Writer in java static method

Question

I have used the writer before but for some reason I am having trouble implementing it in the following method. I have never put the writer in a static method.

    //replace an empty seat with a person in the seating chart
    public static void seatingChart(String seat[]) {
        for(int i = 0; i < seat.length; i++) {  
            if(seat[i]!=null) {
                System.out.print(seat[i] + " ");
            } else {
                System.out.print("empty seat  ");
            }    

            if(i % 8 == 0) {
                System.out.println();
            }
        }
    }

Does anything change for using the writer in java when the method is static compared to when the method is not?

I have only got the writer to print "empty seat" in the notepad once so far.

The final output I want to see in the notepad would be something like this:

empty seat  
empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  
empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  
empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat  empty seat

Depending on what the user enters, some of the empty seats may have a name.

Please give a sample input array and the exact output you're getting when you run it with it. — ChiefTwoPencils, Jun 18 '19 at 23:51
Voting to close since the code in your question isn't even using `writer`. There was no way we were ever going to be able to assist you. — Jason, Jun 18 '19 at 23:56
The code in question does not uses a `writer` but it is pretty clear where the `writer` code needs to go looking at the print statements and the expected output. Not sure if this needs to be a reason to close. — Varun Upadhyay, Jun 19 '19 at 00:00

score -1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 19 '19 at 02:25

You don't need to use a try catch for every single use of the writer. You can just use one.

public static void seatingChart(String seat[]) {
    try(PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter("C:\\Users\\Bryce\\Downloads\\Hola\\SeatingChart.txt", "UTF-8") {

        for (int i = 0; i < seat.length; i++) {
            if (seat[i] != null) {
                System.out.print(seat[i] + " ");
                writer.print(seat[i] + " ");
                writer.print("");
            } else {
                System.out.print("empty seat  ");
                writer.print("empty seat  ");
                writer.print("");
            }

            if (i % 8 == 0) {
                System.out.println();
                writer.println();
                writer.print("");
            }
        }
    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.out.println("Error! " + e.getMessage());
    }
}

and note

try(PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter("C:\\Users\\Bryce\\Downloads\\Hola\\SeatingChart.txt", "UTF-8") {

this is a try with resources, it will automatically close the writer for you.

score -3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 18 '19 at 23:53

Well I figured it out. Probably over complicated but... the answer was:

    // replace an empty seat with a person in the seating chart
    public static void seatingChart(String seat[]) {
        try {
            writer = new PrintWriter("C:\\Users\\Bryce\\Downloads\\Hola\\SeatingChart.txt", "UTF-8");
            } 
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                System.out.println("Error! " + e.getMessage());
            }
        for (int i = 0; i < seat.length; i++) {
            if (seat[i] != null) {
                    try {
                        System.out.print(seat[i] + " ");
                        writer.print(seat[i] + " ");
                        writer.print("");
                    } 
                    catch (Exception e)
                    {
                        System.out.println("Error! " + e.getMessage());
                    }
            } else {
                try {
                    System.out.print("empty seat  ");
                    writer.print("empty seat  ");
                    writer.print("");
                    } 
                    catch (Exception e)
                    {
                        System.out.println("Error! " + e.getMessage());
                    }
            }

            if (i % 8 == 0) {
                try {
                    System.out.println();
                    writer.println();
                    writer.print("");
                    } 
                    catch (Exception e)
                    {
                        System.out.println("Error! " + e.getMessage());
                    }
            }
        }
        writer.close();
    }

and if `writer` throws an `Exception` then you just carry on do you? BTW, not trying to be mean, but this code is disgusting - why on earth do you need so many try/catch blocks — Scary Wombat, Jun 19 '19 at 00:09

Writer in java static method

2 Answers2