Android read text raw resource file

Question

I have a text file added as a raw resource. The text file contains text like:

b) IF APPLICABLE LAW REQUIRES ANY WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE
SOFTWARE, ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE 
LIMITED IN DURATION TO NINETY (90)
DAYS FROM THE DATE OF  DELIVERY.

(c) NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR
ADVICE GIVEN BY  VIRTUAL ORIENTEERING,
ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS OR
EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR
IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF ANY
WARRANTY PROVIDED HEREIN. 

(d) (USA only) SOME STATES DO NOT
ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY
NOT  APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES
YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL  RIGHTS AND YOU MAY
ALSO HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT 
VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

On my screen I have a layout like this:

<LinearLayout  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
                     android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
                     android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
                     android:gravity="center" 
                     android:layout_weight="1.0"
                     android:layout_below="@+id/logoLayout"
                     android:background="@drawable/list_background"> 
            
            <ScrollView android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                        android:layout_height="fill_parent">
                        
                    <TextView  android:id="@+id/txtRawResource" 
                               android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
                               android:layout_height="fill_parent"
                               android:padding="3dip"/>
            </ScrollView>  
   
    </LinearLayout>

The code to read the raw resource is:

TextView txtRawResource= (TextView)findViewById(R.id.txtRawResource);

txtDisclaimer.setText(Utils.readRawTextFile(ctx, R.raw.rawtextsample);

public static String readRawTextFile(Context ctx, int resId)
{
    InputStream inputStream = ctx.getResources().openRawResource(resId);

    ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

    int i;
    try {
        i = inputStream.read();
        while (i != -1)
        {
            byteArrayOutputStream.write(i);
            i = inputStream.read();
        }
        inputStream.close();
    } catch (IOException e) {
        return null;
    }
    return byteArrayOutputStream.toString();
}

The text is shown but after each line I get the strange characters []. How can I remove the characters? I think it's a newline.

Answer 1

You can use this:

    try {
        Resources res = getResources();
        InputStream in_s = res.openRawResource(R.raw.help);

        byte[] b = new byte[in_s.available()];
        in_s.read(b);
        txtHelp.setText(new String(b));
    } catch (Exception e) {
        // e.printStackTrace();
        txtHelp.setText("Error: can't show help.");
    }

Answer 2

What if you use a character-based BufferedReader instead of byte-based InputStream?

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream));
String line = reader.readLine();
while (line != null) { 
    ...
    line = reader.readLine();
}

Don't forget that readLine() skips the new-lines!

Answer 3

Well with Kotlin u can do it just in one line of code:

resources.openRawResource(R.raw.rawtextsample).bufferedReader().use { it.readText() }

Or even declare extension function:

fun Resources.getRawTextFile(@RawRes id: Int) =
        openRawResource(id).bufferedReader().use { it.readText() }

And then just use it straightaway:

val txtFile = resources.getRawTextFile(R.raw.rawtextsample)

Answer 4

If you use IOUtils from apache "commons-io" it's even easier:

InputStream is = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.yourNewTextFile);
String s = IOUtils.toString(is);
IOUtils.closeQuietly(is); // don't forget to close your streams

---

Dependencies: http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/commons-io/commons-io

Maven:

<dependency>
    <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
    <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
    <version>2.4</version>
</dependency>

---

Gradle:

'commons-io:commons-io:2.4'

Answer 5

Rather do it this way:

// reads resources regardless of their size
public byte[] getResource(int id, Context context) throws IOException {
    Resources resources = context.getResources();
    InputStream is = resources.openRawResource(id);

    ByteArrayOutputStream bout = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

    byte[] readBuffer = new byte[4 * 1024];

    try {
        int read;
        do {
            read = is.read(readBuffer, 0, readBuffer.length);
            if(read == -1) {
                break;
            }
            bout.write(readBuffer, 0, read);
        } while(true);

        return bout.toByteArray();
    } finally {
        is.close();
    }
}

    // reads a string resource
public String getStringResource(int id, Charset encoding) throws IOException {
    return new String(getResource(id, getContext()), encoding);
}

    // reads an UTF-8 string resource
public String getStringResource(int id) throws IOException {
    return new String(getResource(id, getContext()), Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
}

From an Activity, add

public byte[] getResource(int id) throws IOException {
        return getResource(id, this);
}

or from a test case, add

public byte[] getResource(int id) throws IOException {
        return getResource(id, getContext());
}

And watch your error handling - don't catch and ignore exceptions when your resources must exist or something is (very?) wrong.

Answer 6

@borislemke you can do this by similar way like

TextView  tv ;
findViewById(R.id.idOfTextView);
tv.setText(readNewTxt());
private String readNewTxt(){
InputStream inputStream = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.yourNewTextFile);
 ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

 int i;
 try {
 i = inputStream.read();
while (i != -1)
  {
   byteArrayOutputStream.write(i);
   i = inputStream.read();
   }
    inputStream.close();
  } catch (IOException e) {
   // TODO Auto-generated catch block
 e.printStackTrace();
 }

 return byteArrayOutputStream.toString();
 }