[ale] OT: java filereader question

[J.M. Taylor]

Greetings all,

I need to evaluate a condition and decide whether to open file1 or file2 
based on that condition.  Obviously I can do
if (conditional) {
  FileReader fr = new FileReader("file1");
}
else {
  FileReader fr = new FileReader("file2");
}

However, with my undisciplined scripting language background I would like 
to do something like

File filename = (conditional ? "file1" : "file2");
FileReader fr = new FileReader(filename);

I can do the ternary operator if I declare filename as a String, but then 
FileReader won't open it (the parameter must be a File object). 
  new FileReader((File)filename) 
doesn't work either.

Nor does 
FileReader fr = (conditional ? new FileReader("file1") : new 
FileReader("file2"));

Nor does 
FileReader fr = new FileReader((conditional ? "file1" : "file2")); 

I don't use Java very much, but I like to understand what's going on (and 
why I can and can't do things from language to language) as much as 
possible.  If anybody out there in aleland uses Java and can help me out, 
I would greatly appreciate it.  I won't be offended if you tell me why I'm 
being brain-dead, if that is in fact the case.

Thanks
jenn

-- 
Jenn Taylor
jtaylor at onlinea.com

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