String array not storing data from text file

Question

So I have some code that is supposed to use a jfilechooser get a text file use a split and scanner with a colon as a delimeter and store the data into an array. The code and text is as seen below. I have added a segment of code to test if the array length is less than 1 and it always is even though I have set it to to store in a String array. Why is it doing this and how can I get it to store the text from each line of the code into an array of 6 intervals?

else if (e.getSource()==readButton) {
    JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser("Local Disk (C:)");
    if  (fileChooser.showOpenDialog(null)==JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
    {
        empFile=fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
    }
    Scanner scan = new Scanner("empFile");
    while(scan.hasNext()) {
        String[] rowData = scan.nextLine().split(":");
        if (rowData.length < 1){
            System.out.println("error");
        }
        else if(rowData.length == 5) {
            rowData[4] = "0";
            fName = rowData[0];
            lName = rowData[1];
            position2 = rowData[2];
            firstParam = Double.parseDouble(rowData[3]);
            empNum = Integer.parseInt(rowData[4]);

            c.addEmployee(fName, lName, position2, firstParam, 0, empNum);

        }
        else {
            fName = rowData[0];
            lName = rowData[1];
            position2 = rowData[2];
            firstParam = Double.parseDouble(rowData[3]);
            secondParam = Integer.parseInt(rowData[4]);
            empNum = Integer.parseInt(rowData[5]);

            c.addEmployee(fName, lName, position2, firstParam, secondParam, empNum);

        }

    }
}

John:Smith:Manufacturing:6.75:120:444

Betty:White:Manager:1200.00:111

Stan:Slimy:Sales:10000.00:332

Betty:Boop:Design:12.50:50:244

Answer 1

Your Scanner is taking in a String instead of the variable. Instead of

Scanner scan = new Scanner("empFile");

Try

Scanner scan = new Scanner(empFile);

From the docs

Scanner(String source)
Constructs a new Scanner that produces values scanned from the specified string.

You're currently scanning the string "empFile" instead of the actual file currently.

Answer 2

The problem comes beacuse you try to use the scanner before there is any chosen file:

 if  (fileChooser.showOpenDialog(null)==JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
 {
    empFile=fileChooser.getSelectedFile();
 }
 Scanner scan = new Scanner("empFile");
 while(scan.hasNext()){
 }

Instead you need to change your code so that you create the scanner only after the file is selected

 if  (fileChooser.showOpenDialog(null)==JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
 {
    empFile=fileChooser.getSelectedFile();

    Scanner scan = new Scanner("empFile");
    while(scan.hasNext()){
    }
}