How to read multiple lines from a command prompt?

Question

I usually read from a command prompt like this:
String answer;
System.out.println("Please enter the required data");
try {
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
answer = reader.readLine();
reader = null;
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println("There was an exception trying to read " + e);
answer = "";
This has worked fine for years when all I wanted was one line answers.
Now I am trying to prompt for multiple line answers. Is there a way to read into a string array rather than just a string? What class would I use for that?
Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

The easiest approaches would be to read a line at a time until you've read enough lines, whether by a known fixed line count, or a token count, or by reading some sentinel toek, OR read a token at a time using Scanner.next() until you've determined you're done. Which one is more appropriate depends on your situation.