Weird bufferedWriter behavior.

Hello, I'm having weird behavior from the bufferedWriter class.
Basically, If I do a System.out.print(text) and a fileWriter.write(text) they produce different results.

The system.out will create something like this:

[0] table [999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999] via [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,]

and the fileWriter will do this:

せ⁝慴汢⁥㥛㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹崬瘠慩嬠ⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰ⁝਍せ⁝慴汢⁥㥛㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹㤬㤹崬瘠慩嬠ⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰ⁝਍せ⁝慴汢⁥せㄬ崬瘠慩嬠ⰰⰱⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰ⁝਍せ⁝慴汢⁥せㄬ崬瘠慩嬠ⰰⰱⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰⰰ਍

The really weird thing is that in notepad++ the output from fileWriter is fine but when I open in regular notepad I get these Korean symbols.. Anyone know what I can do to have consistent output?

Thanks for your feedback, I'm pretty new here so I hope I didn't break any forum rules :p.

Welcome to the Ranch.

Can you show us the code that produces this difference? It's a bit hard to say what's wrong without seeing the code.

Thanks for the welcome! It's cool to find a community like this.

So, I'm trying to update log files and for the most part what I am writing to to log files comes from
the Util.printdv(); method. This was provided by my instructor and I have no access to the source
code, only a jar file. I can only assume that is correct.

I have also tried by generating my own text for the log with for loops and such but I still get the same
results... Korean text, lol.

static BufferedWriter fileWriter = null;
	
	public static void main(String[] args)
	{			
		try 
		{
			if(init(args) != 0)
				return;		
			
			//Wait for the response to the "hello packet" and update your distance vector based off 
			//the response packet's minCost array.
			while(!HelloResponseReceived)
			{
				//Generate the hello packet and send it to NEM
				packet = new DVRInfo(ROUTER_ID,NEM_ID,0,DVRInfo.PKT_HELLO);	
				sendUdpPacket(packet,NEM_HOST);
				
				//Check if a valid packet has been received
				packet = receivedUdpPacket();				
				if(packet != null)
				{
					minCost = packet.mincost;
					HelloResponseReceived = true;
				}
			}
			//Terminate the program.
			terminate();
		} 
		catch (SocketTimeoutException e) {
			System.out.println("SocketTimeoutException: " + e.getMessage());
			return;
		} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
			System.out.println("File not found: " + e.getMessage());
			return;
		} catch (IOException e) {
			System.out.println("IO Exception: " + e.getMessage());
			return;
		}			
	}
			
	protected static void sendUdpPacket(DVRInfo info,String hostName) throws IOException
	{
		InetAddress toAddress = InetAddress.getByName(hostName);				 				
		DatagramPacket packet = new DatagramPacket(info.getBytes(),info.getBytes().length,toAddress,NEM_PORT);
		boolean sentSuccessful = false;
		
		while(!sentSuccessful)
		{
			try
			{
				socket.send(packet);
				sentSuccessful = true;
			}
			catch(SocketTimeoutException e)
			{
				//System.out.println("SocketTimeoutException: " + e.getMessage());
			}
		}
		System.out.println("Sent Packet:\r\n"+new String(packet.getData(),0,packet.getLength()));		
		updateLog("Sent: "+Util.printdv(ROUTER_ID,minCost,nextHop)+"\r\n");
	}
	
	protected static DVRInfo receivedUdpPacket() throws IOException
	{
		byte[] recvBuf = new byte[1024];		
		DatagramPacket packet = new DatagramPacket(recvBuf, recvBuf.length);		
		
		try
		{
			socket.receive(packet);
		}
		catch(SocketTimeoutException e)
		{
			//System.out.println("SocketTimeoutException: " + e.getMessage());
			return null;
		}
		
		String recvStr = new String(recvBuf, 0, packet.getLength());
		System.out.println("Packet Recieved:\r\n" + recvStr);
		
		updateLog("Received: "+Util.printdv(ROUTER_ID,minCost,nextHop)+"\r\n");
		return new DVRInfo(packet.getData());
	}
		
	protected static void generateLog() throws IOException
	{		
		//open the log file for writing
		fileWriter = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("Log"+Integer.toString(ROUTER_ID)+".log"));		
	}
	
	protected static void updateLog(String text) throws IOException
	{		
		System.out.println(text);
		fileWriter.write(text);
	}
	
	protected static int init(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException
	{					
		//Create the log file
		generateLog();
		return 0;
	}
	
	protected static void terminate() throws IOException
	{
		//update log with final distance vector	
		updateLog(Util.printdv(ROUTER_ID,minCost,nextHop)+"\r\n");
		
		//close the log file
		fileWriter.flush();
		fileWriter.close();
	}
}

Which encoding are you using? that might be a wrong encoding problem. Have a look at the amusing Joel Spolsky article about it.

I got it to work by realizing I was writing the wrong message and should have been using a toString method instead.
I still don't know what exactly caused the problem though :p.
Very interesting article. I learned quite a bit.

Thanks for the help!

You’re welcome