CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javacharnewline
Avagadro's Number
Avagadro's Number

Reputation: 43

How can I store newline character in char variable?

I want to store the newline character in a char variable in Java using the following line:

char newline = "/n";

My compiler returns the following:

error: incompatible data types: String cannot be converted to char

how can I fix or work around this issue?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 10484

Answers (5)

Powerlord
Powerlord

Reputation: 88796

Use single quotes. i.e.

char newline = '\n';

Having said that, Java has a system property for storing the current OS's line break, System.getProperty("line.separator");, which returns a String.

Upvotes: 7

Alex Papageorgiou
Alex Papageorgiou

Reputation: 302

I would like to add to @Powerlords answer and mention that the line separator can, as of Java SE 7, be retrieved using System.lineSeparator() meaning you could just write:

String lineSep = System.lineSeparator();

Keep in mind that the String class does not inherently exist as a primitive in Java in contrast to char as it merely is a class of the standard Java libraries.

This solution is the best for maintaining consistency across Operating Systems as not all OS hold a line separator in a single byte slot (char variable).

Upvotes: 0

Devendra Lattu
Devendra Lattu

Reputation: 2802

As per Oracle Java doc.

Literals of types char and String may contain any Unicode (UTF-16) characters. Always use 'single quotes' for char literals and "double quotes" for String literals.

The escape sequences for char and string are as follows:
\b (backspace), \t (tab), \n (line feed), \f (form feed), \r (carriage return), \" (double quote), \' (single quote), and \\ (backslash).

Therefore, if newline is of datatype char then use char newline = '\n'
Else if newline is of datatype String then use String newline = "\n"

Upvotes: 0

user2513697
user2513697

Reputation:

I think you're using the incorrect escape character. Please replace it like 

String s = "hello "+"\n";

please try and let me know if it helps.

Upvotes: 0

Lew Bloch
Lew Bloch

Reputation: 3433

You asked for a String to be assigned to a char. That will never work. String literals are delineated with the double-quote character, ". Character literals are delineated with the single-quote character, '. In addition, you specified two characters in your string, not one. '/' is one character, and 'n' is another. If you are trying to specify an escape sequence http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.10.6 then you need to use the backslash character, not the forward slash: '\n'.

Upvotes: 2

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