How can I convert a stack trace to a string?

Question

What is the easiest way to convert the result of Throwable.getStackTrace() to a string that depicts the stacktrace?

Answer 1

I wrote a few methods for this a while ago, so I figured why not throw my two cents at this.

/** @param stackTraceElements The elements to convert
 * @return The resulting string */
public static final String stackTraceElementsToStr(StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements) {
    return stackTraceElementsToStr(stackTraceElements, "\n");
}

/** @param stackTraceElements The elements to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @return The resulting string */
public static final String stackTraceElementsToStr(StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements, String lineSeparator) {
    return stackTraceElementsToStr(stackTraceElements, lineSeparator, "");
}

/** @param stackTraceElements The elements to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @param padding The string to be used at the start of each line
 * @return The resulting string */
public static final String stackTraceElementsToStr(StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements, String lineSeparator, String padding) {
    String str = "";
    if(stackTraceElements != null) {
        for(StackTraceElement stackTrace : stackTraceElements) {
            str += padding + (!stackTrace.toString().startsWith("Caused By") ? "\tat " : "") + stackTrace.toString() + lineSeparator;
        }
    }
    return str;
}

/** @param stackTraceElements The elements to convert
 * @return The resulting string */
public static final String stackTraceCausedByElementsOnlyToStr(StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements) {
    return stackTraceCausedByElementsOnlyToStr(stackTraceElements, "\n");
}

/** @param stackTraceElements The elements to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @return The resulting string */
public static final String stackTraceCausedByElementsOnlyToStr(StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements, String lineSeparator) {
    return stackTraceCausedByElementsOnlyToStr(stackTraceElements, lineSeparator, "");
}

/** @param stackTraceElements The elements to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @param padding The string to be used at the start of each line
 * @return The resulting string */
public static final String stackTraceCausedByElementsOnlyToStr(StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements, String lineSeparator, String padding) {
    String str = "";
    if(stackTraceElements != null) {
        for(StackTraceElement stackTrace : stackTraceElements) {
            str += (!stackTrace.toString().startsWith("Caused By") ? "" : padding + stackTrace.toString() + lineSeparator);
        }
    }
    return str;
}

/** @param e The {@link Throwable} to convert
 * @return The resulting String */
public static final String throwableToStrNoStackTraces(Throwable e) {
    return throwableToStrNoStackTraces(e, "\n");
}

/** @param e The {@link Throwable} to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @return The resulting String */
public static final String throwableToStrNoStackTraces(Throwable e, String lineSeparator) {
    return throwableToStrNoStackTraces(e, lineSeparator, "");
}

/** @param e The {@link Throwable} to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @param padding The string to be used at the start of each line
 * @return The resulting String */
public static final String throwableToStrNoStackTraces(Throwable e, String lineSeparator, String padding) {
    if(e == null) {
        return "null";
    }
    String str = e.getClass().getName() + ": ";
    if((e.getMessage() != null) && !e.getMessage().isEmpty()) {
        str += e.getMessage() + lineSeparator;
    } else {
        str += lineSeparator;
    }
    str += padding + stackTraceCausedByElementsOnlyToStr(e.getStackTrace(), lineSeparator, padding);
    for(Throwable suppressed : e.getSuppressed()) {
        str += padding + throwableToStrNoStackTraces(suppressed, lineSeparator, padding + "\t");
    }
    Throwable cause = e.getCause();
    while(cause != null) {
        str += padding + "Caused by:" + lineSeparator + throwableToStrNoStackTraces(e.getCause(), lineSeparator, padding);
        cause = cause.getCause();
    }
    return str;
}

/** @param e The {@link Throwable} to convert
 * @return The resulting String */
public static final String throwableToStr(Throwable e) {
    return throwableToStr(e, "\n");
}

/** @param e The {@link Throwable} to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @return The resulting String */
public static final String throwableToStr(Throwable e, String lineSeparator) {
    return throwableToStr(e, lineSeparator, "");
}

/** @param e The {@link Throwable} to convert
 * @param lineSeparator The line separator to use
 * @param padding The string to be used at the start of each line
 * @return The resulting String */
public static final String throwableToStr(Throwable e, String lineSeparator, String padding) {
    if(e == null) {
        return "null";
    }
    String str = padding + e.getClass().getName() + ": ";
    if((e.getMessage() != null) && !e.getMessage().isEmpty()) {
        str += e.getMessage() + lineSeparator;
    } else {
        str += lineSeparator;
    }
    str += padding + stackTraceElementsToStr(e.getStackTrace(), lineSeparator, padding);
    for(Throwable suppressed : e.getSuppressed()) {
        str += padding + "Suppressed: " + throwableToStr(suppressed, lineSeparator, padding + "\t");
    }
    Throwable cause = e.getCause();
    while(cause != null) {
        str += padding + "Caused by:" + lineSeparator + throwableToStr(e.getCause(), lineSeparator, padding);
        cause = cause.getCause();
    }
    return str;
}

Example:

try(InputStream in = new FileInputStream(file)) {
    ...
} catch(IOException e) {
    String exceptionToString = throwableToStr(e);
    someLoggingUtility.println(exceptionToString);
    ...
}

Prints:

java.io.FileNotFoundException: C:\test.txt (The system cannot find the file specified)
    at java.io.FileInputStream.open0(Native Method)
    at java.io.FileInputStream.open(Unknown Source)
    at java.io.FileInputStream.(Unknown Source)
    at com.gmail.br45entei.Example.main(Example.java:32)