Generate Random File Paths Java

Question

Is there some way to randomly generate an arbitrary file path in Java?

What I've been thinking is that perhaps I could either pick one out of a pre-selected array, but that wouldn't be very random. Or I could start at C:\, pick a random number from 0 to the number of folders; if it's 0, I choose C:\, else I pick the folder corresponding to the random number. Rinse and repeat until it hits 0.

I don't feel like these are the best solutions, so any help would be appreciated.

The only reason I can think of doing something like this would be to create malware, whats this for? — Ali, Sep 11 '11 at 09:56

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 11 '11 at 09:48

Here's an example to get you started:

import java.io.File;
import java.util.*;

class Test {

    private static Random r = new Random();

    public static File getRandomFileIn(File f) {

        File[] subs = f.listFiles();

        if (f.isFile() || f.list().length == 0)
            return f;

        List<File> subDirs = new ArrayList<File>(Arrays.asList(subs));

        Iterator<File> files = subDirs.iterator();
        while (files.hasNext())
            if (!files.next().isDirectory())
                files.remove();

        while (!subDirs.isEmpty()) {
            File rndSubDir = subDirs.get(r.nextInt(subDirs.size()));
            File rndSubFile = getRandomFileIn(rndSubDir);
            if (rndSubFile != null)
                return rndSubFile;
            subDirs.remove(rndSubDir);
        }

        return null;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        File[] roots = File.listRoots();
        File rndFile = getRandomFileIn(roots[r.nextInt(roots.length)]);

        System.out.println(rndFile);
    }
}

Was actually quite fun to see some random files... I didn't know about roughly 90 % of them :-)

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

0

Create a MD5 Hash and use it as directory

edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

Community

1
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answered Sep 11 '11 at 09:38

Ben

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 11 '11 at 09:48

By mentioning 'best' you could be meaning that you wish for folder selection to be fair in some way, like perhaps based on the number or size of files inside it. You can only do that if you know the complete details to start with. Otherwise, I'd go with your recursive selection at each level suggestion.

Generate Random File Paths Java

3 Answers3