File

The system-dependent string used to separate components in search paths (":"). See pathSeparatorChar.

The system-dependent character used to separate components in search paths (':'). This is used to split such things as the PATH environment variable and classpath system properties into lists of directories to be searched.

This field is initialized from the system property "path.separator". Later changes to that property will have no effect on this field or this class.

The system-dependent string used to separate components in filenames ('/'). See separatorChar.

The system-dependent character used to separate components in filenames ('/'). Use of this (rather than hard-coding '/') helps portability to other operating systems.

This field is initialized from the system property "file.separator". Later changes to that property will have no effect on this field or this class.

Constructs a new file using the specified directory and name.

Constructs a new file using the specified path.

Constructs a new File using the specified directory path and file name, placing a path separator between the two.

Constructs a new File using the path of the specified URI. uri needs to be an absolute and hierarchical Unified Resource Identifier with file scheme and non-empty path component, but with undefined authority, query or fragment components.

Tests whether or not this process is allowed to execute this file. Note that this is a best-effort result; the only way to be certain is to actually attempt the operation.

Indicates whether the current context is allowed to read from this file.

Indicates whether the current context is allowed to write to this file.

Returns the relative sort ordering of the paths for this file and the file another. The ordering is platform dependent.

Creates a new, empty file on the file system according to the path information stored in this file. This method returns true if it creates a file, false if the file already existed. Note that it returns false even if the file is not a file (because it's a directory, say).

This method is not generally useful. For creating temporary files, use createTempFile(String, String) instead. For reading/writing files, use FileInputStream, FileOutputStream, or RandomAccessFile, all of which can create files.

Note that this method does not throw IOException if the file already exists, even if it's not a regular file. Callers should always check the return value, and may additionally want to call isFile().

Creates an empty temporary file in the given directory using the given prefix and suffix as part of the file name. If suffix is null, .tmp is used.

Note that this method does not call deleteOnExit(), but see the documentation for that method before you call it manually.

Creates an empty temporary file using the given prefix and suffix as part of the file name. If suffix is null, .tmp is used. This method is a convenience method that calls createTempFile(String, String, File) with the third argument being null.

Deletes this file. Directories must be empty before they will be deleted.

Note that this method does not throw IOException on failure. Callers must check the return value.

Schedules this file to be automatically deleted when the VM terminates normally.

Note that on Android, the application lifecycle does not include VM termination, so calling this method will not ensure that files are deleted. Instead, you should use the most appropriate out of:

• Use a finally clause to manually invoke delete().
• Maintain your own set of files to delete, and process it at an appropriate point in your application's lifecycle.
• Use the Unix trick of deleting the file as soon as all readers and writers have opened it. No new readers/writers will be able to access the file, but all existing ones will still have access until the last one closes the file.

Compares obj to this file and returns true if they represent the same object using a path specific comparison.

Returns a boolean indicating whether this file can be found on the underlying file system.

Returns a new file constructed using the absolute path of this file. Equivalent to new File(this.getAbsolutePath()).

Returns the absolute path of this file. An absolute path is a path that starts at a root of the file system. On Android, there is only one root: /.

A common use for absolute paths is when passing paths to a Process as command-line arguments, to remove the requirement implied by relative paths, that the child must have the same working directory as its parent.

Returns a new file created using the canonical path of this file. Equivalent to new File(this.getCanonicalPath()).

Returns the canonical path of this file. An absolute path is one that begins at the root of the file system. A canonical path is an absolute path with symbolic links and references to "." or ".." resolved. If a path element does not exist (or is not searchable), there is a conflict between interpreting canonicalization as a textual operation (where "a/../b" is "b" even if "a" does not exist) .

Most callers should use getAbsolutePath() instead. A canonical path is significantly more expensive to compute, and not generally useful. The primary use for canonical paths is determining whether two paths point to the same file by comparing the canonicalized paths.

It can be actively harmful to use a canonical path, specifically because canonicalization removes symbolic links. It's wise to assume that a symbolic link is present for a reason, and that that reason is because the link may need to change. Canonicalization removes this layer of indirection. Good code should generally avoid caching canonical paths.

Returns the number of free bytes on the partition containing this path. Returns 0 if this path does not exist.

Note that this is likely to be an optimistic over-estimate and should not be taken as a guarantee your application can actually write this many bytes.

Returns the name of the file or directory represented by this file.

Returns the pathname of the parent of this file. This is the path up to but not including the last name. null is returned if there is no parent.

Returns a new file made from the pathname of the parent of this file. This is the path up to but not including the last name. null is returned when there is no parent.

Returns the path of this file.

Returns the total size in bytes of the partition containing this path. Returns 0 if this path does not exist.

Returns the number of usable free bytes on the partition containing this path. Returns 0 if this path does not exist.

Note that this is likely to be an optimistic over-estimate and should not be taken as a guarantee your application can actually write this many bytes. On Android (and other Unix-based systems), this method returns the number of free bytes available to non-root users, regardless of whether you're actually running as root, and regardless of any quota or other restrictions that might apply to the user. (The getFreeSpace method returns the number of bytes potentially available to root.)

Returns an integer hash code for the receiver. Any two objects for which equals returns true must return the same hash code.

Indicates if this file's pathname is absolute. Whether a pathname is absolute is platform specific. On Android, absolute paths start with the character '/'.

Indicates if this file represents a directory on the underlying file system.

Indicates if this file represents a file on the underlying file system.

Returns whether or not this file is a hidden file as defined by the operating system. The notion of "hidden" is system-dependent. For Unix systems a file is considered hidden if its name starts with a ".". For Windows systems there is an explicit flag in the file system for this purpose.

Returns the time when this file was last modified, measured in milliseconds since January 1st, 1970, midnight. Returns 0 if the file does not exist.

Returns the length of this file in bytes. Returns 0 if the file does not exist. The result for a directory is not defined.

Returns an array of strings with the file names in the directory represented by this file. The result is null if this file is not a directory.

The entries . and .. representing the current and parent directory are not returned as part of the list.

Gets a list of the files in the directory represented by this file. This list is then filtered through a FilenameFilter and the names of files with matching names are returned as an array of strings. Returns null if this file is not a directory. If filter is null then all filenames match.

The entries . and .. representing the current and parent directories are not returned as part of the list.

Returns an array of files contained in the directory represented by this file. The result is null if this file is not a directory. The paths of the files in the array are absolute if the path of this file is absolute, they are relative otherwise.

Gets a list of the files in the directory represented by this file. This list is then filtered through a FilenameFilter and files with matching names are returned as an array of files. Returns null if this file is not a directory. If filter is null then all filenames match.

The entries . and .. representing the current and parent directories are not returned as part of the list.

Gets a list of the files in the directory represented by this file. This list is then filtered through a FileFilter and matching files are returned as an array of files. Returns null if this file is not a directory. If filter is null then all files match.

The entries . and .. representing the current and parent directories are not returned as part of the list.

Returns the file system roots. On Android and other Unix systems, there is a single root, /.

Creates the directory named by this file, assuming its parents exist. Use mkdirs() if you also want to create missing parents.

Note that this method does not throw IOException on failure. Callers must check the return value. Note also that this method returns false if the directory already existed. If you want to know whether the directory exists on return, either use (f.mkdir() || f.isDirectory()) or simply ignore the return value from this method and simply call isDirectory().

Creates the directory named by this file, creating missing parent directories if necessary. Use mkdir() if you don't want to create missing parents.

Note that this method does not throw IOException on failure. Callers must check the return value. Note also that this method returns false if the directory already existed. If you want to know whether the directory exists on return, either use (f.mkdirs() || f.isDirectory()) or simply ignore the return value from this method and simply call isDirectory().

Renames this file to newPath. This operation is supported for both files and directories.

Many failures are possible. Some of the more likely failures include:

• Write permission is required on the directories containing both the source and destination paths.
• Search permission is required for all parents of both paths.
• Both paths be on the same mount point. On Android, applications are most likely to hit this restriction when attempting to copy between internal storage and an SD card.

Note that this method does not throw IOException on failure. Callers must check the return value.

Equivalent to setExecutable(executable, true).

Manipulates the execute permissions for the abstract path designated by this file.

Note that this method does not throw IOException on failure. Callers must check the return value.

Sets the time this file was last modified, measured in milliseconds since January 1st, 1970, midnight.

Note that this method does not throw IOException on failure. Callers must check the return value.

Equivalent to setWritable(false, false).

Equivalent to setReadable(readable, true).

Manipulates the read permissions for the abstract path designated by this file.

Manipulates the write permissions for the abstract path designated by this file.

Equivalent to setWritable(writable, true).

Returns a string containing a concise, human-readable description of this file.

Returns a Uniform Resource Identifier for this file. The URI is system dependent and may not be transferable between different operating / file systems.

Returns a Uniform Resource Locator for this file. The URL is system dependent and may not be transferable between different operating / file systems.