Java: BufferedWriter skipping newline

Question

I am using the following function to write a string to a File. The string is formatted with newline characters.

For example, text = "sometext\nsomemoretext\nlastword";

I am able to see the newline characters of the output file when I do:

type outputfile.txt

However, when I open the text in notepad I can't see the newlines. Everything shows up in a single line.

Why does this happen. How can I make sure that I write the text properly to be able to see correctly (formatted) in notepad.

    private static void FlushText(String text, File file)
    {
        Writer writer = null;
        try
        {          
            writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(file));
            writer.write(text);
        }
        catch (FileNotFoundException e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } 
        finally
        {
            try
            {
                if (writer != null)
                {
                    writer.close();
                }
            } 
            catch (IOException e)
            {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }

Answer 1

On windows, new-lines are represented, by convention, as a carriage-return followed by a line-feed (CR + LF), i.e. \r\n.

From the Newline wikipedia page:

Text editors are often used for converting a text file between different newline formats; most modern editors can read and write files using at least the different ASCII CR/LF conventions. The standard Windows editor Notepad is not one of them (although Wordpad is).

Notepad should display the output correctly if you change the string to:

text = "sometext\r\nsomemoretext\r\nlastword";

If you want a platform-independent way of representing a new-line, use System.getProperty("line.separator"); For the specific case of a BufferedWriter, go with what bemace suggests.

Answer 2

This is why you should use BufferedWriter.newLine() instead of hardcoding your line separators. It will take care of picking the correct version for whatever platform you're currently working on.