.dir, is returned. Otherwise this pathname is resolved in a system-dependent way. On UNIX systems, a relative pathname is made absolute by resolving it against the current user directory. On Microsoft Windows systems, a relative pathname is made absolute by resolving it against the current directory of the drive named by the pathname, if any; if not, it is resolved against the current user directory.

Returns the name of the file or directory denoted by this abstract pathname. This is just the last name in the pathname's name sequence. If the pathname's name sequence is empty, then the empty string is returned.

Returns the pathname string of this abstract pathname's parent, or null if this pathname does not name a parent directory.

The parent of an abstract pathname consists of the pathname's prefix, if any, and each name in the pathname's name sequence except for the last. If the name sequence is empty then the pathname does not name a parent directory.

Returns the abstract pathname of this abstract pathname's parent, or null if this pathname does not name a parent directory.

The parent of an abstract pathname consists of the pathname's prefix, if any, and each name in the pathname's name sequence except for the last. If the name sequence is empty then the pathname does not name a parent directory.

Converts this abstract pathname into a pathname string. The resulting string uses the default name-separator character to separate the names in the name sequence.

Computes a hash code for this abstract pathname. Because equality of abstract pathnames is inherently system-dependent, so is the computation of their hash codes. On UNIX systems, the hash code of an abstract pathname is equal to the exclusive or of the hash code of its pathname string and the decimal value 1234321. On Microsoft Windows systems, the hash code is equal to the exclusive or of the hash code of its pathname string converted to lower case and the decimal value 1234321. Locale is not taken into account on lower casing the pathname string.

Tests whether the file denoted by this abstract pathname is a directory.

Tests whether the file denoted by this abstract pathname is a normal file. A file is normal if it is not a directory and, in addition, satisfies other system-dependent criteria. Any non-directory file created by a Java application is guaranteed to be a normal file.

Tests whether the file named by this abstract pathname is a hidden file.

The exact definition of hidden is system-dependent. On UNIX systems, a file is considered to be hidden if its name begins with a period character ('.'). On Microsoft Windows systems, a file is considered to be hidden if it has been marked as such in the filesystem.

Returns the time that the file denoted by this abstract pathname was last modified.

Returns the length of the file denoted by this abstract pathname. The return value is unspecified if this pathname denotes a directory.

Returns an array of strings naming the files and directories in the directory denoted by this abstract pathname.

If this abstract pathname does not denote a directory, then this method returns null. Otherwise an array of strings is returned, one for each file or directory in the directory. Names denoting the directory itself and the directory's parent directory are not included in the result. Each string is a file name rather than a complete path.

There is no guarantee that the name strings in the resulting array will appear in any specific order; they are not, in particular, guaranteed to appear in alphabetical order.

Returns an array of strings naming the files and directories in the directory denoted by this abstract pathname that satisfy the specified filter. The behavior of this method is the same as that of the list() method, except that the strings in the returned array must satisfy the filter. If the given filter is null then all names are accepted. Otherwise, a name satisfies the filter if and only if the value true results when the FilenameFilter.accept(File, String) method of the filter is invoked on this abstract pathname and the name of a file or directory in the directory that it denotes.

Returns an array of abstract pathnames denoting the files and directories in the directory denoted by this abstract pathname that satisfy the specified filter. The behavior of this method is the same as that of the listFiles() method, except that the pathnames in the returned array must satisfy the filter. If the given filter is null then all pathnames are accepted. Otherwise, a pathname satisfies the filter if and only if the value true results when the FileFilter.accept(File) method of the filter is invoked on the pathname.

Returns an array of abstract pathnames denoting the files in the directory denoted by this abstract pathname.

If this abstract pathname does not denote a directory, then this method returns null. Otherwise an array of File objects is returned, one for each file or directory in the directory. Pathnames denoting the directory itself and the directory's parent directory are not included in the result. Each resulting abstract pathname is constructed from this abstract pathname using the File(File, String) constructor. Therefore if this pathname is absolute then each resulting pathname is absolute; if this pathname is relative then each resulting pathname will be relative to the same directory.

There is no guarantee that the name strings in the resulting array will appear in any specific order; they are not, in particular, guaranteed to appear in alphabetical order.

Returns an array of abstract pathnames denoting the files and directories in the directory denoted by this abstract pathname that satisfy the specified filter. The behavior of this method is the same as that of the listFiles() method, except that the pathnames in the returned array must satisfy the filter. If the given filter is null then all pathnames are accepted. Otherwise, a pathname satisfies the filter if and only if the value true results when the FilenameFilter.accept(File, String) method of the filter is invoked on this abstract pathname and the name of a file or directory in the directory that it denotes.

List the available filesystem roots.

A particular Java platform may support zero or more hierarchically-organized file systems. Each file system has a root directory from which all other files in that file system can be reached. Windows platforms, for example, have a root directory for each active drive; UNIX platforms have a single root directory, namely "/". The set of available filesystem roots is affected by various system-level operations such as the insertion or ejection of removable media and the disconnecting or unmounting of physical or virtual disk drives.

This method returns an array of File objects that denote the root directories of the available filesystem roots. It is guaranteed that the canonical pathname of any file physically present on the local machine will begin with one of the roots returned by this method.

The canonical pathname of a file that resides on some other machine and is accessed via a remote-filesystem protocol such as SMB or NFS may or may not begin with one of the roots returned by this method. If the pathname of a remote file is syntactically indistinguishable from the pathname of a local file then it will begin with one of the roots returned by this method. Thus, for example, File objects denoting the root directories of the mapped network drives of a Windows platform will be returned by this method, while File objects containing UNC pathnames will not be returned by this method.

Unlike most methods in this class, this method does not throw security exceptions. If a security manager exists and denies read access to a particular root directory, then that directory will not appear in the result.

Creates the directory named by this abstract pathname.

Creates the directory named by this abstract pathname, including any necessary but nonexistent parent directories. Note that if this operation fails it may have succeeded in creating some of the necessary parent directories.

Try to open a file in the file system using the default application installed on the device that can open the file (depending on its extension). If no application is found, the application store of the device will be opened with suggestions of application to download that can read the file.

Renames the file denoted by this abstract pathname.

Many aspects of the behavior of this method are inherently platform-dependent: The rename operation might not be able to move a file from one filesystem to another, it might not be atomic, and it might not succeed if a file with the destination abstract pathname already exists. The return value should always be checked to make sure that the rename operation was successful.

Sets the last-modified time of the file or directory named by this abstract pathname.

All platforms support file-modification times to the nearest second, but some provide more precision. The argument will be truncated to fit the supported precision. If the operation succeeds and no intervening operations on the file take place, then the next invocation of the lastModified() method will return the (possibly truncated) time argument that was passed to this method.

Marks the file or directory named by this abstract pathname so that only read operations are allowed. After invoking this method the file or directory is guaranteed not to change until it is either deleted or marked to allow write access. Whether or not a read-only file or directory may be deleted depends upon the underlying system.

Returns the pathname string of this abstract pathname. This is just the string returned by the getPath() method.