Comp Sci Weird File Output behavior in java

[nhartung]

Homework Statement

I've implemented RSA and just need to print some stats and write to files.

Homework Equations

My solution works fine when I provide an input file, however, if I let it read from standard input there is no output written to either of my output files. Reading works regardless. I really have no idea what is going on here. I'm not really familiar with java IO so i figure I must be doing something wrong here.

The Attempt at a Solution

public static void main(String args[]) {
		String message = new String();
		String outFile = "out.txt"; // Default output file.
		// If no arguments are provided then standard input is used to collect input.
		if(args.length == 0) {
			System.out.println("No input file provided, using standard input: ");
			Scanner stdIn = new Scanner(System.in);
			message = stdIn.nextLine();
		}
		// If one or 2 arguments are provided the first is assumed to be an input text file.
		if(args.length == 1 || args.length == 2) {
			FileInputStream fin;		
			String line;
			try {
				// Opening file
				System.out.println("Opening file " + args[0] + " ...");
			    fin = new FileInputStream (args[0]);
			    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(fin));
			    line = reader.readLine();
			    System.out.println("Reading from file... ");
			    // Getting data from file
			    while(line != null) {
			    	message += line;
			    	line = reader.readLine();
			    }
			    // Closing file
			    fin.close();
			}
			// Unable to read file, using Standard Input instead.
			catch (IOException e) {
				System.err.println ("Unable to read from file, \"" + args[0] + "\" , using standard input instead: ");
				Scanner stdIn = new Scanner(System.in);
				message = stdIn.nextLine();
			}
		}
		// The second parameter is assumed to be an output text file to store the cipherText output.
		if(args.length == 2) {
			outFile = args[1];
		}
		// Invalid usage, exiting.
		if(args.length > 2) {
			System.out.println("Too many arguments. Usage: RSA [inputFilename] [outputFilename]\nEnd.");
			return;
		}
		// Init RSA
		SecureRandom random = new SecureRandom();
		RSA test = new RSA(NBITS, NBITS, random);
		System.out.println("Checking if computed RSA values are secure...");
		// Check is RSA values are secure
		if(test.isSecure()) {
			System.out.println("RSA values are secure continuing with Encryption...");
			System.out.println("Encrypting " + message.length() + " bytes of data...");
			long startEncrypt = System.currentTimeMillis();
			// Encrypt message
			BigInteger[] out = test.encryptString(message);
			long endEncrypt = System.currentTimeMillis();
			System.out.println("Encryption completed in " + (endEncrypt - startEncrypt) + " ms.");
			//Write CipherText to file.
			try {
				FileWriter fout;	
				// Opening file
				System.out.println("Opening file \"" + outFile + "\" ...");
			    fout = new FileWriter(outFile);
			    BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(fout);
			    
			    System.out.println("Writing ciphertext to file = \"" + outFile + "\".");
			    // Parsing through ciphertext blocks
			    for(int i = 0; i < out.length; i++) {
			    	//System.out.println("Writing: " + out[i].toString());
			    	writer.write(out[i].toString());
			    }
			    // Closing file
			    fout.close();	
			    System.out.println("Finished writing to \"" + outFile + "\".");
			}
			// Error opening output file
			catch (IOException e) {
				System.err.println ("Unable to open file \"" + outFile  + "\"Ciphertext will not be written.");
			}
			System.out.println("Decrypting " + message.length() + " bytes of data...");
			long startDecrypt = System.currentTimeMillis();
			// Decrypt message
			String plainText = test.decryptString(out);
			long endDecrypt = System.currentTimeMillis();
			System.out.println("Decryption completed in " + (endDecrypt - startDecrypt) + " ms.");
			// Write plainText to file
			try {
				FileWriter foutf;	
				// Opening file
				System.out.println("Opening file \"" + "plainTextOut.txt" + "\" to ensure encyption/decryption occurred without error.");
			    foutf = new FileWriter("plainTextOut.txt");
			    BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(foutf);
			    
			    System.out.println("Writing plainText to file \"" + "plainTextOut.txt" + "\".");
			    // Write plaintext to file.
			    //System.out.println("Writing: " + plainText);
			    writer.write(plainText);
			    // Closing file
			    foutf.close();	
			    System.out.println("Finished writing to \"" + "plainTextOut.txt" + "\".");
			}
			// Error opening output file
			catch (IOException e) {
				System.err.println ("Unable to open file \"" + "plaintTextOut.txt."  + "\"Plaintext will not be written.");
			}
		}
		else
			System.out.println("RSA values are not secure, please try again.");
	}

Probably worth noting that output to files only works on Eclipse. When I tried to run it on my schools linux server output doesn't work even if I provide it an input file..

 

[nhartung]

Nevermind. I resolved this issue. Apparently you need to call the BufferedWriter's flush() member. Strange that it was working in certain scenarios though.