Multiple Choice Java Quiz : How to input questions from a text file?

Question

I'm creating a multiple choice quiz using Java. I have the actual program up and running with all 10 of the questions when they're hard coded into the source code but I need to place 7 of these questions into a text file that will be inputted from a .txt and answered just the same. The only difference of course being those 7 questions that come from a text file instead of being directly in the source code.

Can someone explain or show me a way to get this text file to be inputted into my source code and the quiz up and running this way?

Here is my overall source code:

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.*;

    String q1 = "What is hardware?\n"
          + "(a)virtual machine\n(b)the physical machine\n(c)applications such as browsers\n(d)part of the processor\n";

    String q2 = "What does counter++; do?\n"
          + "(a)Adds 1 to counter\n(b)Adds 2 to counter\n(c)Gets the sum\n(d)Multiplies the numbers\n";

    String q3 = "What is a loop that never stops?\n"
          + "(a)For Loop\n(b)Infinite Loop\n(c)Do-While Loop\n(d)Full Loop\n";

    Question [] questions = {
            new Question(q1, "b"),
            new Question(q2, "a"),
            new Question(q3, "b"),
            new Question(q4, "c"),
            new Question(q5, "d"),
            new Question(q6, "a"),
            new Question(q7, "a"),
            new Question(q8, "c"),
            new Question(q9, "a"),
            new Question(qF, "c")
    };

    Collections.shuffle(Arrays.asList(questions));
    takeTest(questions);


}

public static void takeTest(Question [] questions){
    int score = 0;
    Scanner keyboardInput = new Scanner(System.in);


    for(int i = 0; i < questions.length; i++) {
        System.out.println(questions[i].prompt);
        String answer = keyboardInput.nextLine();
        if(answer.equals(questions[i].answer)) {
            score++;
        }
    }
    System.out.println("You got " + score + "/" + questions.length);
}

}

And my text file is simply the seven questions that I had originally placed in the source code :

String q4 = "In a while loop, if the boolean expression is true, what will the loop do?\n"
          + "(a)Break\n(b)Program will exit\n(c)Repeat\n(d)Continue through program\n";

String q5 = "What special value is designated for controlling a loop?\n"
          + "(a)Control value\n(b)Mutator Method\n(c)Accessor Method\n(d)Sentinel Value\n";

String q6 = "What is a method?\n"
          + "(a)A collection of statements grouped together to perform an operation\n(b)A value returned from a method using the return statement\n(c)The portion of the program where the variable can be accessed.\n(d)The combination of the name of a method and the list of its parameters\n";

String q7 = "What is an object?\n"
          + "(a)Representation of an entity in the real world that can be distinctly identified\n(b)A static method can be called without creating an instance of the class\n(c)Instance variable/instance mthod\n(d)A template, blueprint or contract that defines what an object's data fields and methods will be.\n";

String q8 = "What is an array?\n"
          + "(a)Numbers of items ArrayList can store without increasing its size\n(b)Number used as an index to pinpoint a specfic element within an array\n(c)Object that can store a group of values, all of the same type\n(d)Method of locating a specific item in a larger collection of data\n";

String q9 = "You use this statement to throw an exception manually.\n"
          + "(a)Throw\n(b)call stack\n(c)try block\n(d)thrown\n";

String qF = "When an exception is generated, it is said to have been what?\n"
          + "(a)Created\n(b)Called\n(c)Thrown\n(d)Generated\n";

We won't do it for you. Look on how to read a file line by line ;) — azro, Dec 07 '18 at 22:28
Possible duplicate of [Reading a plain text file in Java](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4716503/reading-a-plain-text-file-in-java) — MyStackRunnethOver, Dec 07 '18 at 22:52

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 08 '18 at 00:58

You can use BufferedReader and try to read line by line.

Here an example of using BufferedReader:

BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("PATH TO QUESTIONS FILE"));
String read = "";
while((read = br.readLine()) != null){
     System.out.println(read);
}

Doing that you will read and print each line of a File.

Make sure you will write each question in a line, otherwise questions will be mixed.

Hope I helped you. :)

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 01 '20 at 19:58

I have used Dynamic memory allocation approach for this using ArrayList.


import java.util.*;
class Test
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        ArrayList<String> que = new ArrayList<>();
        que.add("What is java");
        que.add("What is python");
        que.add("What is C");
        que.add("What is C++");
        ArrayList<String> opt = new ArrayList<>();
        opt.add("PL,SL,Both,None");
        opt.add("SL,PL,Both,None");
        opt.add("PL,None,SL,Both");
        opt.add("PL,Both,None,SL");
        ArrayList<String> correct = new ArrayList<>();
        correct.add("PL");
        correct.add("Both");
        correct.add("PL");
        correct.add("PL");
        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        String c1="";
        int count=0;
        for(int i=0;i<que.size();i++)
        {
            String q=que.get(i);
            System.out.println(q);
            String o=opt.get(i);
            {
                String[] s1 = o.split(",");
                for(String s:s1)
                {
                    System.out.println(s);
                }
            }
            String c=correct.get(i);
            {
                c1 = c;
            }
            System.out.println("Your option: ");
            String yr = sc.nextLine();
            if(yr.equalsIgnoreCase(c1))
            {
                count++;
            }
        }
        System.out.println("Marks:"+count);
    }
}

score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 01 '20 at 04:40

Problem: Grading Multiple-Choice Test

import java.util.Scanner;

public class twoDimentionalArrays {
    public static void main (String[] args) { 
        Scanner scan = new Scanner (System.in);
        String[] answers = { "D","B","D","C","C","D","A","E","A","D"};
        String[][] list = new String[8][10];
        System.out.println("Fill in the eight student's answers to 10 questions" );
        for (int i =0;i<list.length;i++) {
             int count =0;
             for (int j=0;j<list[i].length;j++) {
                list[i][j] = scan.next();
                if(list[i][j].equalsIgnoreCase(answers[j])) count++;
            }
            System.out.println("Student's " + i + " correct answers are " + count);
        }
    }
}

Multiple Choice Java Quiz : How to input questions from a text file?

3 Answers3

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