Converting bytes to string and vice versa

[Muhammad Imad Qureshi]

Please see following write and read methods. When read the bytes and convert them to string, I don't see the same String that I wrote. I know its a basic file read question but how do I convert those bytes to same String as it was before I wrote it?

Thanks
Imad

   

private static final String TRIAL_FILE_NME="yahoo.gmail.file" ;
private boolean setTrialStartDate (){
    	
    	FileOutputStream fileWriter = null ;
    	boolean returnValue = true ;
    	
      	try{
    		fileWriter = openFileOutput(TRIAL_FILE_NME, MODE_PRIVATE);
    		fileWriter.write (DateTimeUtil.getCurrentDateString().getBytes());
    	}
    	catch (FileNotFoundException filenotFound){
    		returnValue = false ;
    	}
    	catch (IOException exception){
    		returnValue = false ;
    	}
    	finally{
    		if ( fileWriter != null ){
    			try{
    				fileWriter.close();
    			}
    			catch (IOException exc){
    				fileWriter = null ;
    				returnValue = false ;
    			}
    		}
    	}
    	
    	return returnValue ;
    }
    
    private String getTrialStartDate (){
    	
    	FileInputStream fileReader = null ;
    	String dateString = null ;
    	
    	try{
    		fileReader = openFileInput(TRIAL_FILE_NME);
    		
    		byte[] totalBytes = new byte[fileReader.available()];
    		
    		if ( fileReader.read(totalBytes) != -1 ){
    			dateString = totalBytes.toString() ;
    		}
    	}
    	
    	catch (FileNotFoundException exception){
    		setTrialStartDate();
    		dateString = DateTimeUtil.getCurrentDateString();
    	}
    	catch (IOException exc){
    		//Error reading file. Simply return null
    		dateString = null ;
    	}
    	finally{
    		if ( fileReader != null ){
    			try{
    				fileReader.close();
    			}
    			catch (IOException exc){
    				//Although it might be safe to return what's in dateString at this
    				//point, but since there is an I/O issue, it is better to return
    				//null
    				dateString = null ;
    				fileReader = null ;
    			}
    		}
    	}
    	
    	return dateString ;
    }

 

[Lester Burnham]

Here's some useful advice, not just for Android, but for Java in general: Never, ever, use "String.getBytes()" or "new String(byte[])" - always be explicit about encodings.