Thread: How to read a String .dat file into an array

Hello,

I am tasked with coding a program that allows the user to guess a randomized word from an array with 10 slots. The pre-chosen words are stored in a wordguess.DAT file and must be imported into a string array. I have looked on other Java forums and most of the examples use methods that I have not learned yet, so it is hard for me to understand what is really going on. Can anyone help?

	public static void init()
	{
		//sets up the console scanner
		Scanner myScanner = new Scanner(System.in);
		myScanner.useDelimiter(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
 
		//sets up the in-file along with the in-file scanner
		//inFile = new File("wordguess.dat");
		//datScanner = new Scanner(inFile);
		//datScanner.useDelimiter(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
 
		//read input into an array with a try-catch
		try
		{
			wordArray = new ArrayList<String>();
			Scanner datScanner = new Scanner(new File("wordguess"));
			while(datScanner.hasNextLine());
			{
				wordArray.add(datScanner.nextLine());
			}
		}
 
		catch(IOException e)
		{
			System.out.println("File not found.");
		}
 
	}

--- Update ---

My teacher doesn't want us to use ArrayList since we have not talked about it yet in class. He wants the array to be basic.

Originally Posted by Norm

What part are you having prblems with?
Defining an array
reading a word from the file
assigning that word to a slot in the array
making a loop what will enclose the reading and assigning steps

What statements in the posted code can be used in your assignment?

I can define the array and I can read a word from the file, but I don't know how to assign said word to a slot in the array or making the loop that will enclose the reading and assigning steps. Well, apparently, I can't use anything from the code I pasted... as what my teacher says.

Oh, okay! I see now. Major brain fart there.