org.apache.commons.io

Class CopyUtils


public class CopyUtils
extends java.lang.Object

This class provides static utility methods for buffered copying between sources (InputStream, Reader, String and byte[]) and destinations (OutputStream, Writer, String and byte[]).

Unless otherwise noted, these copy methods do not flush or close the streams. Often doing so would require making non-portable assumptions about the streams' origin and further use. This means that both streams' close() methods must be called after copying. if one omits this step, then the stream resources (sockets, file descriptors) are released when the associated Stream is garbage-collected. It is not a good idea to rely on this mechanism. For a good overview of the distinction between "memory management" and "resource management", see this UnixReview article.

For byte-to-char methods, a copy variant allows the encoding to be selected (otherwise the platform default is used). We would like to encourage you to always specify the encoding because relying on the platform default can lead to unexpected results.

copy="copy" methods="methods" that="that" let="let" you="you" specify="specify" the="the" buffer="buffer" size="size" because="because" in="in" modern="modern" VMs="VMs" the="the" impact="impact" on="on" speed="speed" seems="seems" to="to" be="be" minimal.="minimal." We're="We're" using="using" a="a" default="default" buffer="buffer" size="size" of="of" 4="4"/>

The copy methods use an internal buffer when copying. It is therefore advisable not to deliberately wrap the stream arguments to the copy methods in Buffered* streams. For example, don't do the following:

  copy( new BufferedInputStream( in ), new BufferedOutputStream( out ) );
  
The rationale is as follows:

Imagine that an InputStream's read() is a very expensive operation, which would usually suggest wrapping in a BufferedInputStream. The BufferedInputStream works by issuing infrequent java.io.InputStream.read(byte[] b, int off, int len) requests on the underlying InputStream, to fill an internal buffer, from which further read requests can inexpensively get their data (until the buffer runs out).

However, the copy methods do the same thing, keeping an internal buffer, populated by InputStream.read(byte[] b, int off, int len) requests. Having two buffers (or three if the destination stream is also buffered) is pointless, and the unnecessary buffer management hurts performance slightly (about 3%, according to some simple experiments).

Behold, intrepid explorers; a map of this class:

       Method      Input               Output          Dependency
       ------      -----               ------          -------
 1     copy        InputStream         OutputStream    (primitive)
 2     copy        Reader              Writer          (primitive)

 3     copy        InputStream         Writer          2

 4     copy        Reader              OutputStream    2

 5     copy        String              OutputStream    2
 6     copy        String              Writer          (trivial)

 7     copy        byte[]              Writer          3
 8     copy        byte[]              OutputStream    (trivial)
 

Note that only the first two methods shuffle bytes; the rest use these two, or (if possible) copy using native Java copy methods. As there are method variants to specify the encoding, each row may correspond to up to 2 methods.

Origin of code: Excalibur.

Version:
$Id: CopyUtils.java 437680 2006-08-28 11:57:00Z scolebourne $
Authors:
Peter Donald
Jeff Turner
Matthew Hawthorne

Field Summary

private static int
DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE
The default size of the buffer.

Constructor Summary

CopyUtils()
Instances should NOT be constructed in standard programming.

Method Summary

static int
copy(InputStream input, OutputStream output)
Copy bytes from an InputStream to an OutputStream.
static void
copy(InputStream input, Writer output)
Copy and convert bytes from an InputStream to chars on a Writer.
static void
copy(InputStream input, Writer output, String encoding)
Copy and convert bytes from an InputStream to chars on a Writer, using the specified encoding.
static void
copy(Reader input, OutputStream output)
Serialize chars from a Reader to bytes on an OutputStream, and flush the OutputStream.
static int
copy(Reader input, Writer output)
Copy chars from a Reader to a Writer.
static void
copy(String input, OutputStream output)
Serialize chars from a String to bytes on an OutputStream, and flush the OutputStream.
static void
copy(String input, Writer output)
Copy chars from a String to a Writer.
static void
copy(byte[] input, OutputStream output)
Copy bytes from a byte[] to an OutputStream.
static void
copy(byte[] input, Writer output)
Copy and convert bytes from a byte[] to chars on a Writer.
static void
copy(byte[] input, Writer output, String encoding)
Copy and convert bytes from a byte[] to chars on a Writer, using the specified encoding.

Field Details

DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE

private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE
The default size of the buffer.
Field Value:
4096

Constructor Details

CopyUtils

public CopyUtils()
Instances should NOT be constructed in standard programming.

Method Details

copy

public static int copy(InputStream input,
                       OutputStream output)
            throws IOException
Copy bytes from an InputStream to an OutputStream.
Parameters:
input - the InputStream to read from
output - the OutputStream to write to
Returns:
the number of bytes copied

copy

public static void copy(InputStream input,
                        Writer output)
            throws IOException
Copy and convert bytes from an InputStream to chars on a Writer. The platform's default encoding is used for the byte-to-char conversion.
Parameters:
input - the InputStream to read from
output - the Writer to write to

copy

public static void copy(InputStream input,
                        Writer output,
                        String encoding)
            throws IOException
Copy and convert bytes from an InputStream to chars on a Writer, using the specified encoding.

copy

public static void copy(Reader input,
                        OutputStream output)
            throws IOException
Serialize chars from a Reader to bytes on an OutputStream, and flush the OutputStream.
Parameters:
input - the Reader to read from
output - the OutputStream to write to

copy

public static int copy(Reader input,
                       Writer output)
            throws IOException
Copy chars from a Reader to a Writer.
Parameters:
input - the Reader to read from
output - the Writer to write to
Returns:
the number of characters copied

copy

public static void copy(String input,
                        OutputStream output)
            throws IOException
Serialize chars from a String to bytes on an OutputStream, and flush the OutputStream.
Parameters:
input - the String to read from
output - the OutputStream to write to

copy

public static void copy(String input,
                        Writer output)
            throws IOException
Copy chars from a String to a Writer.
Parameters:
input - the String to read from
output - the Writer to write to

copy

public static void copy(byte[] input,
                        OutputStream output)
            throws IOException
Copy bytes from a byte[] to an OutputStream.
Parameters:
input - the byte array to read from
output - the OutputStream to write to

copy

public static void copy(byte[] input,
                        Writer output)
            throws IOException
Copy and convert bytes from a byte[] to chars on a Writer. The platform's default encoding is used for the byte-to-char conversion.
Parameters:
input - the byte array to read from
output - the Writer to write to

copy

public static void copy(byte[] input,
                        Writer output,
                        String encoding)
            throws IOException
Copy and convert bytes from a byte[] to chars on a Writer, using the specified encoding.

Copyright (c) 2002-2009 Apache Software Foundation