how would I use print writer and file reader properly on an arraylistwith arraylist inside?

[justineee]

Hi again,

I have an ArrayList<Word> which creates a new word with an ArrayList
of its definitions..

I am trying to use readfile and writefile to save and load the words
and definitions made by the user. It saves and loads, yes. However, it
is not properly saved and loaded. I want to save the word with
definitions as is and load it as is (so the user can still update the
words definitions or add some words). I am not very familiar with
PrintWriter and FileReader, I've been studying it for the past two
weeks and all I can do is save and load an array.

Example:

I have..

1. word
--------------------
[hello, word, thanks, again]
--------------------

-- this is the word and its definitions.

after I save.. and load it again.. this shows


1. word
------------------
[]-----------------------
----------
2.[]---
-------------------------
[]
-----------------------
3. [hello, word, thanks, again]

here is my code for load and save.

public void saveFile(ArrayList<Word> array)
throws IOException
{
PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter ("initlist.txt");
for (int ctr = 0; ctr < array.size(); ctr++)
out.println(array.get(ctr));

out.close();

}


public void loadFile(ArrayList<Word> array)
throws IOException
{
array.clear();
FileReader f = new FileReader ("initlist.txt");
Scanner input = new Scanner (f);
ArrayList<String> tempDef;
while (input.hasNextLine())
{
String word = input.nextLine();

if (array.contains(word)==false)
{
Word temp = new Word(word);
array.add(temp);
tempDef = new ArrayList<String>();

for (int aCtr = 0; aCtr < tempDef.size(); aCtr++)
{
temp.addDefinition(tempDef.get(aCtr));
}

}


}
input.close();

}


I've been trying to fix this, I just can't :|

Maybe anyone knows. Thanks.

 

[charlesfr.rey]

    tempDef = new ArrayList<String>();

     for (int aCtr = 0; aCtr < tempDef.size(); aCtr++)
     {
      temp.addDefinition(tempDef.get(aCtr));
     }

You have a bug there, you've just initialized tempDef to a new empty
ArrayList, and try to iterate over it. No temp.addDefinition(..) will
be performed.

That's a start. (And it doesn't mean that without this bug the rest is
correct).