FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.5.0_01"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_01-b08)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_01-b08, mixed mode, sharing)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Linux router 2.6.10 #3 Sun Dec 26 02:48:39 CET 2004 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
The documentation of method java.io.File.length() states ( http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/io/File.html#length() ) that the return value of File.length() is "the length, in bytes, of the file denoted by this abstract pathname, or 0L if the file does not exist".

The case java.io.File.length()==0L is ambigous, because it both can mean "the file does not exists" or "the file exists and its length is zero".

  To solve this, java.io.File.length() could return -1L for nonexistent files and 0L for existent files with length zero.

Unfortunately, some code might rely on these inprecise semantics.

However, one could introduce a method

  java.io.File.size()

with the new semantics.

(By that way, one could introduce a method java.io.File.estaminatedDiskSize(), too, to properly estaminate the size a file object draws from available disk space.)



REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.
###@###.### 2005-03-14 07:07:25 GMT