JQ+ question RandomAccessFile help.....

[Rowan Chattaway]

Which of the following code segments will correctly write the text "FINAL TEXT" to the end of a file "file.txt ?
1. RandomAccessFile raf = new RandomAccessFile("file.txt", "a");
raf.writeChars("FINAL TEXT");
2. RandomAccessFile raf = new RandomAccessFile("file.txt", "rw");
raf.writeChars("FINAL TEXT");
3. RandomAccessFile raf = new RandomAccessFile("file.txt", "a");
raf.seek( raf.length() );
raf.writeChars("FINAL TEXT");
4. RandomAccessFile raf = new RandomAccessFile("file.txt", "rw");
raf.seek( raf.length() );
raf.writeChars("FINAL TEXT");
5. RandomAccessFile raf = new RandomAccessFile("file.txt", "rw");
raf.seek( raf.length() - 1);
raf.writeChars("FINAL TEXT");
The correct answer is apparently 4)
However, I'm sure I've read that raf.length() - 1) will point to the end of the file in RHE...........then then I haven't slept in 48 hours so I may just be delirious..........
Any help would be much appreciated,
Rowan.

[Rob Ross]

(raf.length() - 1) is the position of the last character in the file. If you write to this position, you will overwrite the character that was previously last with a "F". If you want to write the string after all existing text, you need to position the file pointer after the last character.