Java: How to write csv file from ArrayList

Question

I have an ArrayList (actually an ArrayList of ArrayLists), each with ints, doubles, and Strings. I would like to write these to a csv file.

It seems that PrintWriter requires the data to be a CharSequence. Alternatively, when I try to use the write() function of BufferedWriter, it requires that I specify the type, e.g. int or String.

Is there a way I can write different types to a csv file? If possible, I would prefer to avoid 3rd-party utilities.

LJ2 · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-26 20:53:56Z

1

A CSV file doesn't care what the value types are, so you should just write all of your data as strings. For the non-string values, this is as simple as

printWriter.write("" + <integer or float variable>);

answered Jul 26, 2012 at 20:53

LJ2

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Jon Taylor · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-26 20:51:32Z

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You need to convert each type that you want to output into a String representation before hand. If it is a class of your own you are trying to convert to a String create a public String toString() method for it which will automatically be called when appending to a string or passing to anything that requires a String.

answered Jul 26, 2012 at 20:51

Jon Taylor

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Thierry · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-26 20:51:40Z

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Use String.valueof(elementList) before writing to convert each value in String ?

answered Jul 26, 2012 at 20:51

Thierry

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