o7planning

Java OutputStream Tutorial with Examples

  1. OutputStream
  2. write(int)
  3. write(byte[])
  4. write(byte[], int, int)
  5. close()
  6. flush()

1. OutputStream

OutputStream is a class in java.io package, which is a base class representing a stream of bytes to write bytes to a target, such as file.
public abstract class OutputStream implements Closeable, Flushable
Basically, you cannot use OutputStream class directly because it is an abstract class. But in a particular case you can use one of its subclasses.
OutputStream methods
public static OutputStream nullOutputStream()   
 
public abstract void write(int b) throws IOException
public void write(byte b[]) throws IOException  
public void write(byte b[], int off, int len) throws IOException  

public void flush() throws IOException  
public void close() throws IOException

2. write(int)

public abstract void write(int b) throws IOException
Writes one byte to OutputStream. b parameter is the unsigned code of byte, which is an integer between 0 and 255. If value of b is out of the above range, it will be ignored.
OutputStream_write_ex1.java
package org.o7planning.outputstream.ex;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;

public class OutputStream_write_ex1 {

    // Windows path: C:/Somedirectory/out-file.txt
    private static final String file_path = "/Volumes/Data/test/out-file.txt";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        File file = new File(file_path);
        // Create parent folder:
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();

        // FileOutputStream  
        OutputStream os = new FileOutputStream(file);
       
        // 'J'
        os.write((int)'J'); // 74
        
        // 'P'
        os.write('P'); // 80 (Automatically converted to int)
        
        // '日' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [230, 151, 165]
        os.write(230);  
        os.write(151);  
        os.write(165);  
        
        // '本' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [230, 156, 172]
        os.write(230);    
        os.write(156);     
        os.write(172);     
        
        // '-'
        os.write('-');  // 45 (Automatically converted to int)
        
        // '八' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [229, 133, 171]
        os.write(229);    
        os.write(133);    
        os.write(171);    
        
        // '洲' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [230, 180, 178]
        os.write(230);  
        os.write(180);  
        os.write(178);   
        
        // Close
        os.close();
    }
}
Output:
out-file.txt
JP日本-八洲
UTF-8 files use 1, 2, 3 or 4 bytes to store a character. The image below shows the bytes on the newly created file.

3. write(byte[])

public void write(byte[] b) throws IOException
Writes a byte array to OutputStream.
OutputStream_write_ex2.java
package org.o7planning.outputstream.ex;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;

public class OutputStream_write_ex2 {

    // Windows path: C:/Somedirectory/out-file.txt
    private static final String file_path = "/Volumes/Data/test/out-file.txt";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        File file = new File(file_path);
        // Create parent folder:
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();

        // FileOutputStream
        OutputStream writer = new FileOutputStream(file);  
        
        byte[] bytes = new byte[] { 'J', 'P', //
                         (byte)230, (byte)151, (byte)165, // '日' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [230, 151, 165]
                         (byte)230, (byte)156, (byte)172, // '本' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [230, 156, 172]
                         '-', //
                         (byte)229, (byte)133, (byte)171, // '八' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [229, 133, 171]
                         (byte)230, (byte)180, (byte)178, // '洲' = 3 bytes UTF-8: [230, 180, 178]
                         };  
        
        writer.write(bytes);  
        // Close
        writer.close();
    }
}
Output:
out-file.txt
JP日本-八洲

4. write(byte[], int, int)

public void write(byte b[], int offset, int len) throws IOException
Write part of a byte array to OutputStream. Write bytes from offset index to offset+len index.
OutputStream_write_ex3.java
package org.o7planning.outputstream.ex;

import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;

public class OutputStream_write_ex3 {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        
        // ByteArrayOutputStream is a subclass of OutputStream.
        OutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();  
        
        byte[] bytes = new byte[] {'0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9'};
        
        outputStream.write(bytes, 2, 5); // '2', ...'6'
        
        String s = outputStream.toString();
        System.out.println(s);
        
        outputStream.close();
    }
}
Output:
23456

5. close()

public void close() throws IOException
The close() method is used to close this stream, the flush() method will be called first. Once the stream has been closed, further write() or flush() invocations will cause an IOException to be thrown. Closing a previously closed stream has no effect.
public interface Closeable extends AutoCloseable
Writer class implements Closeable interface. If you write code according to the rules of AutoCloseable, system will automatically close the stream for you without having to call close() method directly.
OutputStream_close_ex1.java
package org.o7planning.outputstream.ex;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;

public class OutputStream_close_ex1 {

    // Windows path: C:/Somedirectory/out-file.txt
    private static final String file_path = "/Volumes/Data/test/out-file.txt";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        File file = new File(file_path);
        // Create parent folder:
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();

        try (OutputStream writer = new FileOutputStream(file)) {
            writer.write((int) '1');
            writer.write('2');
            writer.write((int) '3');
        }
    }
}
  • Java Closeable

6. flush()

public void flush() throws IOException
The data that you write to OutputStream is sometimes temporarily stored on the buffer. flush() method is used to flush the data into the target.
You can read BufferedOutputStream article below to understand more about flush() method.
If the intended destination of this OutputStream is an abstraction provided by the underlying operating system, for example a file, then flushing the stream guarantees only that bytes previously written to the stream are passed to the operating system for writing; it does not guarantee that they are actually written to a physical device such as a disk drive.

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