FixedLengthStringIO.java

import java.io.*;
public class FixedLengthStringIO
{ /** Read fixed number of characters from a DataInput stream */
  public static String readFixedLengthString(int size, DataInput in) 
        throws IOException
  { char[] chars = new char[size]; // Declare an array of characters
    // Read fixed number of characters to the array
    for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
      chars[i] = in.readChar();
    return new String(chars);
  }
  /** Write fixed number of characters to a DataOutput stream */
  public static void writeFixedLengthString(String s, int size, 
		  DataOutput out)  throws IOException
  { char[] chars = new char[size];
    // Fill in string with characters
    s.getChars(0, Math.min(s.length(), size), chars, 0);
    // Fill in blank characters in the rest of the array
    for (int i = s.length(); i < size; i++)
      chars[i] = ' ';
    // Create and write a new string padded with blank characters
    out.writeChars(new String(chars));
   }
}