public static String readString(DataInput in) throws IOException {
  int length=WritableUtils.readVInt(in);
  byte[] bytes=new byte[length];
  in.readFully(bytes,0,length);
  return decode(bytes);
}

public static String readString ( DataInput in ) throws IOException { int length = WritableUtils . readVInt ( in ) ; byte [ ] bytes = new byte [ length ] ; in . readFully ( bytes , 0 , length ) ; return decode ( bytes ) ; }
read a utf8 encoded string from in
