InputStreamReader

The java.io.InputStreamReader class serves as a bridge between byte streams and character streams: It reads bytes from the input stream and translates them into characters according to a specified character encoding. The encoding can be set in the constructor, or you can accept the platform's default encoding.

 public InputStreamReader(InputStream in)
 public InputStreamReader(InputStream in, String encoding) 
  throws UnsupportedEncodingException

For example, if you wanted to read a file that had been encoded using the Macintosh Symbol font, you might do this:

FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream("symbol.txt");
InputStreamReader reader = new InputStreamReader(fin, "MacSymbol");

The other methods just override methods from java.io.Reader, but behave identically from the perspective of the programmer:

 public int read() throws IOException
 public int read(char c[], int off, int length) throws IOException
 public boolean ready() throws IOException
 public void close() throws IOException


Copyright 2000 Elliotte Rusty Harold
elharo@metalab.unc.edu
Last Modified January 29, 2000