Logic Error: Not Writing To File

[JDCAce]

I know I've been asking a lot of questions lately, but just bear with me if you can.

For some reason, my program is not writing to file like it should. Well, it's not writing to file at all. I receive no error; I notice it only when my program tries to read what it should have written. Here is the section of my program I believe is pertinent to this problem:

In Exercise.java:

  /**
   * Handle button clicks.
   * @param e the event
   */
  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
  {
    try
    {
      reader = new Scanner(new BufferedReader(new FileReader("exerciselog.txt")));
      writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("exerciselog.txt"));

      // ...

      // Should read from the file
      else if(e.getSource().equals(showStatsButton))
      {
        if(user != null)
        {
          user.readUser(userField.getText(), reader);
        }
        else
        {
          JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "You must enter a User Name and submit it first.");
        }
      }
      // Should write to the file
      else if(e.getSource().equals(enterButton))
      {
        user.addExercise(Integer.parseInt(timeField.getText()), dateField.getText(),
                typeField.getText(), writer);
      }
    }
    catch(FileNotFoundException ex)
    {
      Logger.getLogger(Exercise.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
    }
    catch(IOException ex)
    {
      Logger.getLogger(Exercise.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
    }
    finally
    {
      try
      {
        reader.close();
        writer.close();
      }
      catch(IOException ex)
      {
        Logger.getLogger(Exercise.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
      }
    }
  }

In User.java:

  /**
   * Add a new exercise.
   * @param t the amount of time exercised in minutes
   * @param d the date of the exercise
   * @param e type of exercise
   * @param bw BufferedWriter to be used
   * @throws IOException
   */
  public void addExercise(int t, String d, String e, BufferedWriter bw) throws IOException
  {
    time += t;
    bw.append(name + "::" + e + "::" + d + "::" + time + "::\n");
  }

  /**
   * Read exercise information from a file.
   * @param n the name of the exerciser to be read
   * @param s the Scanner to be used
   * @throws IOException
   */
  public void readUser(String n, Scanner s) throws IOException
  {
    name = n;
    
    s.useDelimiter("::");
    s.next(n);
    type = s.next();
    date = s.next();
    time = Integer.parseInt(s.next());
    
    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Name: " + n +
            "\nExercise: " + type + "\nDate: " + date + "\nTime: " + time);
  }

[racerxadam]

I'm not very familiar with BufferedWriter, but it seems from looking at the API doc that you should be calling one of the write methods of the BufferedWriter object to actually get it to write to the file.

[Norm]

Have you tried debugging the code by adding println()s to show execution flow?

Why are you using the append() method?

[JDCAce]

It was my understanding append() wrote to the end of the file (which is what I want). In case that wasn't the case, I tried write(); it gave the same error. That is, it didn't write to file.

I tried adding a println() statement to addExercise(), the method that should be writing. addExercise() is receiving the parameters correctly. I also added println() statements to the addExercise() call, to readUser(), and to the readUser() call. All println() statements print out correctly.

[Fubarable]

If you are in fact trying to write the end of a file, to append to an already existing file, do you need to change your constructor call on your FileWriter anonymous object? Do you need to add a boolean "true" parameter to this call (check the API for more details)?

[racerxadam]

What error did it give? append only appends things to the bufferedwriter, it doesn't actually write.

Check HERE to see what methods are available to the bufferedWriter

[JDCAce]

Ah! Thank you, Fubarable! I added the "true" parameter to the FileWriter constructor, and now it works.