The java.io.File class is changed so that an instance of File created from the empty abstract pathname ("") now behaves consistently like a File created from the current user directory. Long standing behavior was for some methods to fail for the empty pathname. The change means that the canRead, exists, and isDirectory methods return true instead of failing with false, and the getFreeSpace, lastModified, and length methods return the expected values instead of zero. Methods such as setReadable and setLastModified will attempt to change the file's attributes instead of failing. WIth this change, java.io.File now matches the behavior of the java.nio.file API.