View source for FAQ Where does System.out and System.err output go?

Most of the time, the answer is <i>nowhere</i>.  Eclipse is simply a Java program,
and it acts like any other Java program with respect to its output streams.
When launched from a shell or command line, the output will generally
go back to that shell.  In Windows, the output will disappear completely
if Eclipse is launched using the <tt>javaw.exe</tt> VM.  When Eclipse is launched using
<tt>java.exe</tt>, a shell window will be created for the output.

Because the output is usually lost, you should avoid using standard output
or standard error in your plug-in.  Instead, you can log error information
by using the platform logging facility.  Other forms of output should
be written to a file, database, socket, or other persistent store.  The
only common use of standard output is for writing debugging information,
when the application is in debug mode.  Read up on the
platform tracing facility for more information.


== See Also: ==

[[FAQ How do I use the platform logging facility%3F]]

[[FAQ How do I use the platform debug tracing facility%3F]]

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