Do I need to close the input stream manually after using IOUtils.toString(input) of commons-io?

Question

Commons-IO has an IOUtils.toString(inputStream) method, which can read all content from an input stream:

InputStream input = getInputStream();
String content = IOUtils.toString(input);

My question is shall I close the input stream manually after using it?

I thought IOUtils may close it since it has read all the content, but I can't find that in the source code.

If you can't find that in the source code, isn't it a strong indication that it isn't there? — JB Nizet, Dec 07 '13 at 15:46
For files, use FileUtils.readFileToString(), it uses IOUtils, but also closes the stream. — Daniel Hári, Mar 31 '17 at 07:45

score 42 · Accepted Answer · edited May 24 '16 at 16:40

42

The javadoc says:

Wherever possible, the methods in this class do not flush or close the stream. This is to avoid making non-portable assumptions about the streams' origin and further use. Thus the caller is still responsible for closing streams after use.

edited May 24 '16 at 16:40

Anders Rabo Thorbeck

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answered Dec 07 '13 at 15:47

JB Nizet

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This is the conventional pattern for stream based libraries. The client should handle it. – Sotirios Delimanolis Dec 07 '13 at 15:49
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Thank you, but I found I never need to do other operations on the input stream when I reading the content by `IOUtils.toString`, except closing it ... – Freewind Dec 07 '13 at 16:45
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for files you can use FileUtils.readFileToString() that closes the stream – Daniel Hári Mar 31 '17 at 07:46

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 03 '23 at 13:31

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Yes, and InputStream is now AutoCloseable so you can do:

try(InputStream input = getInputStream())

answered Mar 03 '23 at 13:31

Cybermonk

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Do I need to close the input stream manually after using IOUtils.toString(input) of commons-io?

2 Answers2

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