Thread: scanner problems

i'm trying to use

 Scanner input = new Scanner(new File("wherefits.dat"));

to load a file, but i get the exception

Exception in thread "main" java.io.FileNotFoundException: wherefits.dat (The system cannot find the file specified)
at java.io.FileInputStream.open(Native Method)
at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(FileInputStream.jav a:106)
at java.util.Scanner.<init>(Scanner.java:636)
at blahblahblah.wherefits.main(wherefits.java:11)

the file is in the same package as my java file in eclipse.

my computer science teacher says it should be working.

I would say you should check all aspects of the location and name of the file.

You should find the file and check the name for case and any other minor details. I'm not sure about Eclipse, but with my IDE, you should check that the file is in the same folder as your .class files. The .class files are what will run when you test the program, it will search that directory for the file.

If the problem still exists after you do those checks, you should check the ability for the program to read the file. It probably isnt an issue, but it couldnt hurt. The easiest way to do this would be by create a JFileChooser and selecting the file manually. Here is the code for that so you don't have to worry about learning the GUI aspect yet(I have not tested it, but I've done this enough that I'm pretty sure I have it down pack. If there are any problems, tell me and Ill fix it):

import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
import java.io.File;
 
public class Test
{
	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
		try{
		JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser();
		fileChooser.showOpenDialog(null);
	    	File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
		System.out.println(file.getAbsolutePath());
		}catch(Exception ex){System.out.println(ex);}
	{
}

When the JFileChooser opens, go to the file, select it, and press Open. This should Open the file and print out the file's path. If there are any exceptions thrown, they will print to the console instead. If there is an error, please respond with the error so we can help from there.

Another very simple minded way, when all else fails, to find where a system like an IDE looks for files is to create many files with the same name and put one in each folder that could be looked in and have the first line of the file say what folder it is located in. When you execute your program print the first line read from the file which will tell you where the file was read from.