[Chapter 11] DataInputStream
Author: Mark Grand and Jonathan Knudsen
Date: Fri Aug 8 16:34:49 1997

#

| Chapter 11 The java.io Package |

# DataInputStream

## Name

DataInputStream

## Synopsis

Class Name:

  `java.io.DataInputStream`

Superclass:

  `java.io.FilterInputStream`

Immediate Subclasses:

  None

Interfaces Implemented:

  `java.io.DataInput`

Availability:

  JDK 1.0 or later

## Description

The `DataInputStream` class provides methods for reading primitive data types and lines of text from an underlying input stream in a machine-independent manner. Many of the methods of `DataInputStream` read a single primitive data type, in binary format, from an underlying input stream. All multibyte quantities are assumed to be in a format that stores the most significant byte as the first byte and the least significant byte as the last byte.

## Class Summary

    public class java.io.DataInputStream extends java.io.FilterInputStream
                                         implements java.io.DataInput {
      // Constructors
      public DataInputStream(InputStream in);
      // Class Methods
      public final static String readUTF(DataInput in);
      // Instance Methods
      public final int read(byte[] b);
      public final int read(byte[] b, int off, int len);
      public final boolean readBoolean();
      public final byte readByte();
      public final char readChar();
      public final double readDouble();
      public final float readFloat();
      public final void readFully(byte[] b);
      public final void readFully(byte[] b, int off, int len);
      public final int readInt();
      public final String readLine();                // Deprecated in 1.1
      public final long readLong();
      public final short readShort();
      public final int readUnsignedByte();
      public final int readUnsignedShort();
      public final String readUTF() throws IOException;
      public final int skipBytes(int n) throws IOException;
    }

## Constructors

### DataInputStream

#### public DataInputStream(InputStream in)

Parameters

  `in`

    The input stream to use.

Description

  This constructor creates a `DataInputStream` object that reads from, or wraps, the given input stream.

## Class Methods

### readUTF

####

     public final static String readUTF(DataInput in) throws IOException

Parameters

  `in`

    The data input stream to use.

Returns

  The `String` read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

  `UTFDataFormatException`

    If the bytes do not represent a valid UTF-8 encoding.

Description

  This method reads a UTF-8 encoded string from the given `DataInput` object. To get the number of bytes in the encoded string, the first two bytes are read as an unsigned `short` value. Then the following bytes are read and interpreted as UTF-8 encoded bytes; these bytes are converted into characters for the resulting `String`. This method blocks until all of the bytes in the encoded string have been read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

  For details on the UTF-8 encoding, see Appendix B, The UTF-8 Encoding.

## Instance Methods

### read

#### public final int read(byte b[]) throws IOException

Parameters

  `b`

    An array of bytes to be filled from the stream.

Returns

  The number of bytes read, or `-1` if the end of file is encountered immediately.

Throws

  `IOException`

    If any kind of I/O error occurs.

Overrides

  `FilterInputStream.read(byte[])`

Description

  This method reads bytes of input into the given array by calling the `read()` method of the underlying stream. The method reads up to `b.length` bytes of data from the stream. The method blocks until there is some input available.

####

     public final int read(byte b[], int off, int len) throws IOException

Parameters

  `b`

    An array of bytes to be filled from the stream.

  `off`

    An offset into the byte array.

  `len`

    The number of bytes to read.

Returns

  The number of bytes read, or `-1` if the end of file is encountered immediately.

Throws

  `IOException`

    If any kind of I/O error occurs.

Overrides

  `FilterInputStream.read(byte[], int, int)`

Description

  This method reads up to `len` bytes of input into the given array starting at index `off`. The method reads the bytes by calling the `read()` method of the underlying stream and blocks until there is some input available.

### readBoolean

#### public final boolean readBoolean() throws IOException

Returns

  The `boolean` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readBoolean()`

Description

  This method reads a byte as a `boolean` value from the underlying input stream. A byte that contains a zero is read as `false`; that which contains any other value is read as `true`. The method blocks until the byte is read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readByte

#### public final byte readByte() throws IOException

Returns

  The `byte` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readByte()`

Description

  This method reads a signed 8-bit value--a `byte`--from the underlying input stream. The method blocks until the byte is read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readChar

#### public final char readChar() throws IOException

Returns

  The `char` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readChar()`

Description

  This method reads a 16-bit Unicode character from the stream. The method reads two bytes from the underlying input stream and then creates a `char` value, using the first byte read as the most significant byte. The method blocks until the two bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readDouble

#### public final double readDouble() throws IOException

Returns

  The `double` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readDouble()`

Description

  This method reads a 64-bit `double` quantity from the stream. The method reads a `long` value from the underlying input stream as if using the `readLong()` method. The `long` value is then converted to a `double` using the `longBitsToDouble()` method in `Double`. The method blocks until the necessary eight bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readFloat

#### public final float readFloat() throws IOException

Returns

  The `float` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readFloat()`

Description

  This method reads a 32-bit `float` quantity from the stream. The method reads an `int` value from the underlying input stream as if using the `readInt()` method. The `int` value is then converted to a `float` using the `intBitsToFloat()` method in `Float`. The method blocks until the necessary four bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readFully

#### public final void readFully(byte b[]) throws IOException

Parameters

  `b`

    The array to fill.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readFully(byte[])`

Description

  This method reads bytes into the given array `b` until the array is full. The method reads repeatedly from the underlying stream to fill the array. The method blocks until all of the bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

####

     public final void readFully(byte b[], int off, int len) throws IOException

Parameters

  `b`

    The array to fill.

  `off`

    An offset into the array.

  `len`

    The number of bytes to read.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readFully(byte[], int, int)`

Description

  This method reads `len` bytes into the given array, starting at offset `off`. The method reads repeatedly from the underlying stream to fill the array. The method blocks until all the bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readInt

#### public final int readInt() throws IOException

Returns

  The `int` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readInt()`

Description

  This method reads a signed 32-bit `int` quantity from the stream. The method reads four bytes from the underlying input stream and then creates an `int` quantity, using the first byte read as the most significant byte. The method blocks until the four bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readLine

#### public final String readLine() throws IOException

Availability

  Deprecated as of JDK 1.1

Returns

  A `String` that contains the line read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readLine()`

Description

  This method reads the next line of text from the stream. The method reads bytes of data from the underlying input stream until it encounters a line terminator. A line terminator is a carriage return (`"\r"`), a newline character (`"\n"`), a carriage return immediately followed by a newline character, or the end of the stream. The method blocks until a line terminator is read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

  This method is deprecated as of JDK 1.1 because it does not convert bytes to characters correctly. It's replaced by `BufferedReader.readLine()`.

### readLong

#### public final long readLong() throws IOException

Returns

  The `long` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readLong()`

Description

  This method reads a signed 64-bit `long` quantity from the stream. The method reads eight bytes from the underlying input stream and then creates a `long` quantity, using the first byte read as the most significant byte. The method blocks until the eight bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readShort

#### public final short readShort() throws IOException

Returns

  The `short` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readShort()`

Description

  This method reads a signed 16-bit `short` quantity from the stream. The method reads two bytes from the underlying input stream and then creates a `short` quantity, using the first byte read as the most significant byte. The method blocks until the two bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readUnsignedByte

#### public final int readUnsignedByte() throws IOException

Returns

  The unsigned `byte` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readUnsignedByte()`

Description

  This method reads an unsigned 8-bit quantity from the stream. The method reads a byte from the underlying input stream and returns that byte, and blocks until the byte is read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readUnsignedShort

#### public final int readUnsignedShort() throws IOException

Returns

  The unsigned `short` value read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.readUnsignedShort()`

Description

  This method reads an unsigned 16-bit quantity from the stream. The method reads two bytes from the underlying input stream and creates an unsigned `short` quantity, using the first byte read as the most significant byte. The method blocks until the two bytes are read, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

### readUTF

#### public final String readUTF() throws IOException

Returns

  The `String` read from the stream.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind of I/O error occurs.

  `UTFDataFormatException`

    If the bytes do not represent a valid UTF-8 encoding.

Implements

  `DataInput.readUTF()`

Description

  This method reads a UTF-8 encoded string from the stream. See the description of the `readUTF(DataInput)` class method for more information.

### skipBytes

#### public final int skipBytes(int n) throws IOException

Parameters

  `n`

    The number of bytes to skip.

Returns

  The actual number of skipped bytes.

Throws

  `EOFException`

    If the end of the file is encountered.

  `IOException`

    If any other kind I/O error occurs.

Implements

  `DataInput.skipBytes()`

Description

  This method skips over `n` bytes in the underlying input stream. The method blocks until all of the bytes are skipped, the end of the stream is encountered, or an exception is thrown.

## Inherited Methods

Method | Inherited From | Method | Inherited From
--- | --- | --- | ---
`available ()` | `FilterInputStream` | `clone()` | `Object`
`close()` | `FilterInputStream` | `equals(Object)` | `Object`
`finalize()` | `Object` | `getClass()` | `Object`
`hashCode()` | `Object` | `mark(int)` | `FilterInputStream`
`markSupported()` | `FilterInputStream` | `notify()` | `Object`
`notifyAll()` | `Object` | `read()` | `FilterInputStream`
`reset()` | `FilterInputStream` | `skip(long)` | `FilterInputStream`
`toString()` | `Object` | `wait()` | `Object`
`wait(long)` | `Object` | `wait(long, int)` | `Object`

## See Also

`DataOutputStream`, `Double`, `EOFException`, `FilterInputStream`, `Float`, `InputStream`, `IOException`, `String`, `UTFDataFormatException`

DataInput |  | DataOutput