Java - read all text from file with custom FileUtils

In this article, we would like to show how in Java, read all text from file to string.

Quick solution:

package com.dirask.examples;

import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.Reader;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;

class Program {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

        String path = "C:\\Project\\input.txt";
        String text = readText(path, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
       
        System.out.println(text);        
    }
    
    private static String readText(String path, Charset charset) throws IOException {
        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
        try (FileInputStream stream = new FileInputStream(path);
             Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(stream, charset))
        {
            char[] buffer = new char[1024];
            while (true) {
                int count = reader.read(buffer, 0, buffer.length);
                if (count == -1) {
                    break;
                }
                builder.append(buffer, 0, count);
            }
        }
        return builder.toString();
    }
}

Example output:

This is 1st line...
This is 2nd line...
This is 3rd line...

Example input.txt:

This article presents some simple util that lets users to read file using: String path, File object, Path object, Reader object or InputStream object.

1. File reading example

Note: check below FileUtils.java file to see how text reading util looks.  

Program.java file:

package com.dirask.examples;

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Program {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

        readWithStringPath();
        readWithFileObject();
        readWithPathObject();
        readWithReaderObject();
        readWithInputStreamObject();
    }

    private static void readWithStringPath() {
        String text = FileUtils.readText("C:\\Project\\input.txt");
        System.out.println(text);
    }

    private static void readWithFileObject() {
        String text = FileUtils.readText(new File("C:\\Project\\input.txt"));
        System.out.println(text);
    }

    private static void readWithPathObject() {
        String text = FileUtils.readText(Paths.get("C:\\Project\\input.txt"));
        System.out.println(text);
    }

    private static void readWithReaderObject() {
        try(FileReader reader = new FileReader("C:\\Project\\input.txt")) {
            String text = FileUtils.readText(reader);

            System.out.println(text);
        }
    }

    private static void readWithInputStreamObject() {
        try(InputStream stream = new FileInputStream("C:\\Project\\input.txt")) {
            String text = FileUtils.readText(stream);

            System.out.println(text);
        }
    }
}

2. Used file utils

FileUtils.java file:

package com.dirask.examples;

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.Path;

public class FileUtils {

    public static String readText(Reader reader) throws IOException {
        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
        char[] buffer = new char[1024];
        while (true) {
            int count = reader.read(buffer, 0, buffer.length);
            if (count == -1) {
                break;
            }
            builder.append(buffer, 0, count);
        }
        return builder.toString();
    }

    public static String readText(InputStream stream) throws IOException {
        Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(stream, "UTF-8");
        return readText(reader);
    }

    public static String readText(File file) throws IOException {
        try (InputStream stream = new FileInputStream(file)) {
            return readText(stream);
        }
    }

    public static String readText(Path path) throws IOException {
        File file = path.toFile();
        return readText(file);
    }

    public static String readText(String path) throws IOException {
        try (FileInputStream stream = new FileInputStream(path)) {
            return readText(stream);
        }
    }
}

3. Used input resources

input.txt file (full path is C:\Project\input.txt):

This is 1st line...
This is 2nd line...
This is 3rd line...

Merged questions

1. Java - how to read all lines as one string from file object?
2. Java - how to read all lines as one string from input stream object?
3. Java - how to read all lines as one string from reader object?
4. Java - how to read all lines as one string using file path string?
5. Java - how to read all lines as one string using path object?

See also

• Java read text from file (simple way)