how to read last line in a text file using java

Question

I am making a log and I want to read the last line of the log.txt file, but I'm having trouble getting the BufferedReader to stop once the last line is read.

Here's my code:

try {
    String sCurrentLine;

    br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("C:\\testing.txt"));

    while ((sCurrentLine = br.readLine()) != null) {
        System.out.println(sCurrentLine);
    }
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
    try {
        if (br != null)br.close();
    } catch (IOException ex) {
        ex.printStackTrace();
    }
}

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/686231/java-quickly-read-the-last-line-of-a-text-file — Benjamin Gruenbaum, Jul 07 '13 at 06:24

score 21 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

21

Here's a good solution.

In your code, you could just create an auxiliary variable called lastLine and constantly reinitialize it to the current line like so:

    String lastLine = "";

    while ((sCurrentLine = br.readLine()) != null) 
    {
        System.out.println(sCurrentLine);
        lastLine = sCurrentLine;
    }

edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

Community

1
1

answered Jul 07 '13 at 06:28

Steve P.

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4

Your link is recursive? o.O – Zong Jul 07 '13 at 06:29
3

That's hilarious. Fixed. – Steve P. Jul 07 '13 at 06:30

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 17 '18 at 03:32

11

This snippet should work for you:

    BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName));
    String last, line;

    while ((line = input.readLine()) != null) { 
        last = line;
    }
    //do something with last!

edited Mar 17 '18 at 03:32

xskxzr

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answered Jul 07 '13 at 06:34

Austin Henley

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we are checking the not null condition in while loop it self why do we need the if condition nested inside ? – Subayan Jul 09 '13 at 01:28
@Subayan Mistake on my part, fixed! – Austin Henley Jul 09 '13 at 03:26

how to read last line in a text file using java

2 Answers2

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