private boolean readFile(String fileName)
    {
        boolean success = false;
        BufferedReader reader = null;
        try
        {
            FileInputStream file = new FileInputStream(fileName);
            reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(file));

            // read one line at the time
            int line = 1;
            while ( reader.ready() )
            {
                parseValue(reader.readLine(), line);
                line++;
            }

            reader.close();    // close the file
            success = true;
        }
        catch (FileNotFoundException f)
        {
            System.out.println(super.get_name() +
                    ": Error - the file was not found: " + f.getMessage());
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            System.out.println(super.get_name() +
                    ": Error - an IOException occurred: " + e.getMessage());
        }
        finally
        {
            if (reader != null)
            {
                try {
                    reader.close();    // close the file
                }
                catch (IOException e)
                {
                    System.out.println(super.get_name() +
                        ": Error - an IOException occurred: " + e.getMessage());
                }
            }
        }

        return success;
    }