Excluding system files in file.lists() in java

Question

I am getting list of file using method File.listFiles() in java.io.File, but it returns some system files like (.sys and etc).. I am in need of excluding all system related files (Windows, Linux, Mac) while returning lists. Can any one solve my issue?

Answer 1

I'd implement a simple FileFilter with the logic to determine, if a file is a system file or not and use an instance of it the way AlexR showed in his answer. Something like this (the rules a for demonstration purposes only!):

public class IgnoreSystemFileFilter implements FileFilter {

   Set<String> systemFileNames = new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList("sys", "etc"));

   @Override
   public boolean accept(File aFile) {

     // in my scenario: each hidden file starting with a dot is a "system file"
     if (aFile.getName().startsWith(".") && aFile.isHidden()) {
       return false;
     }

     // exclude known system files
     if (systemFileNames.contains(aFile.getName()) {
       return false;
     }

     // more rules / other rules

     // no rule matched, so this is not a system file
     return true;
 }

Answer 2

I don't think there is a general solution to this. For a start, operating systems such as Linux and MacOS don't have a clear notion of a "system file" or any obvious way to distinguish a system file from a non-system file.

I think your bet is to decide what you mean by a system file, and write your own code to filter them out.