Scanner difficulties with different escape characters

Question

First off let me start by saying that I know I'm not the only one who has experienced this issue and I spent the last couple of hours to research how to fix it. Sadly, I can't get my scanner to work. I'm new to java so I don't understand more complicated explanations that some answers have in different questions.

Here is a rundown: I'm trying to read out of a file which contains escape characters of cards. Here is a short version: (Numbers 2 and 3 of 4 different card faces)

\u26602,2 
\u26652,2 
\u26662,2 
\u26632,2 
\u26603,3 
\u26653,3 
\u26663,3
\u26633,3

This is the format: (suit)(face),(value). an example:

\u2663 = suit
3 = face
3 = value

This is the code I'm using for reading it:

File file = new File("Cards.txt");
try {
    Scanner scanner = new Scanner(file);
    while (scanner.hasNextLine()) {
        String line = scanner.nextLine();
        String[] temp = line.split(",");
        cards.add(new Card(temp[0], Integer.parseInt(temp[1])));
    }
    scanner.close();
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

the ArrayList cards should have 52 cards after this containing a name (suit and face) and a value. When i try to print the name this is the output:

\u26633

While it should be:

♣3

Can anyone give me pointers towards a solution? I really need this issue resolved. I don't want you to write my code for me.

Thanks in advance

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 11 '17 at 21:00

Simply store directly the suit characters into your files Cards.txt using UTF-8 as character encoding instead of the corresponding unicode character format that is only understood by java such that when it is read from your file it is read as the String "\u2660" not as the corresponding unicode character.

Its content would then be something like:

♠2,2
...

Another way could be to use StringEscapeUtils.unescapeJava(String input) to unescape your unicode character.

The code change would then be:

cards.add(new Card(StringEscapeUtils.unescapeJava(temp[0]), Integer.parseInt(temp[1])));

Thanks a lot, I never thought about just putting the character itself in the text file and saving it with UTF-8 encoding! It works now. — Jjampong, Jan 11 '17 at 21:20

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

0

You'll have to save your file with UTF-8 encoding and then read the file using the same encoding.

♥,1

♥,2

♥,3

Here is the code snippet:

BufferedReader buff = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(
        new FileInputStream("Cards.txt"), "UTF-8"));

String input = null;
while (null != (input = buff.readLine())) {
    System.out.println(input);
    String[] temp = input.split(",");
    cards.add(new Card(temp[0], Integer.parseInt(temp[1])));
}

buff.close();

Also, you need to make sure that your console is enabled to support UTF-8. Look at this answer to read more about it.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

Community

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answered Jan 11 '17 at 21:06

user2004685

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Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my question. I already found Nicolas Filotto's answer to work. – Jjampong Jan 11 '17 at 21:22

Scanner difficulties with different escape characters

2 Answers2