Java substring: 'string index out of range'

Question

I\'m guessing I\'m getting this error because the string is trying to substring a null value. But wouldn\'t the \".length() > 0\" part eliminate

Answer 1

I'm assuming your column is 38 characters in length, so you want to truncate itemdescription to fit within the database. A utility function like the following should do what you want:

/**
 * Truncates s to fit within len. If s is null, null is returned.
 **/
public String truncate(String s, int len) { 
  if (s == null) return null;
  return s.substring(0, Math.min(len, s.length()));
}

then you just call it like so:

String value = "_";
if (itemdescription != null && itemdescription.length() > 0) {
  value = truncate(itemdescription, 38);
}

pstmt2.setString(3, value);