Redirecting System.out to a variable.

Hobbes

Ok I know how to redirect System.out to a file.

FileOutputStream fos = null;;
try {
   fos = new FileOutputStream("c:\\myTest.txt");
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
   e.printStackTrace();
}
PrintStream out = new PrintStream(fos);
System.setOut(out);

I am curious how do you set it so that System.out will write to String or Stringbuffer?

aidan_walsh

You'll need to create a custom version of the String or Stringbuffer classes that extend PrintStream.

Hobbes

Nevermind finally figured it out.

ByteArrayOutputStream byteStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
System.setOut(new PrintStream(byteStream, true));

System.out.println("Hello World"); 

String capturedText = byteStream.toString();

Now I just have to figure out how to reset the System.out back to the way it was.

[edit]

Woot.. found that too. Thanks everyone.

// Resets System.out back to the way it was.
		System.setOut(
				new PrintStream(
				new BufferedOutputStream(
				new FileOutputStream(
				java.io.FileDescriptor.out), 128), true));