How can I check if an InputStream is empty without reading from it?

Question

I want to know if an InputStream is empty, but without using the method read(). Is there a way to know if it\'s empty without reading from it?

Answer 1

If the InputStream you're using supports mark/reset support, you could also attempt to read the first byte of the stream and then reset it to its original position:

input.mark(1);
final int bytesRead = input.read(new byte[1]);
input.reset();
if (bytesRead != -1) {
    //stream not empty
} else {
    //stream empty
} 

If you don't control what kind of InputStream you're using, you can use the markSupported() method to check whether mark/reset will work on the stream, and fall back to the available() method or the java.io.PushbackInputStream method otherwise.