My OUTPUT (... looks greek to me, need it in English)

Question

my output looks like this:
a >???�??????�??�??�?????�?????????????
it should have looked like this:
0001 06/12/1982 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Here is my code, its a work in progress, presently im just trying to get one line to print out... then i will add other functions to it.
Your Database:
recID mm/dd/ccyy n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 n7
0001  06/12/1982 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
0002  06/12/1982 02 03 04 05 06 07 43
0003  06/12/1982 03 10 12 21 14 41 43
0004  06/12/1982 04 11 16 22 14 41 43
0005  06/12/1982 05 12 17 23 14 41 43
The program: Compares each line(record) and finds records that contain 6 of the same numbers
So in the above database, it should find that rec1 & rec2 contain 6 same numbers
Basic Algorithm:
read in rec1, all 5 records compared against rec1
read in rec2, remaining 4 records compared against rec2
read in rec3, remaining 3 records compared against rec3
for each Record{
   compare to next record
   if 6 numbers the same
      write it out
   else
      get next record to compare
}//endof ForEachRecord
import java.io.*;
public class Find6same
     public static void main( String args[]) throws IOException
          int n = 0;
          int RECORD_SIZE = 36;
      long start = 0L;
      char c;
      //create 2 stringbuffers for holding & comparing records
      StringBuffer a = new StringBuffer(36); //holds current record
      StringBuffer b = new StringBuffer(36); //holds record to compare
      //create the pw stream for output
      File outputFile = new File("C:\\jLotto\\dataFile\\find6.txt");
          PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter( new FileWriter( outputFile ));
      //create the random access stream for reading & processing
          RandomAccessFile in = new RandomAccessFile("C:\\jLotto\\dataFile\\numberOfBytesIn.txt","r");
      // get the position at which the next read occurs, use getFilePointer as it
      // Returns the position from the beginning of the file, in bytes, at which
      // the next read or write occurs.
      start = in.getFilePointer();
      // Sets the file-pointer, measured from the beginning of this file,
      // at which the next read or write occurs
      in.seek(RECORD_SIZE);
      //a = readData(in); //read in the data for that one record
      for(int i = 0; i<36;i++){
         c = in.readChar();
         a.append(c);
      pw.println( "start >" + start ); //write out the contents of variable n
      pw.println("a >" + a);
      //close both input & output streams
          in.close();
          pw.close();
     }//end of static main
}//end of class Find6same

Answer 1

This is what i would like to do:
(i would prefer to stay away from a file size of 17 bytes bcz im
mentally challenged), i would like to work with something i recognize...
data file in:
0001 06/12/1982 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
0002 06/12/1982 02 03 04 05 06 07 43
0003 06/12/1982 03 10 12 21 14 41 43
0004 06/12/1982 04 11 16 22 14 41 43
0005 06/12/1982 05 12 17 23 14 41 43
0006 06/12/1982 06 13 18 24 14 41 43
0007 06/12/1982 09 10 11 12 13 14 43
0008 06/12/1982 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
0009 06/12/1982 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
import java.io.*;
public class Find6same4
   public static void main( String args[]) throws IOException
     long start = 0L;   // this holds the last postion held b4 read was called
     int moveAhead = 0; // this moves the read operation ahead by 36 bytes
     int foundOne = 0; //counts how many numbers the 2 arrays have in common
     int recordsProcessed = 1;//counts how many records have been processed, total of 10 recs in file
      //create the pw stream for output
      File outputFile = new File("C:\\jLotto\\dataFile\\find6.txt");
      PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter( new FileWriter( outputFile ));
      //create the random access stream for reading & processing
     RandomAccessFile raf = new RandomAccessFile("C:\\jLotto\\dataFile\\numberOfBytesIn.txt","r");
      // get the record that you will compare all other
      // records against & put in "hold" array
while (recordsProcessed <11){
      String[] hold = new String[36]; //store as characters
      hold = raf.readFully;  //read first 36 chars into hold array
      // locates where your next "hold" is that you have to read
      // in & compare all other records against
      start = raf.getFilePointer();
      //loop thru remaining records until EOF, to see if 6 numbers are the same in both arrays
      while (raf.seek != EOF){
          recordsProcessed++;
          raf.seek(moveAhead);// Sets the file-pointer at which the next read or write occurs
          String[] nxtRecord = new String[36]; //store as characters
          compareArray = raf.readFully;  //read first 36 chars into comparing array
          // now compare hold[] & nxtRecord[]
          // compare characters held at the following index positions> 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35
          for (int i=17; i<38; i=3+i){
              for (int x = 17; x<38; x=x+3){
                  if (Integer.parseInt( hold[i] )= Integer.parseInt(nxtRecord[x]) )
                  foundOne++;
              }//endof for x
              if (foundOne > 5)// if the 2 arrays have 6 numbers in common
                  printToFile(nxtRecord);
              foundOne = 0;
           }//endof for I
       moveAhead= start+36;//the next "hold" record to be read in is at this position
}//end of recordsProcessed
public void printToFile( thisLine ){
  pw.println( thisLine );
  pw.append( "/n" );
//end of find6samehere are my errors
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:53: illegal start of expression
public void printToFile( thisLine ){
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:56: ';' expected
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:24: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : variable readFully
location: class java.io.RandomAccessFile
hold = raf.readFully; //read first 36 chars into hold array
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:31: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : variable seek
location: class java.io.RandomAccessFile
while (raf.seek != EOF){
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:31: cannot resolve symbolsymbol : variable EOF
location: class Find6same4
while (raf.seek != EOF){
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:35: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : variable compareArray
location: class Find6same4
compareArray = raf.readFully; //read first 36 chars into comparing array
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:35: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : variable readFully
location: class java.io.RandomAccessFile
compareArray = raf.readFully; //read first 36 chars into comparing array
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:41: unexpected type
required: variable
found : value
if (Integer.parseInt( hold[i] )= Integer.parseInt(nxtRecord[x]) )
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:45: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : method printToFile (java.lang.String[])
location: class Find6same4
printToFile(nxtRecord);
^
C:\jLotto\modules\FindNums\Find6same4.java:49: possible loss of precision
found : long
required: int
moveAhead= start+36;//the next "hold" record to be read in is at this position
^
10 errors