BufferedReader.reset() - Can it take you to the start of the stream?

If the BufferedReader.reset() method is called and no marks have been set, will the reader move to the start of the stream? (This isn't confirmed by the Javadoc. I'm guessing this isn't the case.)

If this isn't the case, what is the best way to reset a reader to the start of a stream, if this behavior is supported by the stream? Do I need to create a new Reader object to do this?

I'm trying to write a method that accesses the lines in a text file when passed the line number. I need to reset my Reader object to the start of the file if the line number passed to the method is before the current line number being read by the reader.

Note: I don't want to use a RandomAccessFile at this point. I hope to do this in a future implementation.

Thanks,

Landon

From the Java API Documentation:

public void reset() throws IOException
Resets the stream to the most recent mark.
Overrides: reset in class Reader
Throws: IOException - If the stream has never been marked, or if the mark has been invalidated

So if you don't set a mark, it throws an exception.
Given your problem, my initial thoughts would be to either close the reader and start from line 0 if I had to go back or use RandomAccessFile and build an in-memory index of the position of each line so I could just jump to the correct position in the file given a particular line number.

Joe,

I did read the API doc, but I thought I might not be understanding the behavior correctly. You response makes sense. I think I am going to index with a RandomAccessFile after all.

Thanks.

Landon

Well, it seems to me that you could also simply put a mark at the start of the stream, if the stream supports it.