PrintWriter() issue

Question

Hi. I'm trying to write a version of HTCPCP for a university assignment and am having a really basic problem with my PrintWriter object server side.
I have to include a brew() and a get() method. My brew() method simply returns a String telling the client that they must wait 6.2 seconds for the coffee to brew. I just chose an arbitrary value.
Then I want to call my get() method, 6.2 seconds after my brew() method and return a String to the client telling them to come and get their coffee because it's ready.
The problem is that the PrintWriter that I'm using seems to close if I use a println() statement to return the brew() method, so the get() method never gets called. However, if I use a print() statement, the program waits for 6.2seconds THEN calls the brew() and get() one after the other instantly. I've put the wait time within the get() method intially but tried putting in the main method and it still happens.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I've spent a day trying to sort this out and have got nowhere.
Section of main():
PrintWriter out = null;
        BufferedReader in = null;
        try {
            out = new PrintWriter(clientSocket.getOutputStream(), true);
            in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientSocket.getInputStream()));
            input = in.readLine();
            if (checkPropFind(input) == true)
                out.println(propfind());
            else {
                checkAdditions(checkAddress(input));
            out.print(brew());
            out.print(get());
            out.close();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            System.out.println(e);
        }brew():
public static String brew() {
        return "You're drink will now brew for 6.2 seconds to ensure it is perfect.\n";
    }get():
public static String get() {
        try {
            Thread.sleep(6200);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            System.out.println(e);
            System.exit(1);
        return "\tYou're coffee is ready for collection.\n" +
                "\tThank you for using the MyCoffee Browser.\n " +
                "\tThe program will now exit.\n";
    }

Answer 1

The thing about print streams is they're buffered, and won't always send the data imediately.
Try out.flush(); between the two print statments. Always use flush if you require data to be sent immediately.
BTW always use e.printStackTrace() in your general purpose catch clauses, you'll get far more data from exceptions.