Problem with reading text from a .txt file

[Gigi]

the program has to read from a file, once it sees ("***") it has to stop and ask to enter any key,once you enter that then the program has to continue doing the work from where it's left

this is what I came up so far:

Main method:

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.*;

public class Problem2CeasarCipher
{
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
    {
   BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("DATA21.txt")); 
     Scanner inputs = new Scanner(System.in); 
    
     char[] wordLetters;
     int[] letterCounts = new int[26];
     int arrayIndex;
     int offset;
     int tempIndex = 0;
     int tempHighest = 0;
     String sentence = "";   
     
     //System.out.println("Enter a sentence: ");
     
  
     
while (sentence != null)
 { 
      
  
    if (sentence.equals("***"))
      {
      System.out.println("Enter any key to continue: ");
        int key = inputs.nextInt();
       }
 
  sentence = input.readLine();
  String copySentence = sentence;


      sentence = sentence.replaceAll(" ", "");
     wordLetters = sentence.toCharArray();
     
     for(int letter = 0; letter < wordLetters.length; letter++)
     {
        offset = wordLetters[letter] - 65;
        letterCounts[offset] +=1;
     }
     
     for(int i = 0; i <= 25; i++)
     {
       if (letterCounts[i] > tempHighest)
       { 
         tempHighest = letterCounts[i];
         tempIndex = i;
       }
     } 
      
     //System.out.println(alphabet[tempIndex]);

    testProblem2CeasarCipher encoding = new testProblem2CeasarCipher(tempIndex);
  //  encoding.decode(copySentence);
     
    System.out.println(encoding.decode(copySentence));

} 
       
    }    
}

class:

public class testProblem2CeasarCipher
{
   int e = 4;
   int shift;
   int move;
   
  public testProblem2CeasarCipher(int mostFrequent) 
  {
    shift = mostFrequent - e;
    move = 26 - shift;
  }
    
public String decode(String word) 
 {
    StringBuffer result = new StringBuffer();
    for (int k = 0; k < word.length(); k++)
     {
      char ch = word.charAt(k); 

      if(ch==' ')
       { 
           ch= ' ';
       }
       else
       {
           ch = (char)('A' + (ch - 'A' + move) % 26);
       }
      result.append(ch); 
  
     }
    return (result.toString());
  }
}

file that it suppose to read:

LZWJW OSK FGLZAFY KG NWJQ JWESJCSTDW AF LZSL
FGJ VAV SDAUW LZAFC AL KG NWJQ EMUZ GML GX LZW OSQ
LG ZWSJ LZW JSTTAL KSQ LG ALKWDX
GZ VWSJ GZ VWSJ A KZSDD TW DSLW
***
NRCQNA CQN FNUU FJB ENAH MNNY XA BQN ONUU ENAH BUXFUH
OXA BQN QJM YUNWCH XO CRVN JB BQN FNWC MXFW CX UXXT JKXDC QNA
JWM CX FXWMNA FQJC FJB PXRWP CX QJYYNW WNGC
ORABC BQN CARNM CX UXXT MXFW JWM VJTN XDC
FQJC BQN FJB LXVRWP CX KDC RC FJB CXX MJAT CX BNN JWHCQRWP
***
OCZI NCZ GJJFZY VO OCZ NDYZN JA OCZ RZGG
VIY IJODXZY OCVO OCZT RZMZ ADGGZY RDOC XPKWJVMYN VIY WJJFNCZGQZN
CZMZ VIY OCZMZ NCZ NVR HVKN VIY KDXOPMZN CPIB PKJI KZBN
NCZ OJJF YJRI V EVM AMJH JIZ JA OCZ NCZGQZN VN NCZ KVNNZY
DO RVN GVWZGGZY JMVIBZ HVMHVGVYZ
WPO OJ CZM BMZVO YDNVKKJDIOHZIO DO RVN ZHKOT
NCZ YDY IJO GDFZ OJ YMJK OCZ EVM AJM AZVM JA FDGGDIB NJHZWJYT
NJ HVIVBZY OJ KPO DO DIOJ JIZ JA OCZ XPKWJVMYN VN NCZ AZGG KVNO DO

I'm getting NullPointerException, plus it only decrypts the first and the last sentences in the first paragraph and it doesn't ask to enter anything, any help here ? I really need this done, thanks

[Fubarable]

um,... do you have an actual question?

Often the quality of the answer you receive is directly proportional to the quality of the question asked. Posting code without telling us specifically what's right, what's wrong, what it's not doing, it's doing that it shouldn't be doing, will likely get you lectures like this one. Posting a very specific question will likely get you a very specific answer. Good luck.

[Gigi]

um,... do you have an actual question?

of couse I do:
ecoo.org/ecoocs/boardwide/brd2004p2.html

[Fubarable]

Well, then I wish you much luck.

[Gigi]

well, I gave you my code and gave the question, all you have to do is go over it and check what's wrong ?! what else do you expect me to do ? and I already stated my problem

[CJSLMAN]

That is one heck of a question. I suggest the following:

• You want quality answers? Ask quality questions.
• To find out what's going on inside your program, you can debug it with printlns. Place a couple of println commands at different parts of the program and you can follow the flow of your program and can pinpoint where the problem is.
• Also, use a smaller set of words/lines/paragraphs

Luck,
CJSL

PS: want more info on debugging?
Debug challenge: how do you debug a Java program?

[Gigi]

here's what the program has to do:
ecoo.org/ecoocs/boardwide/brd2004p2.html

this is a link to the question, since it would be too long to write it here, well listen, all I'm asking is a little help, (this is New to Java forums after all)

[Fubarable]

Come on now, you're leaving out a lot of important detail. If you get a nullpointerexception, then on what line? The exception should give you the line number and you use that to indicate it to us? Do you get it all the time? what situations do you get it in? Again, details are important.

[Gigi]

Come on now, you're leaving out a lot of important detail. If you get a nullpointerexception, then on what line? The exception should give you the line number and you use that to indicate it to us? Do you get it all the time? what situations do you get it in? Again, details are important.

there are couple of things YOU can do too to help me out: can you just copy and paste the code in Java program and then try to see what's going on ?

and here's what I'm getting exactly:

THERE WAS NOTHING SO VERY REMARKABLE IN THAT
YZC OTO LWTNP ESTYV TE DZ GPCJ XFNS ZFE ZQ ESP HLJ
EZ SPLC ESP CLMMTE DLJ EZ TEDPWQ
OH DEAR OH DEAR I SHALL BE LATE
NullPointerException: 
  at Problem2CeasarCipher.main(Problem2CeasarCipher.java:37)
  at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
  at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
  at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)

[Fubarable]

there are couple of things YOU can do too to help me out: can you just copy and paste the code in Java program and then try to see what's going on ?

Please understand that we are all volunteers here, every one of us. So most of the work debugging your code needs to be done by you. We can help guide you, but still the lion's share of the work most be yours. Makes sense, doesn't it?

So what do you think is happening here? It reads the first four lines fine, but then when it gets the 5th line, it fails. What is on the 5th line of text? Is it regular text? Nope, it's not. So something about your code reading in "*" and trying to decrypt these '*' chars causes your program to go belly up.

So what line is line 37 of your program? I would guess that you need to tell your code there not to analyze the text if it runs into a line of "***" and at least some of your problems will get better.

Best of luck.

[Fubarable]

I like using a Scanner to read my text files, as I find it easier. why not use a Scanner scanner = new Scanner("DATA21.txt")
do

while (scanner.hasNextLine())
//then read a line.
//then if the line.equals("***")
{
  // get int input
}
else
{
  //... do everything else
}

[Gigi]

I like using a Scanner to read my text files, as I find it easier. why not use a Scanner scanner = new Scanner("DATA21.txt")
do

while (scanner.hasNextLine())
//then read a line.
//then if the line.equals("***")
{
  // get int input
}
else
{
  //... do everything else
}

but will it continue doing its work after I do this part :
//then if the line.equals("***")
{
// get int input
}

?

[Fubarable]

You don't want it to continue to do anything to that sentence if it runs into "***". You certainly don't want your program to analyze that sentence, for that's why its crashing. You only want to get user input, finish the loop and then loop again getting the next line from the text file and analyzing that. Make sense?

[Gigi]

one more, I need the program analyze this:
LZWJW OSK FGLZAFY KG NWJQ JWESJCSTDW AF LZSL
FGJ VAV SDAUW LZAFC AL KG NWJQ EMUZ GML GX LZW OSQ
LG ZWSJ LZW JSTTAL KSQ LG ALKWDX
GZ VWSJ GZ VWSJ A KZSDD TW DSLW


as one sentence, will it do it ?

[Gigi]

now this is what I'm getting:

THERE WAS NOTHING SO VERY REMARKABLE IN THAT
YZC OTO LWTNP ESTYV TE DZ GPCJ XFNS ZFE ZQ ESP HLJ
EZ SPLC ESP CLMMTE DLJ EZ TEDPWQ
OH DEAR OH DEAR I SHALL BE LATE
Enter any key to continue: 
 [DrJava Input Box]
VZKYVI KYV NVCC NRJ MVIP UVVG FI JYV WVCC MVIP JCFNCP
FOR SHE HAD PLENTY OF TIME AS SHE WENT DOWN TO LOOK ABOUT HER
REU KF NFEUVI NYRK NRJ XFZEX KF YRGGVE EVOK
WZIJK JYV KIZVU KF CFFB UFNE REU DRBV FLK
NYRK JYV NRJ TFDZEX KF SLK ZK NRJ KFF URIB KF JVV REPKYZEX
Enter any key to continue: 
 [DrJava Input Box]
FTQZ ETQ XAAWQP MF FTQ EUPQE AR FTQ IQXX
MZP ZAFUOQP FTMF FTQK IQDQ RUXXQP IUFT OGBNAMDPE MZP NAAWETQXHQE
TQDQ MZP FTQDQ ETQ EMI YMBE MZP BUOFGDQE TGZS GBAZ BQSE
ETQ FAAW PAIZ M VMD RDAY AZQ AR FTQ ETQXHQE ME ETQ BMEEQP
UF IME XMNQXXQP ADMZSQ YMDYMXMPQ
NGF FA TQD SDQMF PUEMBBAUZFYQZF UF IME QYBFK
SHE DID NOT LIKE TO DROP THE JAR FOR FEAR OF KILLING SOMEBODY
SO MANAGED TO PUT IT INTO ONE OF THE CUPBOARDS AS SHE FELL PAST IT 
Enter any key to continue: 
 [DrJava Input Box]
NullPointerException: 
  at Problem2CeasarCipher.main(Problem2CeasarCipher.java:27)
  at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
  at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
  at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)

I have to problems, first of all, the program need to recognize those paragraphs as one sentence and second of all, when it sees no more("***") it has to stop, basically when it finishes it has to stop(this is I guess why I'm getting that last error)

[Fubarable]

Please repost your latest code.

[Gigi]

main method:
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.*;

public class Problem2CeasarCipher
{
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
    {
     BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("DATA21.txt")); 
     Scanner inputs = new Scanner(System.in); 
    
     char[] wordLetters;
     int[] letterCounts = new int[26];
     int arrayIndex;
     int offset;
     int tempIndex = 0;
     int tempHighest = 0;
     String sentence = "";   
    
     //System.out.println("Enter a sentence: ");
     
  
    
while (sentence != null)
 { 
      
 sentence = input.readLine();
    if (sentence.equals("***"))
      {
      System.out.println("Enter any key to continue: ");
        int key = inputs.nextInt();
       }

  else
  {  
     String copySentence = sentence;
    sentence = sentence.replaceAll(" ", "");
      wordLetters = sentence.toCharArray();
     
     for(int letter = 0; letter < wordLetters.length; letter++)
     {
        offset = wordLetters[letter] - 65;
        letterCounts[offset] +=1;
     }
     
     for(int i = 0; i <= 25; i++)
     {
       if (letterCounts[i] > tempHighest)
       { 
         tempHighest = letterCounts[i];
         tempIndex = i;
       }
     } 
      

         testProblem2CeasarCipher encoding = new testProblem2CeasarCipher(tempIndex); 
         System.out.println(encoding.decode(copySentence));

 }    
    }    
}
}

class:

public class testProblem2CeasarCipher
{
   int e = 4;
   int shift;
   int move;
   
  public testProblem2CeasarCipher(int mostFrequent) 
  {
    shift = mostFrequent - e;
    move = 26 - shift;
  }
    
public String decode(String word) 
 {
    StringBuffer result = new StringBuffer();
    for (int k = 0; k < word.length(); k++)
     {
      char ch = word.charAt(k); 

      if(ch==' ')
       { 
           ch= ' ';
       }
       else
       {
           ch = (char)('A' + (ch - 'A' + move) % 26);
       }
      result.append(ch); 
  
     }
    return (result.toString());
  }
}

plus the file:

LZWJW OSK FGLZAFY KG NWJQ JWESJCSTDW AF LZSL
FGJ VAV SDAUW LZAFC AL KG NWJQ EMUZ GML GX LZW OSQ
LG ZWSJ LZW JSTTAL KSQ LG ALKWDX
GZ VWSJ GZ VWSJ A KZSDD TW DSLW
***
NRCQNA CQN FNUU FJB ENAH MNNY XA BQN ONUU ENAH BUXFUH
OXA BQN QJM YUNWCH XO CRVN JB BQN FNWC MXFW CX UXXT JKXDC QNA
JWM CX FXWMNA FQJC FJB PXRWP CX QJYYNW WNGC
ORABC BQN CARNM CX UXXT MXFW JWM VJTN XDC
FQJC BQN FJB LXVRWP CX KDC RC FJB CXX MJAT CX BNN JWHCQRWP
***
OCZI NCZ GJJFZY VO OCZ NDYZN JA OCZ RZGG
VIY IJODXZY OCVO OCZT RZMZ ADGGZY RDOC XPKWJVMYN VIY WJJFNCZGQZN
CZMZ VIY OCZMZ NCZ NVR HVKN VIY KDXOPMZN CPIB PKJI KZBN
NCZ OJJF YJRI V EVM AMJH JIZ JA OCZ NCZGQZN VN NCZ KVNNZY
DO RVN GVWZGGZY JMVIBZ HVMHVGVYZ
WPO OJ CZM BMZVO YDNVKKJDIOHZIO DO RVN ZHKOT
NCZ YDY IJO GDFZ OJ YMJK OCZ EVM AJM AZVM JA FDGGDIB NJHZWJYT
NJ HVIVBZY OJ KPO DO DIOJ JIZ JA OCZ XPKWJVMYN VN NCZ AZGG KVNO DO

and it has to look like this:

THERE WAS NOTHING SO VERY REMARKABLE IN THAT
NOR DID ALICE THINK IT SO VERY MUCH OUT OF THE WAY
TO HEAR THE RABBIT SAY TO ITSELF
OH DEAR OH DEAR I SHALL BE LATE
 
press any key to continue..

EITHER THE WELL WAS VERY DEEP OR SHE FELL VERY SLOWLY
FOR SHE HAD PLENTY OF TIME AS SHE WENT DOWN TO LOOK ABOUT HER
AND TO WONDER WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT
FIRST SHE TRIED TO LOOK DOWN AND MAKE OUT
WHAT SHE WAS COMING TO BUT IT WAS TOO DARK TO SEE ANYTHING
 
press any key to continue..

THEN SHE LOOKED AT THE SIDES OF THE WELL
AND NOTICED THAT THEY WERE FILLED WITH CUPBOARDS AND BOOKSHELVES
HERE AND THERE SHE SAW MAPS AND PICTURES HUNG UPON PEGS
SHE TOOK DOWN A JAR FROM ONE OF THE SHELVES AS SHE PASSED
IT WAS LABELLED ORANGE MARMALADE
BUT TO HER GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT IT WAS EMPTY
SHE DID NOT LIKE TO DROP THE JAR FOR FEAR OF KILLING SOMEBODY
SO MANAGED TO PUT IT INTO ONE OF THE CUPBOARDS AS SHE FELL PAST IT

[Gigi]

i don't undestand what's the problem, it suppose to stop when it sees a clear line, and how to blend those paragraphs together(because it has to find the most frequently occuring letter in the entire paragraph, considering every single line, not just one of them) and at the same time it should display them in the original form ?

[Fubarable]

Alright, right now your program logic is telling your code to read each line, analyze each line and translate each line, and this is not what you want to do. You need to change it so that it reads in each paragraph and doesn't do the analysis until it is finished reading the paragraph (either it reaches *** or it reaches the end of the text). THEN you analyze the sentence, then you need to translate the stored sentences and decrypt them. I am not going to tell you how to do this as you should think through the logic of what needs to be done and how. it's not hard, but it takes some thinking with a pencil on paper. You need to walk through your code as if it were reading in text and figure out what needs to be changed, thinking as if you were the computer. One thing you'll need to do also is to reinitialize the variables that are used to analyze the text after each session of analysis has been complete. This includes the letterCounts array the tempHighest int and the copySentence String.

So how about give it another go, and see what you can come up with. Oh another thing, try changing this:

    while (sentence != null)
    {
      sentence = input.readLine();

to this:

    //while (sentence != null)
    while ((sentence = input.readLine()) != null)
    {
      //sentence = input.readLine();

The first one will let a null String slip through and be analyzed while the second will not.
Good luck!

[Gigi]

this does get rid of the NullPointerException error

 //while (sentence != null)
    while ((sentence = input.readLine()) != null)
    {
      //sentence = input.readLine();