java help: reading data from file

[dbbolton]

i need a little help with a java programming assignment. i have to write a program that reads a file such as:


Smith 85 83 77 91 76
Jones 87 90 88 91 94


and outputs something like:


Student Test1 Test2 Test3 Test4 Test5 Average Grade
Smith 85 83 77 91 76 82.4 B
...


i need help getting the program to read the data from the file using loops. could someone help me with this?

[Ramses de Norre]

Use a Scanner, if the file is named text_file.txt you do like this:

Scanner scanner=new Scanner(new FileInputStream(new File("text_file.txt")));


And then you can read out the file with the methods next{,Int,Line}, use as needed and read up on scanner here (http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/Scanner.html).

[dbbolton]

thanks!

how do i loop it to read the whole file and get the data for each student?

[\Oo._.oO/]

Assuming that the file contains one line for each student and the number of students is not defined you need something like this:

// read the whole file one line at a time
while(scanner.hasNextLine()) {
// read students name
for (int i=0; i<5; i++) {
// read the i:th exam score
}
}

[pmasiar]

Here is why I prefer Python over java: I can open, read and parse file in 3 lines of code without consulting manual

for line in open('path/to/input/file'):
parts = line.split(' ')
name, grades = parts[0], parts[1:]
# calculations, output etc

[Ramses de Norre]

Here is why I prefer Python over java: I can open, read and parse file in 3 lines of code without consulting manual

for line in open('path/to/input/file'):
parts = line.split(' ')
name, grades = parts[0], parts[1:]
# calculations, output etc


He's asking about something specifically in java, python is no option here...

[dbbolton]

i'm sure that my CS prof would be amused if i turned in a python program for my java assignment