3 streams System.in, System.out, and System.err

Java IO: System.in, System.out, and System.error

The 3 streams System.in, System.out, and System.err are also common sources or destinations of data. Most commonly used is probably System.out for writing output to the console from console programs.

These 3 streams are initialized by the Java runtime when a JVM starts up, so you don't have to instantiate any streams yourself (although you can exchange them at runtime).

Simple System.out + System.err Example:

Here is a simple example that uses System.out and System.err:

try {
  InputStream input = new FileInputStream("c:\\data\\...");
  System.out.println("File opened...");

} catch (IOException e){
  System.err.println("File opening failed:");
  e.printStackTrace();
}

Exchanging System Streams

Even if the 3 System streams are static members of the java.lang.System class, and are pre-instantiated at JVM startup, you can change what streams to use for each of them. Just set a new InputStream for System.in or a new OutputStream for System.out or System.err, and all further data will be read / written to the new stream.

To set a new System stream, use one of th emethods System.setIn(), System.setOut() or System.setErr(). Here is a simple example:

OutputStream output = new FileOutputStream("c:\\data\\system.out.txt");
PrintStream printOut = new PrintStream(output);

System.setOut(printOut);

Now all data written to System.out should be redirected into the file "c:\\data\\system.out.txt". Keep in mind though, that you should make sure to flush System.out and close the file before the JVM shuts down, to be sure that all data written to System.out is actually flushed to the file.