FileOutputStream write(byte[] arg0) causes extra bytes???

[vulcand4]

I am using a FileOutputStream to write binary (byte array) data to a file.

Right upon instanciation of the stream:

FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(new File("c:\\temp\\file.bin"))

I get 0xFFFE added to the front of the file. (before I even try to write to the stream).

Then when I do write using something like this:

byte[] b = "Hello there!".toBytes();
fos.write(b);

I get the data in my file, but if I view it in a hex editor, I see an extra 0x00 after each byte. This causes my file to be twice as large as it should and the binary data obviously isn't correct.

Any clues?

 

[stefanwagner]

My documentation doesn't show a method String: toBytes (); I'm using jdk 1.5.0_04-b05 - is this something new?

Apart from that, I have the impression the conversion to byte-array is interpreting the String as UTF-16 encoded, which leads to 2-byte/char which would be obviously correct.

If you use a java-api, which replaces the class String, you should study their documentation carfully and mention your source/ api.

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[timw]

... I expect the String.getBytes() method was what was meant ?!

Incidentally, if you're writing text to a file, the java.io.FileWriter class is probably a better one to use than FileOutputStream. You'll get a method for writing a String to the file directly without having to extract a byte array first.

Tim
---------------------------
"Your morbid fear of losing,
destroys the lives you're using." - Ozzy

 

[Diancecht]

FileOutputStream writes ints rather than bytes. From the doc, for each byte in the array, the write(int) method is called, so the first byte is always zero.

Check it at:

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/io/OutputStream.html#write(byte

[])

Cheers,
Dian

 

[sedj]

Dian, I don't think it does you know - I'm sure it writes bytes, not ints (if it wrote ints, you'd be in terrible trouble).

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[Diancecht]

Arghh, sorry, I hate monday mornings.

That's the general contract for OutputStream, FileOutputStream should have overridden it ... or not ... which JVM are you using?

Cheers,
Dian

 

[vulcand4]

Yes timw, I did mean getBytes();

I ended up solving my problem by wrapping my FileOutputStream in an OutputStreamWriter - instanciated with a CHARSET of "ISO-8859-1". That kept it from producing a 2-byte unicode character.

Thanks a lot for all your input. You are a great knowledge base to work from. I'm hoping I can give some helpful input to an issue or two some day.

-PG