Show simple open file dialog using JFileChooser

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The steps to create a simple open file dialog using JFileChooser class are as follows:

1. Add required import statements:

           import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
           import java.io.File;        
           

2. Create a new instance of JFileChooser class:

           JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser();
           

3. Set current directory:

           fileChooser.setCurrentDirectory(new File(System.getProperty("user.home")));
           

   The current directory is initial directory where the dialog looks for files. The above line sets the current directory to user’s home directory.

    

4. Show up the dialog:

           
           int result = fileChooser.showOpenDialog(parent);
   

   where parent is an instance of a Component such as JFrame, JDialog or JPanelwhich is parent of the dialog.

    

5. Check if the user selects a file or not:
   If the user selects a file, the variable result will hold a value of JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION. So it’s necessary to check return value of the method showOpenDialog():

           
           if (result == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
               // user selects a file
           }
   

6. Pick up the selected file:

           
               File selectedFile = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
   

7. And the whole code snippet is as follows:

           
           JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser();
           fileChooser.setCurrentDirectory(new File(System.getProperty("user.home")));
           int result = fileChooser.showOpenDialog(this);
           if (result == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
               File selectedFile = fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
               System.out.println("Selected file: " + selectedFile.getAbsolutePath());
           }