FileName.exists() problem

Question

i am having trouble getting the .exists() to work.
i imported java.io.*
and the code line using it is:
String fileName = "TimeLog.dat";
if ( fileName.exists())
blah blah blah blah
but my compiler keeps telling me that exists is an unknown method
ne help?

Answer 1

"how would i do that without creating the file and there by making it exist? "
new java.io.File("filename"); does NOT create a new file.
It creates an object that DESCRIBES a file.
You use the .exists method of File to see if the file described by a particular instance exists.
If you find that the File instance you create doesn't exist, you can create an empty version of it with the .createNewFile() method.
If you want to write stuff to the file, then you can get a writer passing the File instance as a constructor. Eg:
File myFile = new File("file.txt");
FileWriter myWriter = new FileWriter(myFile);