The `java.io.File` class is changed so that an instance of `File` created from the empty abstract pathname ("") now behaves consistently like a `File` created from the current user directory. Long standing behavior was for some methods to fail for the empty pathname. The change means that the `canRead`, `exists` and `isDirectory` methods return `true` instead of failing with `false`, and the `getFreeSpace`, `lastModified` and `length` methods return the expected values instead of zero. Methods such as `setReadable` and `setLastModified` will attempt to change the file's attributes instead of failing. WIth this change, `java.io.File` now matches the behavior of the `java.nio.file` API.