How to Prevent PrintWriter from overwriting a file in Java

Question

How can i prevent prinwriter in java from overwriting what's inside of that particular file?

Ex. I have a student.txt file. I already have few names there. After running and modifying this How do I create a file and write to it in Java? whats inside of that file will be overwritten. I just want to add it to the new line.

Also, how can i possibly perform search?

Yeah, but I haven't answered the "how can I perform search" part of the question. Nor will I, because it's far too broad. — Dawood ibn Kareem, Feb 18 '14 at 21:06
OP - I recommend you think more about what you're asking with the second part of your question. It's currently far too vague. When you're clear in your own mind about what you want to search for and how the search should work, then post a new question. Meanwhile, you could accept anycard's (truly inspired :-)) answer. — Dawood ibn Kareem, Feb 18 '14 at 21:14
@David Wallace - Sorry, I only saw your comment/answer after I posted my answer. — anycard, Feb 18 '14 at 21:16
It's OK, @anycard, I'm just teasing you. It's not your fault that I was too lazy to post a proper answer. I upvoted you, for what it's worth. — Dawood ibn Kareem, Feb 18 '14 at 21:17

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 18 '14 at 21:09

6

PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter("student.txt", true));

The true is the append parameter - which indicates whether the FileWriter should append to the file. If it was false it would overwrite existing data in the file.

What do you mean by "how can i possibly perform search"?

answered Feb 18 '14 at 21:09

anycard

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tnx. this answers my first question. I mean how can i possibly search for a data in that file? – user3258603 Feb 18 '14 at 21:12
@user3258603 - Read the file, scan for the data. – Hot Licks Feb 18 '14 at 21:13
If you're looking for a string in the text file, you can use a Scanner object to read in data from the file and compare it to the string you are searching for. Can you be more specific... – anycard Feb 18 '14 at 21:15

How to Prevent PrintWriter from overwriting a file in Java

1 Answers1