File handling using Swing in Java

In this article about File handling using Swing, I'll show how to work with the methods below:

• getName: return the file name;
• length: return the file lenght;
• exists: Check if the file exists;
• canRead: return true if the file can be read;
• canWrite: return true if the file can be write;
• renameTo: rename the file;
• isFile: Return true if the path is valid for a file;
• lastModified: Show date of last file change;
• delete: Delete the file;

Now let's create the methods above:

1-GetName ( )

1.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case "FileName":

1.2- Enter this code in commands package.

Listing 1: GetName

package commands;
 
import java.io.File;
 
public class FileName {
     
    public String GetName(String fi){
    File f = new File(fi);
    if(!f.exists()){
      System.out.println("File not found");
      return "0";
    }
    return f.getName();
    }
}

2-Length ( )

2.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case "size (length)":

2.2- Write this code in commands package:

Listing 2: Length

package commands;
 
import java.io.File;
 
public class FileSize    {
     
    public Integer GetSize(String fi){
    File f = new File(fi);
    if(!f.exists()){
      System.out.println("File not found");
      return 0;
    }  
      return (int) f.length();
    }
}

3-Exists ( )

3.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case "Exists?"

3.2- Write this code in commands package:

Listing 3: Exists

package commands;
 
import java.io.File; 
 
public class IfExist {
    public boolean exist(String file){
    File f = new File(file);
    if(!f.exists()){
      System.out.println("File not found");
      return false;
    }
    return true;
    }    
}

4-CanRead ( )

4.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case "Can Read?":

4.2- Write this code in commands package:

Listing 4: CanRead

package commands;
 
import java.io.File; 
 
public class CanReadClass {
     public boolean canread(String file){
    File f = new File(file);
    if(!f.canread()){
      System.out.println("File not readable");
      return false;
    }
    return true;
    }
     
}

5-CanWrite ( )

5.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case "Can Write?":

5.2- Write this code in commands package:

Listing 5: CanWrite

package commands;
 
import java.io.File; 
 
public class CanWriteClass {
     public boolean canwrite(String file){
    File f = new File(file);
    if(!f.canWrite()){
      System.out.println("File not writable");
      return false;
    }
    return true;
    }
     
}

As you can see all methods are repetitive, just create a class, and (or) importing the same class and run the command for each object, or each button, according to your need.

Let's do now a file rename method.

6-renameTo( )

6.1- Insert a new field of type text to serve as a parameter to rename a particular file.

6.2- Write this code in commands package:

Listing 6: renameTo

package commands;
 
import java.io.File;
 
public class RenameTo {
     
    public void rename(String fi, String fi2){
   
    File f = new File(fi);
    File f2 = new File(fi2);
    f.renameTo(f2);
         
    }
     
}    
} 

7- isFile ( )

7.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case the method is "isFile".

7.2- Write this code in commands package:

package commands;
 
import java.io.File;
 
public class IsFilecommand {
     
    public boolean testFile(String fi){
    File f = new File(fi);
    if(!f.isFile()){
      System.out.println("File is Valid!");
      return true;
    }
     return false;
    }
     
} 

8- lastModified ( )

8.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case the method is "lastModified".

8.2- Write this code in commands package:

package commands; 
import java.io.File;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 
public class lastModified {
     
    public String lastMod(String file){
    File f   = new File(file);
     
    String r ;
     
    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss");
  
    r = sdf.format(f.lastModified());
    return r;
    
    }
     
}

Note: in this example we need to create a date and time format! In other article we can better address these methods. So don't worry about understanding this class SimpleFormat right now, just focus on understanding the files methods.

9- delete ( )

9.1- Create a new button and set the "label" corresponding to his action, in our case the method is "DeleteFile".

9.2- Write this code in commands package:

package commands;
 
import java.io.File; 
 
public class DeleteFile {
     
    public boolean delFile(String fi){
       File f = new File(fi);
       try{
          f.delete();
          return true;
       }
       catch(Exception e){
          return false;
       }
     
    }    
} 

I believe you can do the other class files methods, send questions and I'll help you to do this.

See you in the next article.