Creating an uneditable data file in Java

Question

I am currently writing a program which takes user input and creates rows of a comma delimited .csv file. I am in need of a way to save this data in a way in which users are not able to easily edit this data. It does not need to be super secure, just enough so that it couldn't accidentally be edited. I also need another file (or the same file?) created to then be easily accessible (in the file system) by the user so that they may then email this file to a system admin who can then open the .csv file. I could provide this second person with a conversion program if necessary.

The file I save data in and the file to be sent can be two different files if there are any advantages to this. I was currently considering just using a file with a weird file extension, but saving it as a text file so that the user will only be able to open it if they know to try that. The other option being some sort of encryption, but I'm not sure if this is necessary and even if it was where I would start.

Thanks for the help :)

Edit: This file is meant to store the actual data being entered. Currently the data is being gathered on paper forms which are then sent to the admin to manually enter all of the data. This little app is meant to have someone else enter the data from the paper form and then tell them if they've entered it all correctly. After they've entered it all they then need to send the data to the admin. It would be preferable if the sending was handled automatically, but this app needs to be very simple and low budget and I don't want an internet connection to be a requirement.

Answer 1

You could store your data in a serializable object and save that. It would resist casual editing and be very simple to read and write from your app. This page should get you started: http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/serialization/