Vaibhav : error with file handling

Question

I am using jdk 1.3 on winME.
I have written the following code for reading from a file.
import java.io.*;
class a
     public static void main(String args[])
          FileInputStream i ;
          try
               i = new FileInputStream(args[0]);
          catch(FileNotFoundException e){}
          catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e){}
          int ch;
          try
               while((ch = i.read()) != 1)
                    System.out.println((char)ch);
               i.close();     
          catch(IOException e){}
On compiling I get the following error.
C:\soft3\Javatry> javac trial.java
trial.java:16: variable i might not have been initialized
while((ch = i.read()) != 1)
^
1 error
Please help me understand the error.
Thank you in advance.
Cheers.
Vaibhav.

Answer 1

the statement
FileInputStream i;
does not initialize the variable. In java everything must be initialized. When you do initialize it, you do it in a try catch block, which may or may not ensure initialization. To solve this, simply define your variable....
FileInputStream i = null;
Here you are forcing initializing of the object to the null value. (Null is not the same as unitialized).