Java: different character encoding in Windows and Linux

Question

I must read a CSV file with Java and I am doing it with Super CSV library. If I open the CSV file with a text editor (both in windows or linux), I can see a row like this:

6;;07/01/1939;58;22;47;49;69;  -   ;  -   ;  -   ;  -   ;  -   ;

The cell that seems to contain " - ", on linux is read from java as "� - � " and on windows is read as "á - á ". I need the correct representation because I have to do a comparison. Now I'm initializing a string variable = "\uFFFD - \uFFFD " (because I developed on linux), but this code do not work on windows.

Any solution different from read the file first to check the character (the current file could not have it) or initializing a string based on OS (I will implement this as a temporary solution)?

Peter · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-27 07:12:18Z

2

You should know in which encoding the CSV file is actually in.

If you open it in a text editor that displays it correctly, you should find out in that editor which encoding has been used. (eg. the encoding menu-item in notepad++ to name one).

Than you can specify it when reading it in java.

example here with utf-8 :

FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("test.txt"); 
InputStreamReader in = new InputStreamReader(fis, "UTF-8");

or

Scanner scanner = new Scanner(file, "UTF-8");

The problem could be that a different default character set is used on windows and linux.

(see : http://www.javapractices.com/topic/TopicAction.do?Id=42, where is stated : The FileReader and FileWriter classes are a bit tricky, since they implicitly use the system's default character encoding. )

edited Feb 27, 2013 at 7:12

answered Feb 26, 2013 at 15:29

Peter

49.2k47 gold badges138 silver badges184 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Crisoberillo Over a year ago

Thank you very much. I used "ISO-8859-1" and worked perfectly :)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Java: different character encoding in Windows and Linux

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related