BufferedInputStream and Blocking

Question

I am using a BufferedInputStream to read from a socket. The BufferedInputStream reads as follows:

socketInput.read(replyBuffer, 0, 7);

It is instantiated by

socketInput = new BufferedInputStream(mySocket.getInputStream());

mySocket is defined as private Socket mySocket;

mySocket is instantiated by mySocket = new Socket(ipAddress, port);

I have verified that mySocket is connected to my device. I can send data to my device; however, I am not receiving from my device for unknown reasons but that is not the problem.

I want my BufferedInputStream to return after say 100ms if it does not read any data. Can the BufferedInputStream be setup to do this? Right now, it blocks indefinitely.

Answer 1

It's generally a bad idea to use a buffered stream for reading from a socket, for exactly this reason: it will wait forever if it doesn't see enough data to fill its internal buffer (which is going to be larger than 7 characters!) There's no way to make it time out. Just use the SocketInputStream directly, and the problem goes away.

Answer 2

Specify 100ms timeout for your socket. setSoTimeout