A Scanner breaks its input into tokens using a
delimiter pattern, which by default matches whitespace. The resulting
tokens may then be converted into values of different types using the
various next methods.
For example, this code allows a user to read a number from System.in:
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
int i = sc.nextInt();
As another example, this code allows long types to be
assigned from entries in a file myNumbers:
Scanner sc = new Scanner(new File("myNumbers"));
while (sc.hasNextLong()) {
long aLong = sc.nextLong();
}
The scanner can also use delimiters other than whitespace. This example reads several items in from a string:
String input = "1 fish 2 fish red fish blue fish";
Scanner s = new Scanner(input).useDelimiter("\\s*fish\\s*");
System.out.println(s.nextInt());
System.out.println(s.nextInt());
System.out.println(s.next());
System.out.println(s.next());
s.close();
prints the following output:
1
2
red
blue
The same output can be generated with this code, which uses a regular expression to parse all four tokens at once:
String input = "1 fish 2 fish red fish blue fish";
Scanner s = new Scanner(input);
s.findInLine("(\\d+) fish (\\d+) fish (\\w+) fish (\\w+)");
MatchResult result = s.match();
for (int i=1; i<=result.groupCount(); i++)
System.out.println(result.group(i));
s.close();
The default whitespace delimiter used by a scanner is as recognized by Character.isWhitespace. The reset() method will reset the value of the scanner's delimiter to the default whitespace delimiter regardless of whether it was previously changed.
A scanning operation may block waiting for input.
The next() and hasNext() methods and their primitive-type companion methods (such as nextInt() and hasNextInt()) first skip any input that matches the delimiter pattern, and then attempt to return the next token. Both hasNext and next methods may block waiting for further input. Whether a hasNext method blocks has no connection to whether or not its associated next method will block.
The findInLine(), findWithinHorizon(), and skip() methods operate independently of the delimiter pattern. These methods will attempt to match the specified pattern with no regard to delimiters in the input and thus can be used in special circumstances where delimiters are not relevant. These methods may block waiting for more input.
When a scanner throws an InputMismatchException, the scanner will not pass the token that caused the exception, so that it may be retrieved or skipped via some other method.
Depending upon the type of delimiting pattern, empty tokens may be returned. For example, the pattern "\\s+" will return no empty tokens since it matches multiple instances of the delimiter. The delimiting pattern "\\s" could return empty tokens since it only passes one space at a time.
A scanner can read text from any object which implements the Readable interface. If an invocation of the underlying readable's Readable.read() method throws an java.io.IOException then the scanner assumes that the end of the input has been reached. The most recent IOException thrown by the underlying readable can be retrieved via the ioException() method.
When a Scanner is closed, it will close its input source
if the source implements the java.io.Closeable interface.
A Scanner is not safe for multithreaded use without
external synchronization.
Unless otherwise mentioned, passing a null parameter into
any method of a Scanner will cause a
NullPointerException to be thrown.
A scanner will default to interpreting numbers as decimal unless a
different radix has been set by using the useRadix() method. The
reset() method will reset the value of the scanner's radix to
An instance of this class is capable of scanning numbers in the standard
formats as well as in the formats of the scanner's locale. A scanner's
initial locale is the value returned by the Locale.getDefault() method; it may be changed via the useLocale() method. The reset() method will reset the value of the
scanner's locale to the initial locale regardless of whether it was
previously changed.
The localized formats are defined in terms of the following parameters,
which for a particular locale are taken from that locale's DecimalFormat object, df, and its and
DecimalFormatSymbols object,
dfs.
The strings that can be parsed as numbers by an instance of this class
are specified in terms of the following regular-expression grammar, where
Rmax is the highest digit in the radix being used (for example, Rmax is 9
in base 10).
10 regardless of whether it was previously changed.
Localized numbers
LocalGroupSeparator
The character used to separate thousands groups,
i.e., dfs.getGroupingSeparator() LocalDecimalSeparator
The character used for the decimal point,
i.e., dfs.getDecimalSeparator() LocalPositivePrefix
The string that appears before a positive number (may
be empty), i.e., df.getPositivePrefix() LocalPositiveSuffix
The string that appears after a positive number (may be
empty), i.e., df.getPositiveSuffix() LocalNegativePrefix
The string that appears before a negative number (may
be empty), i.e., df.getNegativePrefix() LocalNegativeSuffix
The string that appears after a negative number (may be
empty), i.e., df.getNegativeSuffix() LocalNaN
The string that represents not-a-number for
floating-point values,
i.e., dfs.getNaN() LocalInfinity
The string that represents infinity for floating-point
values, i.e., dfs.getInfinity() Number syntax
| NonASCIIDigit :: | = A non-ASCII character c for which Character.isDigit(c) returns true | ||||
| Non0Digit :: | = [1-Rmax] | NonASCIIDigit | ||||
| Digit :: | = [0-Rmax] | NonASCIIDigit | ||||
| GroupedNumeral :: |
| ||||
| Numeral :: | = ( ( Digit+ ) | GroupedNumeral ) | ||||
| Integer :: | = ( [-+]? ( Numeral ) ) | ||||
| | LocalPositivePrefix Numeral LocalPositiveSuffix | |||||
| | LocalNegativePrefix Numeral LocalNegativeSuffix | |||||
| DecimalNumeral :: | = Numeral | ||||
| | Numeral LocalDecimalSeparator Digit* | |||||
| | LocalDecimalSeparator Digit+ | |||||
| Exponent :: | = ( [eE] [+-]? Digit+ ) | ||||
| Decimal :: | = ( [-+]? DecimalNumeral Exponent? ) | ||||
| | LocalPositivePrefix DecimalNumeral LocalPositiveSuffix Exponent? | |||||
| | LocalNegativePrefix DecimalNumeral LocalNegativeSuffix Exponent? | |||||
| HexFloat :: | = [-+]? 0[xX][0-9a-fA-F]*\.[0-9a-fA-F]+ ([pP][-+]?[0-9]+)? | ||||
| NonNumber :: | = NaN | LocalNan | Infinity | LocalInfinity | ||||
| SignedNonNumber :: | = ( [-+]? NonNumber ) | ||||
| | LocalPositivePrefix NonNumber LocalPositiveSuffix | |||||
| | LocalNegativePrefix NonNumber LocalNegativeSuffix | |||||
| Float :: | = Decimal | ||||
| | HexFloat | |||||
| | SignedNonNumber |
Whitespace is not significant in the above regular expressions.
| Constructor Summary | ||
| Scanner(java.io.File source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified file. |
||
| Scanner(java.io.File source, String charsetName) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified file. |
||
| Scanner(java.io.InputStream source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified input stream. |
||
| Scanner(java.io.InputStream source, String charsetName) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified input stream. |
||
| Scanner(Readable source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified source. |
||
| Scanner(String source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified string. |
||
| Scanner(java.nio.channels.ReadableByteChannel source) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified channel. |
||
| Scanner(java.nio.channels.ReadableByteChannel source, String charsetName) Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified channel. |
| Method Summary | ||
void |
close() Closes this scanner. |
|
| delimiter() Returns the Pattern this Scanner is currently
using to match delimiters. |
||
| findInLine(String pattern) Attempts to find the next occurrence of a pattern constructed from the
specified string, ignoring delimiters. |
||
| findInLine(java.util.regex.Pattern pattern) Attempts to find the next occurrence of the specified pattern ignoring
delimiters. |
||
| findWithinHorizon(String pattern, int horizon) Attempts to find the next occurrence of a pattern constructed from the
specified string, ignoring delimiters. |
||
| findWithinHorizon(java.util.regex.Pattern pattern, int horizon) Attempts to find the next occurrence of the specified pattern. |
||
boolean |
hasNext() Returns true if this scanner has another token in its input. |
|
boolean |
hasNext(String pattern) Returns true if the next token matches the pattern constructed from the
specified string. |
|
boolean |
hasNext(java.util.regex.Pattern pattern) Returns true if the next complete token matches the specified pattern. |
|
boolean |
hasNextBigDecimal() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a BigDecimal using the
nextBigDecimal() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextBigInteger() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a BigInteger in the default radix using the
nextBigInteger() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextBigInteger(int radix) Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a BigInteger in the specified radix using
the nextBigInteger() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextBoolean() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a boolean value using a case insensitive pattern
created from the string "true|false". |
|
boolean |
hasNextByte() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a byte value in the default radix using the
nextByte() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextByte(int radix) Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a byte value in the specified radix using the
nextByte() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextDouble() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a double value using the nextDouble()
method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextFloat() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a float value using the nextFloat()
method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextInt() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as an int value in the default radix using the
nextInt() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextInt(int radix) Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as an int value in the specified radix using the
nextInt() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextLine() Returns true if there is another line in the input of this scanner. |
|
boolean |
hasNextLong() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a long value in the default radix using the
nextLong() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextLong(int radix) Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a long value in the specified radix using the
nextLong() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextShort() Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a short value in the default radix using the
nextShort() method. |
|
boolean |
hasNextShort(int radix) Returns true if the next token in this scanner's input can be
interpreted as a short value in the specified radix using the
nextShort() method. |
|
| ioException() Returns the IOException last thrown by this
Scanner's underlying Readable. |
||
| locale() Returns this scanner's locale. |
||
| match() Returns the match result of the last scanning operation performed
by this scanner. |
||
| next() Finds and returns the next complete token from this scanner. |
||
| next(String pattern) Returns the next token if it matches the pattern constructed from the
specified string. |
||
| next(java.util.regex.Pattern pattern) Returns the next token if it matches the specified pattern. |
||
| nextBigDecimal() Scans the next token of the input as a BigDecimal. |
||
| nextBigInteger() Scans the next token of the input as a BigInteger. |
||
| nextBigInteger(int radix) Scans the next token of the input as a BigInteger. |
||
boolean |
nextBoolean() Scans the next token of the input into a boolean value and returns
that value. |
|
byte |
nextByte() Scans the next token of the input as a byte. |
|
byte |
nextByte(int radix) Scans the next token of the input as a byte. |
|
double |
nextDouble() Scans the next token of the input as a double. |
|
float |
nextFloat() Scans the next token of the input as a float. |
|
int |
nextInt() Scans the next token of the input as an int. |
|
int |
nextInt(int radix) Scans the next token of the input as an int. |
|
| nextLine() Advances this scanner past the current line and returns the input
that was skipped. |
||
long |
nextLong() Scans the next token of the input as a long. |
|
long |
nextLong(int radix) Scans the next token of the input as a long. |
|
short |
nextShort() Scans the next token of the input as a short. |
|
short |
nextShort(int radix) Scans the next token of the input as a short. |
|
int |
radix() Returns this scanner's default radix. |
|
void |
remove() The remove operation is not supported by this implementation of
Iterator. |
|
| reset() Resets this scanner. |
||
| skip(String pattern) Skips input that matches a pattern constructed from the specified
string. |
||
| skip(java.util.regex.Pattern pattern) Skips input that matches the specified pattern, ignoring delimiters. |
||
| toString() Returns the string representation of this |
||
| useDelimiter(String pattern) Sets this scanner's delimiting pattern to a pattern constructed from
the specified String. |
||
| useDelimiter(java.util.regex.Pattern pattern) Sets this scanner's delimiting pattern to the specified pattern. |
||
| useLocale(Locale locale) Sets this scanner's locale to the specified locale. |
||
| useRadix(int radix) Sets this scanner's default radix to the specified radix. |
||
| Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object |
| clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait |
Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified source.Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified input stream. Bytes from the stream are converted
into characters using the underlying platform's
default charset.Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified input stream. Bytes from the stream are converted
into characters using the specified charset.Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified file. Bytes from the file are converted into
characters using the underlying platform's
default charset.Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified file. Bytes from the file are converted into
characters using the specified charset.Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified string.Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified channel. Bytes from the source are converted into
characters using the underlying platform's
default charset.Scanner that produces values scanned
from the specified channel. Bytes from the source are converted into
characters using the specified charset.If this scanner has not yet been closed then if its underlying readable also implements the java.io.Closeable interface then the readable's close method will be invoked. If this scanner is already closed then invoking this method will have no effect.
Attempting to perform search operations after a scanner has been closed will result in an IllegalStateException.
IOException last thrown by this
Scanner's underlying Readable. This method
returns null if no such exception exists.Pattern this Scanner is currently
using to match delimiters.String.
An invocation of this method of the form useDelimiter(pattern) behaves in exactly the same way as the invocation useDelimiter(Pattern.compile(pattern)).
Invoking the reset() method will set the scanner's delimiter to the default.
A scanner's locale affects many elements of its default primitive matching regular expressions; see localized numbers above.
A scanner's locale affects many elements of its default primitive matching regular expressions; see localized numbers above.
Invoking the reset() method will set the scanner's locale to the initial locale.
A scanner's radix affects elements of its default number matching regular expressions; see localized numbers above.
A scanner's radix affects elements of its default number matching regular expressions; see localized numbers above.
If the radix is less than Character.MIN_RADIX
or greater than Character.MAX_RADIX, then an
IllegalArgumentException is thrown.
Invoking the reset() method will set the scanner's radix to
10.
IllegalStateException
if no match has been performed, or if the last match was
not successful.
The various nextmethods of Scanner
make a match result available if they complete without throwing an
exception. For instance, after an invocation of the nextInt()
method that returned an int, this method returns a
MatchResult for the search of the
Integer regular expression
defined above. Similarly the findInLine(),
findWithinHorizon(), and skip() methods will make a
match available if they succeed.
Returns the string representation of this Scanner. The
string representation of a Scanner contains information
that may be useful for debugging. The exact format is unspecified.
true.Iterator.An invocation of this method of the form hasNext(pattern) behaves in exactly the same way as the invocation hasNext(Pattern.compile(pattern)).
An invocation of this method of the form next(pattern) behaves in exactly the same way as the invocation next(Pattern.compile(pattern)).
true.
If the match is successful, the scanner advances past the input that
matched the pattern.Since this method continues to search through the input looking for a line separator, it may buffer all of the input searching for the line to skip if no line separators are present.
An invocation of this method of the form findInLine(pattern) behaves in exactly the same way as the invocation findInLine(Pattern.compile(pattern)).
null is returned and the scanner's
position is unchanged. This method may block waiting for input that
matches the pattern.
Since this method continues to search through the input looking for the specified pattern, it may buffer all of the input searching for the desired token if no line separators are present.
An invocation of this method of the form findWithinHorizon(pattern) behaves in exactly the same way as the invocation findWithinHorizon(Pattern.compile(pattern, horizon)).
This method searches through the input up to the specified search horizon, ignoring delimiters. If the pattern is found the scanner advances past the input that matched and returns the string that matched the pattern. If no such pattern is detected then the null is returned and the scanner's position remains unchanged. This method may block waiting for input that matches the pattern.
A scanner will never search more than horizon code
points beyond its current position. Note that a match may be clipped
by the horizon; that is, an arbitrary match result may have been
different if the horizon had been larger. The scanner treats the
horizon as a transparent, non-anchoring bound (see java.util.regex.Matcher.useTransparentBounds() and java.util.regex.Matcher.useAnchoringBounds()).
If horizon is 0, then the horizon is ignored and
this method continues to search through the input looking for the
specified pattern without bound. In this case it may buffer all of
the input searching for the pattern.
If horizon is negative, then an IllegalArgumentException is thrown.
If a match to the specified pattern is not found at the current position, then no input is skipped and a NoSuchElementException is thrown.
Since this method seeks to match the specified pattern starting at the scanner's current position, patterns that can match a lot of input (".*", for example) may cause the scanner to buffer a large amount of input.
Note that it is possible to skip something without risking a
NoSuchElementException by using a pattern that can
match nothing, e.g., sc.skip("[ \t]*").
An invocation of this method of the form skip(pattern) behaves in exactly the same way as the invocation skip(Pattern.compile(pattern)).
InputMismatchException
if the next token cannot be translated into a valid boolean value.
If the match is successful, the scanner advances past the input that
matched. An invocation of this method of the form
nextByte() behaves in exactly the same way as the
invocation nextByte(radix), where radix
is the default radix of this scanner.
InputMismatchException
if the next token cannot be translated into a valid byte value as
described below. If the translation is successful, the scanner advances
past the input that matched.
If the next token matches the Integer regular expression defined above then the token is converted into a byte value as if by removing all locale specific prefixes, group separators, and locale specific suffixes, then mapping non-ASCII digits into ASCII digits via Character.digit, prepending a negative sign (-) if the locale specific negative prefixes and suffixes were present, and passing the resulting string to Byte.parseByte with the specified radix.
An invocation of this method of the form
nextShort() behaves in exactly the same way as the
invocation nextShort(radix), where radix
is the default radix of this scanner.
InputMismatchException
if the next token cannot be translated into a valid short value as
described below. If the translation is successful, the scanner advances
past the input that matched.
If the next token matches the Integer regular expression defined above then the token is converted into a short value as if by removing all locale specific prefixes, group separators, and locale specific suffixes, then mapping non-ASCII digits into ASCII digits via Character.digit, prepending a negative sign (-) if the locale specific negative prefixes and suffixes were present, and passing the resulting string to Short.parseShort with the specified radix.
An invocation of this method of the form
nextInt() behaves in exactly the same way as the
invocation nextInt(radix), where radix
is the default radix of this scanner.
InputMismatchException
if the next token cannot be translated into a valid int value as
described below. If the translation is successful, the scanner advances
past the input that matched.
If the next token matches the Integer regular expression defined above then the token is converted into an int value as if by removing all locale specific prefixes, group separators, and locale specific suffixes, then mapping non-ASCII digits into ASCII digits via Character.digit, prepending a negative sign (-) if the locale specific negative prefixes and suffixes were present, and passing the resulting string to Integer.parseInt with the specified radix.
An invocation of this method of the form
nextLong() behaves in exactly the same way as the
invocation nextLong(radix), where radix
is the default radix of this scanner.
InputMismatchException
if the next token cannot be translated into a valid long value as
described below. If the translation is successful, the scanner advances
past the input that matched.
If the next token matches the Integer regular expression defined above then the token is converted into a long value as if by removing all locale specific prefixes, group separators, and locale specific suffixes, then mapping non-ASCII digits into ASCII digits via Character.digit, prepending a negative sign (-) if the locale specific negative prefixes and suffixes were present, and passing the resulting string to Long.parseLong with the specified radix.
InputMismatchException
if the next token cannot be translated into a valid float value as
described below. If the translation is successful, the scanner advances
past the input that matched.
If the next token matches the Float regular expression defined above then the token is converted into a float value as if by removing all locale specific prefixes, group separators, and locale specific suffixes, then mapping non-ASCII digits into ASCII digits via Character.digit, prepending a negative sign (-) if the locale specific negative prefixes and suffixes were present, and passing the resulting string to Float.parseFloat. If the token matches the localized NaN or infinity strings, then either "Nan" or "Infinity" is passed to Float.parseFloat as appropriate.
InputMismatchException
if the next token cannot be translated into a valid double value.
If the translation is successful, the scanner advances past the input
that matched.
If the next token matches the Float regular expression defined above then the token is converted into a double value as if by removing all locale specific prefixes, group separators, and locale specific suffixes, then mapping non-ASCII digits into ASCII digits via Character.digit, prepending a negative sign (-) if the locale specific negative prefixes and suffixes were present, and passing the resulting string to Double.parseDouble. If the token matches the localized NaN or infinity strings, then either "Nan" or "Infinity" is passed to Double.parseDouble as appropriate.
BigInteger in the default radix using the
nextBigInteger() method. The scanner does not advance past any
input.BigIntegerBigInteger in the specified radix using
the nextBigInteger() method. The scanner does not advance past
any input.BigInteger An invocation of this method of the form
nextBigInteger() behaves in exactly the same way as the
invocation nextBigInteger(radix), where radix
is the default radix of this scanner.
If the next token matches the Integer regular expression defined above then the token is converted into a BigInteger value as if by removing all group separators, mapping non-ASCII digits into ASCII digits via the Character.digit, and passing the resulting string to the BigInteger(String, int) constructor with the specified radix.
BigDecimal using the
nextBigDecimal() method. The scanner does not advance past any
input.