Thread: Comparing 2 lines from two separate TXT files

Hello everyone, with this silly question (which I feel I should know, but am having a complete brain meltdown), I need to compare a line of text from one TXT file to another line from another TXT file.

In my assignment, my instructor wants us to create a program that stores account#, first and last names and a balance in a TXT file called "clients", which I did,

 

100       Alan        Jones           348.17

300       Mary        Smith            27.19

500       Sam         Sharp             0.00

700       Suzy        Green           -14.22

950       Bob         Dylan         25550.00

975       Judy        Smith           254.32

985       John        Good            -56.28

990       Tim         Graw           7585.15

also we had to create a transaction TXT file that stores the account# and transaction amount,

 

950 -126.35

700 -25.52

500 -65.32

985 300.0

990 21.21

and the last thing is to compare the two TXT files using the account# as the key,
this would not be a problem if I was able to modify the transaction TXT file to include the names,
this way I can just compare each line in its entirely. However since I am not allow to include the names,

I need a way to compare just the account#'s and add the transaction amount to the original balance.
This is were my brain has left me and I am drawing a blank on how to accomplish this.

I would put my code here for all to see, but since my brain is blank, I don't have any for this method.

Any suggestions on how to complete this task.

Thanks.

--- Update ---

Just had a thought on how to do this, but would like input if it is the best way or not.

Make two arrayLists from both the trans.txt and clients.txt. This way you can compare cells.

ie:
If cell 0,0 in arraylistTrans = 950, now we can loop through the arraylistClients 0,0 cells, till a match is found, update the balance and store it in the arrayListNewMast.
Once all transactions have been applied, do a for loop to rewrite the arrayListNewMast to a new TXT file call newMast.txt

OK, I was able to create two multidimension arrays to represent both the trans.txt and clients.txt files.

        // creates the transArray
        int outerCount = 0;
        File file = new File("trans.txt");
        try {
            Scanner scan = new Scanner(file);
 
            while (scan.hasNext()) {
                line = scan.nextLine();
                transToken = line.split(" ");
                for (int innerCount = 0; innerCount < 2; innerCount++) {
                    trans[outerCount][innerCount] = transToken[innerCount];
                }
                outerCount++;
            }
        } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(FileMatch.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }

        //creates the clientsArray        
        outerCount = 0; // resets the outerCount variable
 
        File file2 = new File("clients.txt");
        try {
            Scanner scan2 = new Scanner(file2);
 
            while (scan2.hasNext()) {
                line = scan2.nextLine();
                clientToken = line.split(" ");
                for (int innerCount = 0; innerCount < 4; innerCount++) {
                    client[outerCount][innerCount] = clientToken[innerCount];
                }
                outerCount++;
            }
        } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(FileMatch.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }

However, in my original code, I manually set the multidimensional parameters manually,

    String[][] trans = new String[5][2]; // need to change 5 to represent the line count of client.txt
    String[][] client = new String[9][4]; // need to change 9 to represent the line count of client.txt

and everything works perfectly, now I want to set the first parameter (5 and 9 respectfully) to the length of the appropriate TXT file, this way when they grow so will the array.
So I tried the following,

    int transRows;
    int clientRows;
    String[][] trans = new String[transRows][2]; // need to change 5 to represent the line count of client.txt
    String[][] client = new String[clientRows][4]; // need to change 9 to represent the line count of client.txt

        System.out.println("Start TransRow");
 
        transRows = 0;
        File file = new File("trans.txt");
 
        // program is hanging up on try statement
        System.out.println("Start TRY statement");
        try {
            Scanner scan = new Scanner(file);
 
        while (scan.hasNext()) {
        transRows++;
        }
        System.out.println("End TRY statement");            
        } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(FileMatch.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }
 
        System.out.println("Total rows = " + transRows);
        return transRows;

but when I run this, the code hangs up on the TRY statement

 

run:



Enter request

 1 - Create a new account

 2 - Add Transaction

 3 - View all current balances

 4 - View all current credits

 5 - View all current debits

 6 - View all with zero balances

 7 - Apply transactions

 8 - Terminate program



? 7



Applying new transactions

Start TransRow

Start TRY statement

any suggestions on where I screwed up.

--- Update ---

Got it working, here is my code for the trans.txt, the client.txt is pretty much identical.

    public int TransRow() {
        transRows = 0;
        File file = new File("trans.txt");
        if (file.exists()) {
            try {
                FileReader fr = new FileReader(file);
                LineNumberReader lnr = new LineNumberReader(fr);
                int lineNumber = 0;
 
                while (lnr.readLine() != null) {
                    transRows++;
                }
            } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
                Logger.getLogger(FileMatch.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
            } catch (IOException ex) {
                Logger.getLogger(FileMatch.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
            }
        }
 
        System.out.println("Number of rows in the TXT file " + transRows);
        return transRows;
    }

 

run:



Enter request

 1 - Create a new account

 2 - Add Transaction

 3 - View all current balances

 4 - View all current credits

 5 - View all current debits

 6 - View all with zero balances

 7 - Apply transactions

 8 - Terminate program



? 7



Applying new transactions

Number of rows in the TXT file 6

Copied successfully.

Transactions applied





Enter request

 1 - Create a new account

 2 - Add Transaction

 3 - View all current balances

 4 - View all current credits

 5 - View all current debits

 6 - View all with zero balances

 7 - Apply transactions

 8 - Terminate program



? 8

BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 21 seconds)

now to start the comparison which should be easy.

I will update this post if I succeed,

if anyone has a better way to accomplish any of this code, please let me know.

OK, I am 95% complete but am stuck on this last item,

Currently I have 2 arrays,
clientArray which looks like this
Acc# Name Balance
001 Tim Graw 7585.15
300 Mary Smith 27.19
325 Suzy Green -14.22
500 Sam Sharp 0.00
565 Alan Jones 348.17
687 John Good -56.28
889 Bob Dylan 25550.0
900 Ken Leduc 1250.25
975 Judy Smith 254.32

transArray which looks like this
Acc# Transaction
001 21.21
325 -25.52
500 -65.32
565 0.83
889 300.0
975 250.00

I am running the following code to compare the first set of numbers and if the are the same, then the balance should be added to the transaction

    public void newMastData() { 
        int count = 0;
        for (int j = 0; j < client.length; j++) {
            if(count == trans.length)
                break;
 
                if (client[j][0].equals((trans[count][0]))) {
                    double newBalance = Double.parseDouble(client[j][3]) + Double.parseDouble(trans[count][1]);
                    newMast[count][0] = client[j][0];
                    newMast[count][1] = client[j][1];
                    newMast[count][2] = client[j][2];
                    newMast[count][3] = String.valueOf(newBalance);
                    count++;
                }
                else{
                    newMast[j][0] = client[j][0];
                    newMast[j][1] = client[j][1];
                    newMast[j][2] = client[j][2];
                    newMast[j][3] = client[j][3];                
                }                
 
 
        }        
 
        System.out.println("\nNew mast array");
        for(int i = 0; i < newMast.length; i++){
            System.out.println(newMast[i][0] + " " + newMast[i][1] + " " + newMast[i][2] + " " + newMast[i][3]);
        }
 
        System.out.println("Transactions applied\n");
 
        System.exit(0);
    }

but the outcome is only partially correct

 

run:



Enter request

 1 - Create a new account

 2 - Add Transaction

 3 - View all current balances

 4 - View all current credits

 5 - View all current debits

 6 - View all with zero balances

 7 - Apply transactions

 8 - Terminate program



? 7



Applying new transactions

Copied successfully.



New mast array

001 Tim Graw 7606.36

325 Suzy Green -39.74

500 Sam Sharp -65.32

565 Alan Jones 349.0

889 Bob Dylan 25850.0

975 Judy Smith 504.32

null null null null

900 Ken Leduc 1250.25

null null null null

Transactions applied



BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 2 seconds)

I've been at this for quite some time today, so my brain is not working fully, can someone point out my error please.

Done, all I had to do was make this change,

newMast[j][0] = client[j][0];
(do this change on all lines)

simple fix, but now time to shut down, give the old brain a rest.