Need help, reading next file line

Question

i have a file that i am reading using this code, this code reads only string on the first line
i wnat it to read the second line from the file when the method is called again
private transactionLine="";
public void fileReading()
try
          try
               FileInputStream finstr = new FileInputStream(userFile);          
          BufferedInputStream bfinstr = new BufferedInputStream(finstr);
          DataInputStream dainsstr = new DataInputStream(bfinstr);
                         transactionLine = dainsstr.readLine();     //holds the transaction line
                         System.out.println(transactionLine);
          catch(FileNotFoundException fnf)
               System.out.println("File not found");
               userFile=userInput();
               fileReading();
               catch(IOException ioe)
                    System.out.println("io exception at point 1");//point 1

Answer 1

How big is your file ?
If it's small file, you can just create a static counter that reads the lines (again and again).
Else if its a little bigger file, you might want to put it in a vector (once read, always there).
If its a very large file, then you might work with RandomAccessFile, and you'll have to know how the file is structered.
ReadFile and ReadFile2 are 2 examples of read the lines, or place in vector.
good luck!
import java.io.*;
public class ReadFile
    private File file = null;
    private static int executed = 0;
    public ReadFile(String fileName)
        //find the file
        File f = new File(fileName);
        if( !f.exists() )
            System.out.println("Cannot find the specified file ( " + fileName + ").");
        else
            this.file = f;
    public String getTransactionLine()
        executed++;
        String line = "";
        if( this.file == null || executed < 1 )
            return line;
        try
            //create a reader
            BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader( new FileReader(file) );
            int counter = 1;
            //read the lines depends on time it been executed
            while( (line=br.readLine())!=null )
                if( counter++ == executed )
                    break;
            //if exceeded the amount of lines in the file
            if( executed >= counter )
                line = "Could not read more, the file contains only " + (counter-1) + " lines.";
        catch (Exception ex)
            ex.printStackTrace();
        return line;
    public static void main(String[] args)
        ReadFile rf = new ReadFile("c:\\debugLog.txt");
        //read 1
        String transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 2
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 3
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 4
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 5
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Vector;
public class ReadFile2
    private static int executed = 0;
    private Vector lines = null;
    public ReadFile2(String fileName)
        //find the file
        File file = new File(fileName);
        if( !file.exists() )
            System.out.println("Cannot find the specified file ( " + fileName + ").");
            return;
        //this vector will contain all lines.
        lines = new Vector();
        try
            //create a reader
            BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader( new FileReader(file) );
            String line = "";
            //read the lines and add them to a vector (lines).
            while( (line=br.readLine())!=null )
                lines.add(line);
        catch (Exception ex)
            ex.printStackTrace();
    public String getTransactionLine()
        String line = "";
        try
            line = (String) lines.get(executed++);
        catch( Exception ex )
            line = "Could not read more, the file contains only " + (executed-1) + " lines.";
        return line;
    public static void main(String[] args)
        ReadFile2 rf = new ReadFile2("c:\\debugLog.txt");
        //read 1
        String transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 2
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 3
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 4
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
        //read 5
        transactionLine = rf.getTransactionLine();
        //output:
        System.out.println(transactionLine);
}