Cant get PrintWriter to work

Question

I'm creating a save game file for a game but my PrintWriter just overwrites the file with nothing instead of the numbers I need.

Here's the code:

public void fileWriter() throws FileNotFoundException {
    PrintWriter print = new PrintWriter(new File("C:\\Users\\john\\Desktop\\stats.txt"));
    print.print(String.valueOf(this.swordNumber) + " ");
    print.print(String.valueOf(this.shieldNumber) + " ");
    print.print(String.valueOf(this.monstersDefeated) + " ");
    print.print(String.valueOf(this.damageDealt));
}

I've tried everything to get these variables printed including String.valueOf but its not working.

Answer 1

You should properly use Java's resource try-catch blocks. This will automatically close the stream even if any exception is thrown:

public void fileWriter() throws FileNotFoundException {
    File file = new File("C:\\Users\\john\\Desktop\\stats.txt");
    try (PrintWriter print = new PrintWriter(file)) {
        print.print(Integer.toString(swordNumber) + " ");
        print.print(Integer.toString(shieldNumber) + " ");
        print.print(Integer.toString(monstersDefeated) + " ");
        print.print(Integer.toString(damageDealt));
    }
}

Also rather than String.valueOf() I suggest using Integer.toString() instead to make the type conversion more obvious.