Thread: Writing code to save in a file... help please

I am taking java for a course at school and my assignment is to write my code including the PrintWriter option and make it save to another file. I have written the code, it is running with no errors, but when it is all complete, the code is not being saved to the designated file. Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

// allows message box to pop up
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
// allows the use of random number generator
import java.util.Random;
// allows the print writer and the IO Exception
import java.io.*;

class PetFinal {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException

{


PrintWriter pet = new PrintWriter("I:\ComClasses\2013SP\gcharles\COM-152-SAS03\rchristensen\Assignment.txt");


// declaring the names for the integers in the loops
// random generator int to store the value
int rantimes;
// code for random number generator
Random randomnumbers = new Random();
// string for first user input loop
String timesstr;
// int for the user input loop
int times;


PetFinalTest p = new PetFinalTest();

// telling the code where to get the type, name, and age from
p.setType(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What type of pet do you have?"));

// get pets name
p.setName(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is your pets name?"));

// Receive the pets age

p.setAge(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("How old is your pet?"));

// how many times the pet should be moving
timesstr =(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("How many times do you want " + p.getName() + " to be " + p.getMove()));

times =Integer.parseInt(timesstr);


//Output to the user telling them their pets name, type, and age
pet.println("My pet is a " + p.getType());
pet.println("The name of your pet is " + p.getName());
pet.println("He is " + p.getAge() + " years old");
pet.println("Your pet will move " + times + " times");
pet.println(p.getSound());
pet.println(p.getsit());
rantimes = randomnumbers.nextInt(10) + 1 ;

// loop controlled by user
do
{
pet.println(p.getMove());
// counts down to 0 so we do not have an infinite loop
times --;
}
while (times > 0);// stops at 0

pet.println("Your pet will move " + rantimes + " times");
// random number generator loop
do
{
pet.println(p.getMove());
rantimes = rantimes - 1;

}
while (rantimes > 0);

pet.close();

}

}

PetFinalTest class is missing from the code you posted.

PrintWriter needs to write, but that part is not here.

(are you using java 1.7 or and older version?)

Im using jcreator 4.5.... and my professor said we can leave the class file alone, but here it is...:

// private code
class PetFinalTest {
//methods
private String Type;
private String Age;
private String Name;
private String Sound;
private String Move;
private int Go;


// telling where to call the string type from
public void setGo(int go)
{
Go= go;
}
public int getGo ()
{
return Go;
}
public void setMove(String move)
{
Move = move;
}
public String getMove()
{
return Move;
}
public void setSound(String sound)
{
Sound = sound;
}
public String getSound()
{
return Sound;
}
public void setType(String type)

{
Type = type;
switch (Type)
{
case ("dog"):
Move = "Running";
break;
case ("cat"):
Move = "Chasing";
break;
case ("bird"):
Move = "Flying";
break;

}
if (type.equalsIgnoreCase("dog"))
{
Sound = "woof";
}
else if (type.equalsIgnoreCase("cat"))
{
Sound = "meow";
}
else if (type.equalsIgnoreCase("bird"))
{
Sound = "Chirp";
}
else
{
Sound = "I am making a sound";
}
}

public String getType()
{
return Type;
}
// where we should get age from
public void setAge(String age)
{
Age = age;
}
public String getAge()
{
return Age;
}
// where we should get name from
public void setName(String name)
{
Name = name;
}
public String getName()
{
return Name;

}
public String getsit()
{
return "I'm sitting down";
}
}

I have a file named Assignment.txt in the designated folder that i put in my PrintWriter pet = new PrintWriter(......), its a notepad document, and what i mean is that the code is being executed, but what we learned in class is that after you execute the code it will save the output into the designated area instead of the general output window provided with jcreator

 // allows message box to pop up
 import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
 // allows the use of random number generator
 import java.util.Random;
 // allows the print writer and the IO Exception
 import java.io.*;
 
class PetFinal {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
 
{
 
 
	PrintWriter pet = new PrintWriter("I:\ComClasses\2013SP\gcharles\COM-152-SAS03\rchristensen\Assignment.txt");
 
 
	// declaring the names for the integers in the loops
		// random generator int to store the value
		int rantimes;
		// code for random number generator
		Random randomnumbers = new Random(); 
		// string for first user input loop
		String timesstr;
		//  int for the user input loop
		int times;
 
 
    	PetFinalTest p = new PetFinalTest();
 
    	// telling the code where to get the type, name, and age from
    	p.setType(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What type of pet do you have?"));
 
    	// get pets name
    	p.setName(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is your pets name?"));
 
    	// Receive the pets age
 
    	p.setAge(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("How old is your pet?"));
 
    	// how many times the pet should be moving
    	timesstr =(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("How many times do you want " + p.getName() + " to be " + p.getMove()));
 
    	times =Integer.parseInt(timesstr);
 
 
    	//Output to the user telling them their pets name, type, and age
    	pet.println("My pet is a " + p.getType());
    	pet.println("The name of your pet is " + p.getName());
     	pet.println("He is " + p.getAge() + " years old");
       	pet.println("Your pet will move " + times + " times");
    	pet.println(p.getSound());
   		pet.println(p.getsit());
    	rantimes = randomnumbers.nextInt(10) + 1 ;
 
    	// loop controlled by user
    	do
    	{	
    		pet.println(p.getMove());
    		// counts down to 0 so we do not have an infinite loop
    		times --;
    	    	}
    	while (times > 0);// stops at 0
 
    	pet.println("Your pet will move " + rantimes + " times");
    	// random number generator loop
    	do
    	{
    		pet.println(p.getMove());
    		rantimes = rantimes - 1;
 
    	}
    	while (rantimes > 0);
 
    	 pet.flush();
    	 pet.close();
 
    }
 
}

// private code
class PetFinalTest {
	//methods
	private String Type;
	private String Age;
	private String Name;
	private String Sound;
	private String Move;
	private int Go;
 
 
	// telling where to call the string type from
	public void setGo(int go)
	{
		Go= go;
	}
	public int getGo ()
	{
		return Go;
	}
	public void setMove(String move)
	{
		Move = move;
	}
	public String getMove()
	{
		return Move;
	}
	public void setSound(String sound)
	{
			Sound = sound;
	}
	public String getSound()
	{
		return Sound;
		}
	public void setType(String type)
 
	{
			Type = type;
		switch (Type)
		{
			case ("dog"):
				Move = "Running";
					break;
			case ("cat"):
				Move = "Chasing";
				break;
			case ("bird"):
				Move = "Flying";
				break;
 
		}
		if (type.equalsIgnoreCase("dog"))
		{
					Sound = "woof";
		}
		else if (type.equalsIgnoreCase("cat"))
		{	
			Sound = "meow";
		}
		else if (type.equalsIgnoreCase("bird"))
		{
			Sound = "Chirp";
		}
		else 
		{
			Sound = "I am making a sound";
		}
	}
 
	public String getType()
	{
		return Type;
	}
	// where we should get age from
	public void setAge(String age)
	{
		Age = age;
	}
	public String getAge()
	{
		return Age;
		}
		// where we should get name from
	public void setName(String name)
	{
		Name = name;
	}
	public String getName()
	{
		return Name;
 
	}
	public String getsit()
	{
	return "I'm sitting down";
	}
	}

Ok so i just found that in my SRC folder its creating the notepad documents, is there a way to get it to open using just the PrintWriter command? or is what i am telling it to do, executing properly?
Sorry im so new to java and can't stand it

when my professor was demonstrating the project, when he finished his code, when it was done executing the notepad document opened itself up... so i thought but i could be wrong
and for your first question: i just rewrote the code now to just say "PrintWriter pet = new PrintWriter("Assignment.txt");" and it is now saving directly to my src folder and i am able to open it through that.

I am now wondering if there is a way that the file will open itself rather than having the user go searching for it.

As I thought, the file path could be wrong. Try changing it from:
"I:\ComClasses\2013SP\gcharles\COM-152-SAS03\rchristensen\Assignment.txt"
to
"I:/ComClasses/2013SP/gcharles/COM-152-SAS03/rchristensen/Assignment.txt"

Whilst you are debugging, you can write the output to the console so you don't have to check the file every time:
PrintWriter pet = new PrintWriter(System.out);

{If you have the latest Java installed, your Prof should be using NIO2 rather than the old IO. Java has improved things.}

I believe i had the assignment doing what the professor needed, so i submitted it. Thanks for your help! I'll be posting on here again I am sure, java really screws me up

If you already submitted your assignment, it's too late to add this but for future reference, your main method contains "throws IOException" but no where in the method do you use either a try-catch-finally block or throw a new exception object. If an error occurs, it will print directly to the console, but you may want to handle it differently, such as a pop-up message via JOptionPane.

Originally Posted by rchrist3

I am now wondering if there is a way that the file will open itself rather than having the user go searching for it.

The PrintWriter class has a .close() method to close the stream but it cannot open the actual notepad document. It is, however, possible to write a separate Java class for it or use something else, such as shell scripting (or PowerShell). Easiest though would be to just open the notepad document yourself.