Android read text raw resource file

I have a text file added as a raw resource. The text file contains text like:

b) IF APPLICABLE LAW REQUIRES ANY WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE
SOFTWARE, ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE 
LIMITED IN DURATION TO NINETY (90)
DAYS FROM THE DATE OF  DELIVERY.

(c) NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR
ADVICE GIVEN BY  VIRTUAL ORIENTEERING,
ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS OR
EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR
IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF ANY
WARRANTY PROVIDED HEREIN. 

(d) (USA only) SOME STATES DO NOT
ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY
NOT  APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES
YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL  RIGHTS AND YOU MAY
ALSO HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT 
VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

On my screen I have a layout like this:

<LinearLayout  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
					 android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
			    	 android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
			    	 android:gravity="center" 
			    	 android:layout_weight="1.0"
			    	 android:layout_below="@+id/logoLayout"
			    	 android:background="@drawable/list_background"> 
		    
		    <ScrollView android:layout_width="fill_parent"
   						android:layout_height="fill_parent">
   						
					<TextView  android:id="@+id/txtRawResource" 
					           android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
			    	 		   android:layout_height="fill_parent"
			    	 		   android:padding="3dip"/>
			</ScrollView>  
   
	</LinearLayout>

The code to read the raw resource is:

TextView txtRawResource= (TextView)findViewById(R.id.txtRawResource);

txtDisclaimer.setText(Utils.readRawTextFile(ctx, R.raw.rawtextsample);

public static String readRawTextFile(Context ctx, int resId)
{
    InputStream inputStream = ctx.getResources().openRawResource(resId);

    ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

    int i;
    try {
        i = inputStream.read();
        while (i != -1)
        {
            byteArrayOutputStream.write(i);
            i = inputStream.read();
        }
        inputStream.close();
    } catch (IOException e) {
        return null;
    }
    return byteArrayOutputStream.toString();
}

The text is shown but after each line I get the strange characters []. How can I remove the characters? I think it's a newline.

You can use this:

	try {
		Resources res = getResources();
		InputStream in_s = res.openRawResource(R.raw.help);

		byte[] b = new byte[in_s.available()];
		in_s.read(b);
		txtHelp.setText(new String(b));
	} catch (Exception e) {
		// e.printStackTrace();
		txtHelp.setText("Error: can't show help.");
	}

What if you use a character-based BufferedReader instead of byte-based InputStream?

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream));
String line = reader.readLine();
while (line != null) { 
    ...
    line = reader.readLine();
}

Don't forget that readLine() skips the new-lines!

Well with Kotlin u can do it just in one line of code:

resources.openRawResource(R.raw.rawtextsample).bufferedReader().use { it.readText() }

Or even declare extension function:

fun Resources.getRawTextFile(@RawRes id: Int) =
        openRawResource(id).bufferedReader().use { it.readText() }

And then just use it straightaway:

val txtFile = resources.getRawTextFile(R.raw.rawtextsample)

If you use IOUtils from apache "commons-io" it's even easier:

InputStream is = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.yourNewTextFile);
String s = IOUtils.toString(is);
IOUtils.closeQuietly(is); // don't forget to close your streams

---

Dependencies: http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/commons-io/commons-io

Maven:

<dependency>
	<groupId>commons-io</groupId>
	<artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
	<version>2.4</version>
</dependency>

---

Gradle:

'commons-io:commons-io:2.4'

Rather do it this way:

// reads resources regardless of their size
public byte[] getResource(int id, Context context) throws IOException {
	Resources resources = context.getResources();
	InputStream is = resources.openRawResource(id);
	
    ByteArrayOutputStream bout = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
    
    byte[] readBuffer = new byte[4 * 1024];

    try {
    	int read;
    	do {
	    	read = is.read(readBuffer, 0, readBuffer.length);
	    	if(read == -1) {
    			break;
    		}
    		bout.write(readBuffer, 0, read);
    	} while(true);

    	return bout.toByteArray();
    } finally {
    	is.close();
    }
}

    // reads a string resource
public String getStringResource(int id, Charset encoding) throws IOException {
	return new String(getResource(id, getContext()), encoding);
}

    // reads an UTF-8 string resource
public String getStringResource(int id) throws IOException {
	return new String(getResource(id, getContext()), Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
}

From an Activity, add

public byte[] getResource(int id) throws IOException {
		return getResource(id, this);
}

or from a test case, add

public byte[] getResource(int id) throws IOException {
		return getResource(id, getContext());
}

And watch your error handling - don't catch and ignore exceptions when your resources must exist or something is (very?) wrong.

This is another method which will definitely work, but I cant get it to read multiple text files to view in multiple textviews in a single activity, anyone can help?

TextView helloTxt = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.yourTextView);
    helloTxt.setText(readTxt());
}

private String readTxt(){

 InputStream inputStream = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.yourTextFile);
 ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
 
 int i;
try {
i = inputStream.read();
while (i != -1)
  {
   byteArrayOutputStream.write(i);
   i = inputStream.read();
  }
  inputStream.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
 // TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}

 return byteArrayOutputStream.toString();
}

@borislemke you can do this by similar way like

TextView  tv ;
findViewById(R.id.idOfTextView);
tv.setText(readNewTxt());
private String readNewTxt(){
InputStream inputStream = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.yourNewTextFile);
 ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

 int i;
 try {
 i = inputStream.read();
while (i != -1)
  {
   byteArrayOutputStream.write(i);
   i = inputStream.read();
   }
    inputStream.close();
  } catch (IOException e) {
   // TODO Auto-generated catch block
 e.printStackTrace();
 }

 return byteArrayOutputStream.toString();
 }

Here goes mix of weekens's and Vovodroid's solutions.

It is more correct than Vovodroid's solution and more complete than weekens's solution.

    try {
        InputStream inputStream = res.openRawResource(resId);
        try {
            BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream));
            try {
                StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
                String line;
                while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
                    result.append(line);
                }
                return result.toString();
            } finally {
                reader.close();
            }
        } finally {
            inputStream.close();
        }
    } catch (IOException e) {
        // process exception
    }

Here is a simple method to read the text file from the raw folder:

public static String readTextFile(Context context,@RawRes int id){
    InputStream inputStream = context.getResources().openRawResource(id);
    ByteArrayOutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

    byte buffer[] = new byte[1024];
    int size;
    try {
        while ((size = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
            outputStream.write(buffer, 0, size);
        }
        outputStream.close();
        inputStream.close();
    } catch (IOException e) {

    }
    return outputStream.toString();
}

Here is an implementation in Kotlin

    try {
        val inputStream: InputStream = this.getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.**)
        val inputStreamReader = InputStreamReader(inputStream)
        val sb = StringBuilder()
        var line: String?
        val br = BufferedReader(inputStreamReader)
        line = br.readLine()
        while (line != null) {
            sb.append(line)
            line = br.readLine()
        }
        br.close()

        var content : String = sb.toString()
        Log.d(TAG, content)
    } catch (e:Exception){
        Log.d(TAG, e.toString())
    }

1.First create a Directory folder and name it raw inside the res folder 2.create a .txt file inside the raw directory folder you created earlier and give it any name eg.articles.txt.... 3.copy and paste the text you want inside the .txt file you created"articles.txt" 4.dont forget to include a textview in your main.xml MainActivity.java

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_gettingtoknowthe_os);

    TextView helloTxt = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.gettingtoknowos);
    helloTxt.setText(readTxt());

    ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
    actionBar.hide();//to exclude the ActionBar
}

private String readTxt() {

    //getting the .txt file
    InputStream inputStream = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.articles);

    ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

    try {
        int i = inputStream.read();
        while (i != -1) {
            byteArrayOutputStream.write(i);
            i = inputStream.read();
        }
        inputStream.close();

    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return byteArrayOutputStream.toString();
}

Hope it worked!

InputStream is=getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.name);
BufferedReader reader=new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
StringBuffer data=new StringBuffer();
String line=reader.readLine();
while(line!=null)
{
data.append(line+"\n");
}
tvDetails.seTtext(data.toString());