Problem writing to file

Question

I'm working on a program that asks for the users name. after that its supposed to pull the current date and time and print that into a file along with the users name.
my problem is when i open the .txt file i get several characters i dont recogize and then my name at the end.
Thanks for the help:
public class CIS314Exam1MarkWellsFrame
private ObjectOutputStream output;
public void openFile()
try
output = new ObjectOutputStream(new FileOutputStream("guestlog.txt"));
catch(IOException ioException)
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "You do not have access to this file");
System.exit(1);
public void insertName()
try
Date today = new Date();
//utput.writeObject(today);
//String name = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter Name");
String name = "Mark";
output.writeObject(name);
catch(IOException ioException)
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Error writing to file");
return;
public void closeFile()
try
if(output !=null)
output.close();
catch(IOException ioException)
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Error Closing File");
System.exit(1);
System.exit(0);
}

Answer 1

This isnt the correct forum for this question. Use tags when posting code.  Post the contents of the .txt file and what unexpected characters you are getting.