Following is a small section of the code I am using, along with the syntax of the text file I am using. (I am fairly sure both are grossly overcomplicated, but I am not exactly sure how to simplify them.)

```
        while((line = bufferedReader.readLine()) != null) 
        {

            if(line.split("@@")[0].equals(lineNumber))
            {
                numberOfLines = Integer.parseInt(line.split("@@")[1]);
                spaceSkip = 1;
                worked = 0;
            }

            if(spaceSkip == 0)
            {
                if(numberOfLines > 0)
                {
                    System.out.println(line);
                    numberOfLines--;
                }
            }

            spaceSkip = 0;
        }

```

And the format of the text file is: 
1@@2@@3@@0
Text goes below it,
and can span multiple lines. 

The 3 and 0 do not come into play here. The intent is for the program to search for the number selected and match it to the first number, 1 in this case. The second number is the number of lines to read. In the code, I have "spaceSkip" so that it does not read the indexing line.

Explanations aside, the issue I am having is that `line.split("@@")[0].equals(lineNumber)` seems to be reading false. I have printed both out to the screen at the same time, and both equal 1, but it is still returning an error message I included. ("worked = 0;" is what keeps the error from triggering.) I am certain it is a stupidly simple mistake I am making here, but I still am unable to figure it out. Thank you in advance.