Java - Search for files in a directory

Question

This is supposed to be simple, but I can't get it - "Write a program that searches for a particular file name in a given directory." I've found a few examples of a hardcoded filename and directory, but I need both the dir and file name to be as entered by the user.

public static void main(String[] args) {
    String fileName = args[0]; // For the filename declaration
    String directory;     
    boolean found;

    File dir = new File(directory);

    File[] matchingFiles = dir.listFiles(new FilenameFilter() {
        public boolean accept(File dir, String fileName) {
            return true;
        }
    });

}

this cannot work because there is a compile time error in the "return filename". change that to return true and it will return all files. also take a look at http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/io/File.html#listFiles() — Martin Braun, Mar 25 '13 at 20:36

Vishal K · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-25T20:57:19.453

33

you can try something like this:

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
class FindFile 
{
    public void findFile(String name,File file)
    {
        File[] list = file.listFiles();
        if(list!=null)
        for (File fil : list)
        {
            if (fil.isDirectory())
            {
                findFile(name,fil);
            }
            else if (name.equalsIgnoreCase(fil.getName()))
            {
                System.out.println(fil.getParentFile());
            }
        }
    }
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        FindFile ff = new FindFile();
        Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.println("Enter the file to be searched.. " );
        String name = scan.next();
        System.out.println("Enter the directory where to search ");
        String directory = scan.next();
        ff.findFile(name,new File(directory));
    }
}

Here is the output:

J:\Java\misc\load>java FindFile
Enter the file to be searched..
FindFile.java
Enter the directory where to search
j:\java\
FindFile.java Found in->j:\java\misc\load

edited Mar 25 '13 at 20:57

answered Mar 25 '13 at 20:45

Vishal K

12,976
2
27
38

Hi @Vishal, this code doesn't help me get the directory and filename from the user, which is the problem. – A C Mar 25 '13 at 20:50
This code is giving u the complete path of the directory where file exists.Run this code.. change the parameters of findFile in `main` method. – Vishal K Mar 25 '13 at 20:52
Thanks, I was trying to work it out myself, but yours works better than mine! Much appreciated. – A C Mar 25 '13 at 20:58
Thanks a lot. more clarity – apr Jun 18 '20 at 09:40

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 04 '18 at 09:05

Using Java 8+ features we can write the code in few lines:

protected static Collection<Path> find(String fileName, String searchDirectory) throws IOException {
    try (Stream<Path> files = Files.walk(Paths.get(searchDirectory))) {
        return files
                .filter(f -> f.getFileName().toString().equals(fileName))
                .collect(Collectors.toList());

    }
}

Files.walk returns a Stream<Path> which is "walking the file tree rooted at" the given searchDirectory. To select the desired files only a filter is applied on the Stream files. It compares the file name of a Path with the given fileName.

Note that the documentation of Files.walk requires

This method must be used within a try-with-resources statement or similar control structure to ensure that the stream's open directories are closed promptly after the stream's operations have completed.

I'm using the try-resource-statement.

For advanced searches an alternative is to use a PathMatcher:

protected static Collection<Path> find(String searchDirectory, PathMatcher matcher) throws IOException {
    try (Stream<Path> files = Files.walk(Paths.get(searchDirectory))) {
        return files
                .filter(matcher::matches)
                .collect(Collectors.toList());

    }
}

An example how to use it to find a certain file:

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
    String searchDirectory = args[0];
    String fileName = args[1];
    PathMatcher matcher = FileSystems.getDefault().getPathMatcher("regex:.*" + fileName);
    Collection<Path> find = find(searchDirectory, matcher);
    System.out.println(find);
}

More about it: Oracle Finding Files tutorial

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 06 '17 at 09:11

With **Java 8* there is an alternative that use streams and lambdas:

public static void recursiveFind(Path path, Consumer<Path> c) {
  try (DirectoryStream<Path> newDirectoryStream = Files.newDirectoryStream(path)) {
    StreamSupport.stream(newDirectoryStream.spliterator(), false)
                 .peek(p -> {
                   c.accept(p);
                   if (p.toFile()
                        .isDirectory()) {
                     recursiveFind(p, c);
                   }
                 })
                 .collect(Collectors.toList());
  } catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
  }
}

So this will print all the files recursively:

recursiveFind(Paths.get("."), System.out::println);

And this will search for a file:

recursiveFind(Paths.get("."), p -> { 
  if (p.toFile().getName().toString().equals("src")) {
    System.out.println(p);
  }
});

Using `peek()` not for debugging and moreover with a side-effect s ["strongly discouraged"](https://stackoverflow.com/a/48221925). — LuCio, Dec 04 '18 at 09:25

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 25 '13 at 20:39

This looks like a homework question, so I'll just give you a few pointers:

Try to give good distinctive variable names. Here you used "fileName" first for the directory, and then for the file. That is confusing, and won't help you solve the problem. Use different names for different things.

You're not using Scanner for anything, and it's not needed here, get rid of it.

Furthermore, the accept method should return a boolean value. Right now, you are trying to return a String. Boolean means that it should either return true or false. For example return a > 0; may return true or false, depending on the value of a. But return fileName; will just return the value of fileName, which is a String.

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Aug 06 '14 at 20:55

If you want to use a dynamic filename filter you can implement FilenameFilter and pass in the constructor the dynamic name.

Of course this implies taht you must instantiate every time the class (overhead), but it works

Example:

public class DynamicFileNameFilter implements FilenameFilter {

    private String comparingname;

    public DynamicFileNameFilter(String comparingName){
        this.comparingname = comparingName;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
        File file = new File(name);

        if (name.equals(comparingname) && !file.isDirectory())
            return false;

        else
            return true;
    }

}

then you use where you need:

FilenameFilter fileNameFilter = new DynamicFileNameFilter("thedynamicNameorpatternYouAreSearchinfor");
File[] matchingFiles = dir.listFiles(fileNameFilter);

Are you sure about `file = new File(name)`: this will build a file from a simple name, which will not belong to the walked directory. So doing `file.isDirectory()` will probably give you unexpected results. I would have gone with `new File(name, dir)` — GPI, Aug 06 '14 at 21:07

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 09 '16 at 09:27

I have used a different approach to search for a file using stack.. keeping in mind that there could be folders inside a folder. Though its not faster than windows search(and I was not expecting that though) but it definitely gives out correct result. Please modify the code as you wish to. This code was originally made to extract the file path of certain file extension :). Feel free to optimize.

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * @author Deepankar Sinha
 */
public class GetList {
    public List<String> stack;
    static List<String> lnkFile;
    static List<String> progName;

    int index=-1;
    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException
    {

        //var-- progFile:Location of the file to be search. 
        String progFile="C:\\";
        GetList obj=new GetList();
        String temp=progFile;
        int i;
        while(!"&%@#".equals(temp))
        {
            File dir=new File(temp);
            String[] directory=dir.list();
            if(directory!=null){
            for(String name: directory)
            {
                if(new File(temp+name).isDirectory())
                    obj.push(temp+name+"\\");
                else
                    if(new File(temp+name).isFile())
                    {
                        try{
                            //".exe can be replaced with file name to be searched. Just exclude name.substring()... you know what to do.:)
                        if(".exe".equals(name.substring(name.lastIndexOf('.'), name.length())))
                        {
                            //obj.addFile(temp+name,name);
                            System.out.println(temp+name);
                        }
                        }catch(StringIndexOutOfBoundsException e)
                        {
                            //debug purpose
                            System.out.println("ERROR******"+temp+name);
                        }

                    }
            }}
            temp=obj.pop();
        }
        obj.display();

//        for(int i=0;i<directory.length;i++)
//        System.out.println(directory[i]);
    }

    public GetList() {
        this.stack = new ArrayList<>();
        this.lnkFile=new ArrayList<>();
        this.progName=new ArrayList<>();
    }
    public void push(String dir)
    {
        index++;
        //System.out.println("PUSH : "+dir+" "+index);
        this.stack.add(index,dir);

    }
    public String pop()
    {
        String dir="";
        if(index==-1)
            return "&%@#";
        else
        {
            dir=this.stack.get(index);
            //System.out.println("POP : "+dir+" "+index);
            index--;

        }
        return dir;
    }

    public void addFile(String name,String name2)
    {
        lnkFile.add(name);
        progName.add(name2);
    }

    public void display()
    {
        GetList.lnkFile.stream().forEach((lnkFile1) -> {
            System.out.println(lnkFile1);
        });
    }

}

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 20 '16 at 07:52

The Following code helps to search for a file in directory and open its location

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.awt.Desktop;
public class Filesearch2 {


    public static void main(String[] args)throws IOException {        
        Filesearch2 fs = new Filesearch2();
        Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.println("Enter the file to be searched.. " );
        String name = scan.next();
        System.out.println("Enter the directory where to search ");
        String directory = scan.next();
        fs.findFile(name,new File(directory));
    }
    public void findFile(String name,File file1)throws IOException
    {      
        File[] list = file1.listFiles();       
        if(list!=null)  
     {                          
        for(File file2 : list)
        {            
            if (file2.isDirectory())
            {
                findFile(name,file2);             
            }
            else if (name.equalsIgnoreCase(file2.getName()))
            {                                                              
                System.out.println("Found");                
                System.out.println("File found at : "+file2.getParentFile());
                System.out.println("Path diectory: "+file2.getAbsolutePath());
                String p1 = ""+file2.getParentFile();
                File f2 = new File(p1);
                Desktop.getDesktop().open(f2);                               
            }                      
        }        
      }
    }        
}

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 29 '18 at 03:21

This method will recursively search thru each directory starting at the root, until the fileName is found, or all remaining results come back null.

public static String searchDirForFile(String dir, String fileName) {
    File[] files = new File(dir).listFiles();
    for(File f:files) {
        if(f.isDirectory()) {
            String loc = searchDirForFile(f.getPath(), fileName);
            if(loc != null)
                return loc;
        }
        if(f.getName().equals(fileName))
            return f.getPath();
    }
    return null;
}

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Jan 05 '19 at 16:49

public class searchingFile 
{
     static String path;//defining(not initializing) these variables outside main 
     static String filename;//so that recursive function can access them
     static int counter=0;//adding static so that can be accessed by static methods 

    public static void main(String[] args) //main methods begins
    {
        Scanner sc=new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.println("Enter the path : ");
        path=sc.nextLine(); //storing path in path variable
        System.out.println("Enter file name : ");
        filename=sc.nextLine(); //storing filename in filename variable
        searchfile(path);//calling our recursive function and passing path as argument
        System.out.println("Number of locations file found at : "+counter);//Printing occurences

    }

    public static String searchfile(String path)//declaring recursive function having return 
                                                //type and argument both strings

    {
        File file=new File(path);//denoting the path
        File[] filelist=file.listFiles();//storing all the files and directories in array

    for (int i = 0; i < filelist.length; i++) //for loop for accessing all resources
    {
        if(filelist[i].getName().equals(filename))//if loop is true if resource name=filename
        {
            System.out.println("File is present at : "+filelist[i].getAbsolutePath());
            //if loop is true,this will print it's location
            counter++;//counter increments if file found
        }
        if(filelist[i].isDirectory())// if resource is a directory,we want to inside that folder
        {
            path=filelist[i].getAbsolutePath();//this is the path of the subfolder
            searchfile(path);//this path is again passed into the searchfile function 
                             //and this countinues untill we reach a file which has
                             //no sub directories

        }
    }
    return path;// returning path variable as it is the return type and also 
                // because function needs path as argument.

    }   
}

add a minimum of text above the code to describe what it does before someone jumps into the code. — Gratien Asimbahwe, Jan 05 '19 at 16:31

score -1 · Answer 10 · edited Jan 22 '21 at 15:44

I tried many ways to find the file type I wanted, and here are my results when done.

public static void main( String args[]){
final String dir2 = System.getProperty("user.name"); \\get user name 
String path = "C:\\Users\\" + dir2; 
digFile(new File(path)); \\ path is file start to dig
    
   for (int i = 0; i < StringFile.size(); i++) {
         
   System.out.println(StringFile.get(i));
        
    }
 }

private void digFile(File dir) {

    FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
        public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
            return name.endsWith(".mp4");
        }
    };      
    String[] children = dir.list(filter);

   
    if (children == null) {
        return;
    } else {
        for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
            StringFile.add(dir+"\\"+children[i]);

        }
    }

    File[] directories;
    directories = dir.listFiles(new FileFilter() {
        @Override
        public boolean accept(File file) {
            return file.isDirectory();
        }
    
        public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
            return !name.endsWith(".mp4");
        }
    });
        
   if(directories!=null)
   {
       for (File directory : directories) {
           digFile(directory);
       }
   }
    
}

Please use English on the English version of this site. If you update your answer with an English translation it might not get removed — Abbas Akhundov, Jan 22 '21 at 12:13

Java - Search for files in a directory

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