public String charAsString(int nchars) {  StringBuffer retval = new StringBuffer(); try { for (int i = 0; i < nchars; i++) { retval.append(lookAhead(i)); } return retval.toString(); } catch (ParseException ex) { return retval.toString();  }
public static String charAsString(char ch) { return new Character(ch).toString();
    public String charAsString(int nchars) {                StringBuffer retval = new StringBuffer();        try {            for (int i = 0; i < nchars; i++) {                retval.append(lookAhead(i));            }            return retval.toString();        } catch (ParseException ex) {            return retval.toString();                    }    }