Java StringBuffer getChars() Method With Examples

In this guide, we will discuss Java StringBuffer getChars() method with examples.

Syntax of getChars() method

//it will copy the chars from index 1 to 8
//and place it at 3rd index in chArray
sb.getChars(1, 8, chArray, 3)

Here, sb is an object of StringBuffer class.

getChars() Description

public void getChars(int srcBegin, int srcEnd, char[] dst, int dstBegin): This method copies the character sequence of StringBuffer instance from index srcBegin till index srcEnd. It places the copied sequence into destination array dst starting from index dstBegin.

To Summarize:
Characters copied from StringBuffer: From srcBegin till srcEnd -1 as srcEnd is exclusive.
Copied characters in destination char array starts from index dstBegin and end at (dstBegin + (srcEnd -srcBegin - 1))

getChars() Parameters

This method takes four parameters:

srcBegin: Sequence is copied starting from this index.
srcEnd: Sequence is copied till this index.
dst: Destination char array.
dstBegin: Index in dst array, copied sequence placed in dst at this index.

getChars() Return Value

It does not return anything.

It throws IndexOutOfBoundsException, if any of the following condition occurs:

If index srcBegin < 0.
If index dstBegin < 0.
If srcBegin > srcEnd.
If srcEnd > sb.length().
If dstBegin+srcEnd-srcBegin > dst.length().

Example 1

public class JavaExample {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("Hello World!");
    System.out.println("Char Sequence: "+sb);
    char[] chArray = new char[] {'h', 'i', 'f', 'r', 'i','e','n','d'};
    System.out.print("Given char Array: ");
    System.out.println(chArray);

    //copy sequence from index 6 to 12 into chArray
    sb.getChars(6,12,chArray, 2);
    System.out.print("char Array after copy: ");
    System.out.println(chArray);
  }
}

Output:

Example 2

public class JavaExample {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("Hello World!");
    System.out.println("Char Sequence: "+sb);
    char[] chArray = new char[] {'h', 'i'};
    System.out.print("Given char Array: ");
    System.out.println(chArray);

    //copy sequence from index 6 to 12 into chArray
    sb.getChars(6,12,chArray, 2);
    System.out.print("char Array after copy: ");
    System.out.println(chArray);
  }
}

Output: The destination array size is only 2 so it cannot hold 8 more characters.