code: public static String stringFromFile(String filename, String encoding) {
      try {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new EncodingFileReader(filename,encoding));
        String line;
        while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
          sb.append(line);
          sb.append(eolChar);
        }
        in.close();
        return sb.toString();
      }
      catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        return null;
      }
    }
docs: Returns the contents of a file as a single string.  The string may be
  empty, if the file is empty.  If there is an IOException, it is caught
  and null is returned.  Encoding can also be specified.