Thread: Giving Java the name of a file to be read via command line?

(I hope this is the right place to post my question!)

So I finally finished a program for my class, but I realized that I had been feeding java the file directly inside of the code, but the assignment requires that the name of the file be given on the command line. I finally got command prompt to work on my computer (running windows vista), but I don't quite know how to let java know that the name of the text file to be read will be provided via command line. This is the first time I've ever had to deal with command line arguments so I'm a little confused. I'll include my code below. The file that is currently to be read is sampleinput1.txt.

import java.awt.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.io.FileWriter;
 
public class Homework2{
 
	public static final int ROWS = 10;        //you may change this value
	public static final int COLS = 7;        //you may change this value
	public static final int SIZE = 85;        //you may change this value
	public static final int WAIT = 100;        //you may change this value.
	public static final Color IDENTCOLOR = Color.WHITE;
	public static final String[] identifiers = {"charname", "V_VS_DV", "SHOES","INVIS_FLY", "LIFE_FREE",
                            "COLSANDERS","VEY_APOLLO","LAK_CELTIC","CS_MAJOR","SMILE","LOVEFIRST"};
 
	public static void main(String[] args)throws FileNotFoundException {
		File inFile = new File("C:/Users/Irena/Desktop/Homework2/sampleinput2.txt");
		Scanner scanner;
 
		try {
			scanner = new Scanner(inFile);
		} catch (Exception e){
			System.err.println("File not found: " + e.toString());
			return;
		}
 
		Mosaic.open(ROWS,COLS,SIZE,SIZE);//Opens Canvas
		labelQuestions();//Labels Questions
		getAnswers(scanner);//Reads Text Files For Information
		exportCSVFile(scanner);//Exports Information As A CSV File
 
	}//end of main
 
 
		//Method:			labelQuestions
		//Input:				N/A
		//Called by:		main
		//Purpose:			This sends the question identifiers to the Mosaic canvas, 
		//						labeling them in their appropriate spots.
 
		public static void labelQuestions(){
			for(int i = 1; i <= ROWS; i++){
				Mosaic.drawLabel(i-1, 0, identifiers[i], IDENTCOLOR);
			}
		}//End of labelQuestions
 
		//Method:			getAnswers
		//Input:				Scanner scanner
		//Called by:		main		
		//Purpose:			This methods reads through the inputed textfile for lines that 
		//						contain colons. It then splits the Strings along the colon character. 
		//						It then organizes this information into array lists so that each array 
		//						lists the character and the numerical value of each vote cast by that character.  
 
		public static void getAnswers(Scanner scanner){
			ArrayList<String[]> userSurveyData = new ArrayList<String[]>();
			String[] userTempSurveyData = new String[11];
 
			while(scanner.hasNextLine()){ 
				String[]  line = scanner.nextLine().split(": ");
				for(int i = 0; i < identifiers.length; i++){
					if(line[0].equals(identifiers[i]) && !line[1].equals("")){
						userTempSurveyData[i] = line[1]; 
						colorAnswers(userTempSurveyData[0],userTempSurveyData[i],i-1);										
					}
				}
				if (line[0].equals("request") && line[1].equals("Submit the survey"))  {
					userSurveyData.add(userTempSurveyData); 
					System.out.println();
					for (int j=0; j < 10; j++)
						userTempSurveyData[j] = "";
					}
				}
		}//End of getAnswers
 
		//Method:			colorAnswers
		//Input:				String Name, String Answer, int i
		//Called by:		getAnswers
		//Purpose:			This methods gets the name of the respondant, the numberical 
		//						answer and the row number and then sends all of that information 
		//						to the appropriate method that will send the data to the 
		//						Mosaic canvas to visually represent the data.  
 
		public static void colorAnswers(String Name, String Answer, int i){
			if(Answer.equals("5")){
				colorIntensity(i,1,Name);
			}
			if(Answer.equals("4")){
				colorIntensity(i,2,Name);
			}
			if(Answer.equals("3")){
				colorIntensity(i,3,Name);
			}
			if(Answer.equals("2")){
				colorIntensity(i,4,Name);
			}          
			if(Answer.equals("1")){
				colorIntensity(i,5,Name);
			}
			if(Answer.equals("0")){
				colorIntensity(i,6,Name);            
			}      
			Mosaic.delay(WAIT);      
		}//End of colorAnswers
 
		//Method:			colorIntensity
		//Input:				int i, int j, String Name
		//Called by:		colorAnswers
		//Purpose:			This method gets data from colorAnswers and sends that information 
		//						to the proper location on the Mosaic. This method is also in change 
		//						for increasing the opacity of an answer as more and more people vote 
		//						for that option. 
 
		public static void colorIntensity(int i, int j, String Name){
			Mosaic.getBlue(i,j);
			Mosaic.setColor(i, j, 0, 0, Mosaic.getBlue(i,j)+2);
			Mosaic.drawLabel(i, j, Name, IDENTCOLOR);
		}//End of colorIntensity
 
		//Method:			exportCSVFile
		//Input:				Scanner scanner
		//Called by:		main
		//Purpose:			This method writes pertinent data to a csv file, naming the 
		//						file according to what the user inputs when prompted. 
 
		public static void exportCSVFile(Scanner scanner){
 
			Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in); 
			String[] results = {"","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""};
 
			System.out.print("Please enter the output file name:\t"); 
      	String message = scan.nextLine(); 
			while(scanner.hasNextLine()){
				String[] line = scanner.nextLine().split(": ");
				for(int i = 0; i < identifiers.length; i++){
				if(line[0].equals(identifiers[i])){
					if(!(results[i].equals("")))
						results[i] += ", ";
						results[i] += line[1];
					}
				}
			}
		try{
			FileWriter writer = new FileWriter(message);
			writer.append("question identifier,strongly agree,agree,no opinion,disagree,strongly disagree,N/A or decline,");	
			for(int i = 1; i < identifiers.length; i++){
				writer.append(identifiers[i]+","+results[i]+",");
			}
			writer.flush();
			writer.close();
		}
		catch(IOException e){
			e.printStackTrace();
		}   
	}//End of exportCSVFile
}//End of Homework2

I figure that anything written after "java Homework2" in the command prompt will be sent to the program as String[] args, but as to what to do with args to make the program run correctly, I'm not entirely sure how to proceed. Any help you can give me is really appreciated!

And if the filename/path that you pass from the command line contains spaces, enclose it in double quotes.

db

Thank you very much! That seems to have solved my problem!