error: exception java.io.FileNotFoundException

Question

Can anyone tell me why I have this error: exception java.io.FileNotFoundException is never thrown in body of corresponding try statement. I try to save text from a file in an ArrayList.

import java.io.*;
    import java.util.*;

    public class EditMembership
    {
        public static void main(String[] args) throws java.io.FileNotFoundException
        {

            ArrayList<String> member = readFromFile("database.txt");
            System.out.println(Arrays.toString(member.toArray()));
        }

        public static ArrayList readFromFile(String fileName) throws java.io.FileNotFoundException
        {

            Scanner x = new Scanner(new File(fileName));
            ArrayList<String> memberList = new ArrayList<String>();
            try {
                while (x.hasNextLine()) 
                {

                    memberList.add(x.nextLine());
                }
                x.close();
            }
            catch(FileNotFoundException e)//here is the error
            {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            return memberList;
        }
    }

Have you read the message and thought about its meaning? What does that mean? — JB Nizet, Nov 28 '17 at 21:10
Instead of using only the file-name - try to provide a full-path — Nir Alfasi, Nov 28 '17 at 21:11
look up what an absolute path of a file is and how to retrieve it within your computer — RAZ_Muh_Taz, Nov 28 '17 at 21:13
@alfasin the duplicate you chose has nothing to do with this question. The OP get a **compilation** error, because he/she's trying to catch an exception that can't be thrown from the try block. — JB Nizet, Nov 28 '17 at 21:16

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 28 '17 at 21:12

Because you aren't doing anything to open a file within the try block it's impossible to throw a File Not Found. Move the Scanner declaration down within the try block and I would expect that'll fix it. At that point you can remove the "throws" declaration from your method signature.

error: exception java.io.FileNotFoundException

1 Answers1