Improving file name readability in Java

Question

I am working on a program that must print the names of each file and subfolder in a given directory.

So far I have the following (this is just the working code):

File directory = new File( [the path] );

File[] contents = directory.listFiles();

for ( File f : contents ) 
{
    String currentFile = f.getAbsolutePath();
    System.out.println( currentFile ); 
}

This needs to be displayed to the user, who doesn't need to see the full path. How can I get the output to only be the file names?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4545937/java-splitting-the-filename-into-a-base-and-extension — Michael Albers, Apr 24 '16 at 18:47
Thank you so much for answering quickly, but what I want is something different - or your answer works but I'm not smart enough to implement it. — LurkerMcMe, Apr 24 '16 at 18:54

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 24 '16 at 19:04

1

This should help you

File directory = new File("\\your_path");
File[] contents = directory.listFiles();
for (File f : contents) {
    System.out.println(f.getName());
}

answered Apr 24 '16 at 19:04

JavaHopper

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 24 '16 at 19:06

1

I suppose that sometimes you might not know the path base (for whatever reason), so there is a way to split the String. You just cut the part before the slash (/) and take all that's left. As you split it, there might be (and probably is) multiple slashes so you just take the last part

String currentFile;
String[] parts;
for ( File f : contents) {
    currentFile = f.getAbsolutePath();
    parts = currentFile.split("/");
    if (!parts.equals(currentFile)) {
        currentFile = parts[parts.length-1];
    }  
    System.out.println(currentFile);
}

Example:
"file:///C:/Users/folder/Desktop/a.html" goes to be "a.html"

answered Apr 24 '16 at 19:06

Mike B

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why doing this, when File class already provide a method to obtain the file name? – JavaHopper Apr 24 '16 at 19:31
@JavaHopper You are right. Upvote to your answer. But well - at least mine works. :D – Mike B Apr 24 '16 at 19:35
Partly to answer JavaHopper, this answer is the most modular - it could be repurposed to other, similar tasks. – Scott Forsythe Apr 24 '16 at 19:44
That was the idea. I think OPs accepted answer is the.. last I would accept. – Mike B Apr 24 '16 at 19:45

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 24 '16 at 18:50

The file name is being printed as a simple String, meaning that it can be edited. All you have to do is use Str.replace on your path.

This code currentFile = currentFile.replace("[the path]", ""); would replace your file path with a blank, effectively erasing it.

Some code inserted correctly, such as

for ( File f : contents)
{
    currentFile = f.getAbsolutePath();
    currentFile = currentFile.replace("[the path]", "");
    System.out.println(currentFile);
}

will do this for each file your program finds.

why doing this, when File class already provide a method to obtain the file name? — JavaHopper, Apr 24 '16 at 19:31

Improving file name readability in Java

3 Answers3