The JavaTM Tutorial

| Start of Tutorial > Start of Trail > Start of Lesson | Search Feedback Form

Trail: Essential Java Classes
Lesson: I/O: Reading and Writing (but no 'rithmetic)

## Working with Filter Streams

> The `java.io` package provides a set of abstract classes that define and partially implement filter streams. A filter stream filters data as it's being read from or written to the stream. The filter streams are `FilterInputStream` or `FilterOutputStream`, `FilterInputStream`, and `FilterOutputStream`. A filter stream is constructed on another stream (the underlying stream). The `read` method in a readable filter stream reads input from the underlying stream, filters it, and passes on the filtered data to the caller. The `write` method in a writable filter stream filters the data and then writes it to the underlying stream. The filtering done by the streams depends on the stream. Some streams buffer the data, some count data as it goes by, and others convert data to another form.

> Most filter streams provided by the `java.io` package are subclasses of `FilterInputStream` and `FilterOutputStream` and are listed here:

> - `DataInputStream` and `DataOutputStream`
> - `BufferedInputStream` and `BufferedOutputStream`
> - `LineNumberInputStream`
> - `PushbackInputStream`
> - `PrintStream` (This is an output stream.)
> The `java.io` package contains only one subclass of `FilterReader: PushbackReader`. So this section focuses on filter byte streams.

> This section shows you how to use filter streams by presenting an example that uses a `DataInputStream` and a `DataOutputStream`. This section also covers how to subclass `FilterInputStream` and `FilterOutputStream` to create your own filter streams.

### Using Filter Streams

> To use a filter input or output stream, attach the filter stream to another input or output stream when you create it. For example, you can attach a filter stream to the standard input stream, as in the following code:

> >     BufferedReader d = new BufferedReader(new DataInputStream(System.in));
> >     String input;

> >     while ((input = d.readLine()) != null) {
> >         ... //do something interesting here
> >     }

> Note that the `readLine` method has been deprecated in the `DataInputStream`; therefore we've wrapped it in a `BufferedReader`.

### How to Use DataInputStream and DataOutputStream

> This page provides and explains an example of using `DataInputStream` and `DataOutputStream`, two filtered streams that can read and write primitive data types.

### Writing Your Own Filtered Streams

> Many programmers find that they need to implement their own streams that filter or process data as it is being written to or read from the stream. Sometimes the processing is independent of the format of the data, such as counting various items in the stream, and sometimes the processing is directly related to the data itself or the format of the data, such as reading and writing data that is contained in rows and columns. Often, these programmers subclass `FilterOutputStream` and `FilterInputStream` to achieve their goals. This section describes an example of how to subclass `FileInputStream` and `FilterOutputStream` to create your own filtered streams.

| Start of Tutorial > Start of Trail > Start of Lesson | Search Feedback Form

Copyright 1995-2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.