Question

import java.io.FileReader;

public class SimpoTest {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        FileReader fileReader = null;
        try {
            fileReader = new FileReader("/home/brian/Desktop/me");
            int read = fileReader.read();
            System.out.println((char) read);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            fileReader = null;
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

1\ echo “1” > /home/brian/Desktop/me
2\ set the breakpoint to “int read = fileReader.read();”
3\ start the debug
4\ rm -f /home/brian/Desktop/me
5\ jump to the end <======== the “1” still outputted on the console…

well…this is really weird to me. as i though there should be an exception thrown out.
can anyone give any explanation?
any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Answer 1

This is expected behavior at least on a unix-like operating system: as long as there’s an open file descriptor to it, the rm’d file’s blocks will remain allocated and accessible via that file descriptor.

I expect you cannot, however, open a new file descriptor to them by means of the deleted filename.