TextArea

[saytri]

Is there a way how i can display the contents of a binary file in a textArea?

[r035198x]

Is there a way how i can display the contents of a binary file in a textArea?

A Texarea displays text. Do you want to display the binary representation(ones and zeros) of the file?

[saytri]

No, i want to display the data not the one's and zero. Thats why i am having problems. Because since binary files are not in a human readable mode, i want that when they are displayed on the textArea they are human readable (not with the zeros). Is there a way how i could display them in this way?
Thanks.

[r035198x]

.. Because since binary files are not in a human readable mode, i want that when they are displayed on the textArea they are human readable ..

? ?

[saytri]

When you open a binary file like in a text editor, you can't read data, because its not readable. It contains jumbled up text and characters. Its not like a textfile where you can edit or read the data contained.

[r035198x]

When you open a binary file like in a text editor, you can't read data, because its not readable. It contains jumbled up text and characters. Its not like a textfile where you can edit or read the data contained.

I know. So what do you want to do since you you know this as well.

[BigDaddyLH]

You question is the equivalent of asking "how long is a piece of string"? Only you know the format of the file. Unless you don't, either!

[saytri]

The problem is that i don't know how to call a binary file, to be displayed in a textArea. I know how to display a textfile in a textArea, but since binary files contain unreadable data, i can't display the contents of a binary file like i display a textfile. When i tried to display the contents of the binary file like i display them when they are stored in a textfile, it displays jumbled up characters (the way binary file stores them). I want to display the contents in a textfile in a readable mode.
Sorry guys if i'm not making myself clear. Hope that this would make it clearer. Thanks a lot.

[BigDaddyLH]

You are still leaving us guessing. Are you trying to write a hex editor?

[saytri]

No, its just i am doing like a quiz. And my tutor told me that instead of saving the scores in a textfile i should store them in a binary file since binary files are more secure. And i want to display these scores into a JTextArea. I'm still a beginner and so i'm not just of an expert in java. Hope that this would give a more clearer idea of what i'm doing. Thanks a lot, and sorry for the trouble.

[BigDaddyLH]

No, its just i am doing like a quiz. And my tutor told me that instead of saving the scores in a textfile i should store them in a binary file since binary files are more secure. And i want to display these scores into a JTextArea. I'm still a beginner and so i'm not just of an expert in java. Hope that this would give a more clearer idea of what i'm doing. Thanks a lot, and sorry for the trouble.

Take the code you used to write data to a file and reverse it. Now you've recovered the data structure and you can display it as you like.

[saytri]

Ok thanks a lot. I tried doing this, but instead of displaying the contents of the binary file (i.e the scores) it just displays "players.dat". What am i doing wrong? Thanks a lot. I really appreciate all your help.

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.io.DataInputStream;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
 
import javax.swing.JDialog;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
 
public class Scores {
 
private JTextArea textArea;
 String[] scores = null;
 static final String dataFile1 = "players.dat";
public Scores() {
super();
 
try{
JDialog dialog = new JDialog();
dialog.getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout(10, 10));
Test4Rx imagePanel = new Test4Rx("scores.gif");
dialog.add(imagePanel, "North");
dialog.add(new Test4Rx("scores.gif"));
 
File aFile  = new File( "players.dat" );
      // create an output stream to the file
FileInputStream aFileInStream = new FileInputStream ( aFile );
      // create a data output stream to the file output stream
DataInputStream aDataInStream = new DataInputStream ( aFileInStream );
 
 
textArea = new JTextArea();
String string = dataFile1;
textArea.append(string + "\n");
textArea.setBackground(Color.orange);
textArea.setFont(new Font("Times New Roman", Font.BOLD, 14));
textArea.setEditable(false);
textArea.setForeground(Color.red);
 
dialog.getContentPane().add(BorderLayout.CENTER, textArea);
dialog.setTitle("Scores");
dialog.setSize(350, 350);
 
dialog.setVisible(true);
 
          }catch (java.io.FileNotFoundException f) {
             JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "File not found.");
 
}catch (Exception e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
 
}
 
public static void main(String[] args){
new Scores();
}
 
}

[BigDaddyLH]

but instead of displaying the contents of the binary file (i.e the scores) it just displays "players.dat".

dataFile1 = "players.dat";
...
String string = dataFile1;
textArea.append(string + "\n");
 

I've edited out irrelevant lines. Why the text area displays "players.dat" should be clear now.

[saytri]

Ok i understood that(why its displaying players.dat. But how can i append the file, so it would display its contents. Because i can't figure out how to call the file to be displayed in the textArea. Thanks a lot for your help.

[BigDaddyLH]

Ok i understood that(why its displaying players.dat. But how can i append the file, so it would display its contents. Because i can't figure out how to call the file to be displayed in the textArea. Thanks a lot for your help.

Did you understand my advice in reply #11:

Take the code you used to write data to a file and reverse it. Now you've recovered the data structure and you can display it as you like.