Unable to save a file using JFileChooser

[Yohan Weerasinghe]

Hi,

Please have a look at the following code

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.rmi.*;
import java.rmi.server.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;

public class ChatClient extends JFrame implements ChatClientRemote
{
    private JLabel title1, title2, title3;
    private JTextArea txtArea;
    private JTextField txt1;
    private JButton send, save;
    private JPanel northPanel, southPanel, centerPanel;
    private FlowLayout flow1, flow2, flow3, flow4,flow5,flow6;
    private GridLayout grid1,grid2;
    private ChatServerRemote server;
    private int i;    
    private JFileChooser fileChooser;
    private File folder, file;
    private BufferedReader br;
    private FileWriter fileWriter;
    private BufferedWriter bw;
    String address;
    private int returnValue;
    
    public ChatClient() 
    {
        //Initializing instance variables//
        
        
        title1 = new JLabel("CHAT ROOM");
        title2 = new JLabel("Mesage Display Area");
        title3 = new JLabel("Your Text Here");
        
        txtArea = new JTextArea(10,50);
        txtArea.setEditable(true);
        
        txt1 = new JTextField(50);
        
        send = new JButton("Send");
        send.addActionListener(new SendButtonOperation());
        
        save = new JButton("Save");
        save.addActionListener(new SaveOperation());
        
        grid1 = new GridLayout(2,1,1,1);
        grid2 = new GridLayout(3,1,1,1);
        
        flow1 = new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER);
        flow2 = new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER);
        flow3 = new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER);
        flow4 = new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER);
        flow5 = new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER);
        flow6 = new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER);
        
        
        //Designing the final window//
        JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
        panel1.setLayout(flow1);
        panel1.add(title1);
        
        JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
        panel2.setLayout(flow2);
        panel2.add(title2);
        
        northPanel = new JPanel();
        northPanel.setLayout(grid1);
        northPanel.add(panel1);
        northPanel.add(panel2);
        
        centerPanel = new JPanel();
        centerPanel.setLayout(flow3);
        centerPanel.add(txtArea);
        
        JPanel panel3 = new JPanel();
        panel3.setLayout(flow4);
        panel3.add(title3);
        
        JPanel panel4 = new JPanel();
        panel4.setLayout(flow5);
        panel4.add(txt1);
        
        JPanel panel5 = new JPanel();
        panel5.setLayout(flow6);
        panel5.add(send);
        panel5.add(save);
        
        southPanel = new JPanel();
        southPanel.setLayout(grid2);
        southPanel.add(panel3);
        southPanel.add(panel4);
        southPanel.add(panel5);
        
        getContentPane().add(northPanel,"North");
        getContentPane().add(centerPanel,"Center");
        getContentPane().add(southPanel,"South");   
        getContentPane().add(new JPanel(),"East");
        getContentPane().add(new JPanel(),"West");
        
        try
        {
        address = InetAddress.getLocalHost().getHostName();
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(centerPanel, "Error while searching for the PC Name");
        }
        
        this.addWindowListener(new WindowCloseOperation());
        this.addWindowListener(new WindowOpenOperation());
        
        try
        {
        this.setTitle(address);
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        
        
        
        try
        {
            System.setSecurityManager(new RMISecurityManager());
            UnicastRemoteObject.exportObject(this);
            
            server = (ChatServerRemote)Naming.lookup("rmi://localhost/ChatServer");
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(centerPanel, "Error while Lookup: "+e);
        }
        
        try
        {
            i = server.registerClient(this);
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(centerPanel, "Error "+e);
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        
        
        
        
        this.setSize(500,400);
        this.validate();
        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
    }
    
    private class SendButtonOperation implements ActionListener
    {
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
        {
            if(ae.getSource().equals(send))
            {
                
                try
                {
                    String add = InetAddress.getLocalHost().getHostAddress();
                    server.showText(add+": "+txt1.getText());
                }
                catch(Exception e)
                {
                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(centerPanel, "Error while sending the message: "+e);
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
                txt1.setText("");
            }
        }
    }
    
    private class SaveOperation implements ActionListener
    {
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
        {
           
            fileChooser = new JFileChooser();
            folder = new File("");
            
            if(ae.getSource().equals(save))
            {
                 returnValue = fileChooser.showSaveDialog(ChatClient.this);
                 fileChooser.setFileSelectionMode(JFileChooser.DIRECTORIES_ONLY);
                
                if(returnValue == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
                {
                    folder = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
                    
                    if(folder.isDirectory())
                    try
                    {
                        file = new File(folder+"/"+InetAddress.getLocalHost().getHostAddress()+""+new Date()+".txt");
                        
                        
                        String str = txtArea.getText();
                        String data = null;
                        
                        br = new BufferedReader(new StringReader(str));
                        fileWriter = new FileWriter(file);
                        bw = new BufferedWriter(fileWriter);
                        
                        while(( data=br.readLine())!=null)
                        {
                            bw.append(data);
                            bw.newLine();
                            
                        }
                        bw.flush();
                        bw.close();
                        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(centerPanel, "File Saved");
                        
                        
                    }
                    catch(Exception e)
                    {
                        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(centerPanel, "Sorry, An error occured while creating the file");
                        e.printStackTrace();
                        
                        try
                        {
                            bw.close();
                        }
                        catch(Exception ee)
                        {
                            e.printStackTrace();
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    
    
    
    

    
    public void getString(String str)throws RemoteException
    {
        txtArea.append("\n"+str);
    }
    
    public static void main(String[]args)
    {
        try
        {
            UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "GUI Error: "+e);
        }
        ChatClient c = new ChatClient();
        c.setVisible(true);
        c.setSize(500,400);
        c.validate();
        c.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      
    }
}

In this code, in the class "SaveOperation" I am trying to save a text file in a user defined location. But I am not getting anything as an output, not even an error! Apart from that, I am trying to save this in using a already given name by me, but I doubt whether it will work because the save window has a place to enter the file name. Please help.

[Paul Clapham]

Well, if it were me then instead of this code:

br = new BufferedReader(new StringReader(str));  
fileWriter = new FileWriter(file);  
bw = new BufferedWriter(fileWriter);  
                          
while(( data=br.readLine())!=null)  
{  
  bw.append(data);  
  bw.newLine();  
}  

I would do this instead:

bw.write(str);

However that isn't relevant to your problem. Unfortunately your description of the problem doesn't say "I saw the dialog box from line 216" or "I saw the dialog box from line 222" or "I didn't see either of those dialog boxes". Whichever of those is true tells you which code was executed. This is the information you need.

Edit: Also I think you should fix your code so the user can only choose a directory in that class.

[Yohan Weerasinghe]

Hi, Thanks a lot for the reply. I see that save dialogbox when I click the button. But when I click the "save" button in the save box, nothing happens! It is not getting closed, no error, nothing get saved! Please help..

And thanks for the correction of the IO part. I will edit it.

[Paul Clapham]

Okay. So line 216 isn't run and neither is line 222. Look at your code, then. What would cause that? Well, they are both controlled by an if-statement which I expect you are making a false assumption about.

[Yohan Weerasinghe]

Thanks for the reply..

I will do a deeper check on it. Anyway Do you suspect this line may be wrong?

folder = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();

[Paul Clapham]

No. It looks to me like

if(folder.isDirectory())

causes the following code to not be executed because "folder.isDirectory()" returns false.

But why are you speculating about such things here? Just debug your code and find out for certain what is happening.

[Randall Twede]

i'm not going to read 266 lines of code, but even though this code i am about to post saves an image instead of text, the question is about JFileChooser so it might help.

	else if(e.getSource() == saveAsMenuItem)
	{
	    List<String> types = Arrays.asList( ImageIO.getWriterFileSuffixes() );
            int returnVal = fc.showSaveDialog(this);

            if (returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
            {
		try
		{
                    File file = fc.getSelectedFile();
		    String fileName = file.getPath();

		    if (fileName == null) return;
		    int offset = fileName.lastIndexOf( "." );
		    if (offset == -1)
		    {
			String message = "file suffix was not specified";
			JOptionPane.showMessageDialog( this, message, "Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE );
		    }
		    else
		    {
		    	String type = fileName.substring(offset + 1);
		    	if (types.contains(type))
		    	{
			    Dimension d = canvas.getSize();
			    Rectangle region = new Rectangle(0, 0, d.width, d.height);
			    image = new BufferedImage(region.width, region.height, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
			    Graphics2D g2d = image.createGraphics();
			    canvas.paint( g2d );
			    g2d.dispose();
			    ImageIO.write(image, type, new File( fileName ));
		    	}
		    	else
		    	{
			    String message = "unknown writer file suffix (" + type + ")";
			    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog( this, message, "Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE );
			}
		    }
		}
		catch(IOException ex)
		{
			String message = "could not save file";
			JOptionPane.showMessageDialog( this, message, "IOException", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE );
		}           
	    }           
	}

i don't see how you can control the file name using JFileChooser. like you said, the user gets to choose the name. i believe you can limit the folder though. read the JFileChooser API.

[Rob Spoor]

You can definitely get rid of the if (fileName == null) return; line. File.getPath() will never ever return null, so fileName will never ever be null.

[Darryl Burke]

Yohan Weerasinghe wrote:

                 returnValue = fileChooser.showSaveDialog(ChatClient.this);
                 fileChooser.setFileSelectionMode(JFileChooser.DIRECTORIES_ONLY);

JFileChooser's save dialog is modal, so the fileSelectionMode will be set only after the dialog is shown and dismissed. I'm guessing that isn't what you wanted, but it's difficult to tell with so much code that's irrelevant to the stated problem. Learn to write an effective SSCCE and you'll get better help sooner.

Also note that your title is off the mark: JFileChooser, as its name implies, is for choosing (or selecting) a file. Not for saving one.

[Yohan Weerasinghe]

Hi all,

Thanks a lot for the help and pardon me for the late reply. As you all suggested, the error was inside the MAIN IF condition. I had to call that "ApproveOption()" method manually, and it worked.. Thanks a lot for all the help.. I really appreciate it..