Android studio, open a file , continuously write and then close

Question

I have code that is generating data every second and displaying onscreen. This all works fine but I want to create a log file of all the data to analyze later.

I can open/write/close a file each time data is created but I am unsure of how much processing power this is using as it is continually opening and closing the file

  String data= reading1","+reading2+","+time +"/n";
        try {
            FileOutputStream out = openFileOutput("data.csv", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
            out.write(data.getBytes());
            out.close();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();

I would prefer to have the file open when the start button is clicked.

if ( v.getId() == R.id.start ){
                // checks which button is clicked
                Log.d("dennis", "Scan working"); //logs the text
                // open a file
                try {
                    FileOutputStream out = openFileOutput("data.csv", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
                } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }

but when it comes to closing the file, no options for .close() appear when out is typed

if ( v.getId() == R.id.stop ){
                // checks which button is clicked

                out. // no valid options appear
                messageValue.setText(R.string.stopButtonText);// changes the hallo world text
                readNoRead=false;

            }

Does all the open/write/close need to be together or is it possible to

***open file***
-----
Cycle through all the data
-----
***Close file***

Answer 1

You should store a link to your FileOutputStream on top level in your class.

Example to your code:

FileOutputStream out;

void clickStart() {
    if (v.getId() == R.id.start){
        // checks which button is clicked
        Log.d("dennis", "Scan working"); //logs the text
        // open a file
        try {
            out = openFileOutput("data.csv", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
        } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
}

void writeData() {
    String data= reading1+","+reading2+","+time +"/n";
    try {
        out.write(data.getBytes());
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

void clickStop() {
    if (v.getId() == R.id.stop) {
        try {
            out.close();
        } catch(IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        messageValue.setText(R.string.stopButtonText);// changes the hello world text
            readNoRead=false;
        }
}