fileOutputStream colon(:) problem

I'm using fileOutputStream to setProperty to a
properties file.

whenever i try to set something like

abcd:efgh:ijkl it appears in the file as
abcd\:efgh\:ijkl

what is it ?

Thank u.

try replacing all of the colons in your code to be \: like the output, this should escape them and display them as you want them.
Let me know what happens

It isn't working.

When i give \: the setProperty is \\\:
Strange.
Itried various combinations.They r worse.

Since you are outputting characters only, I suggest you try writing to the file using a FileWriter instead of a FileOutputStream. This class is desined to handle characters, so should work better.