public class StringUtils {
  public static final String ELLIPSE = "...";
  public static String toEllipsis(String input, int maxCharacters, int charactersAfterEllipse) {
    if (input == null || input.length() < maxCharacters) {
      return input;
    }
    return input.substring(0, maxCharacters - charactersAfterEllipse)
       + ELLIPSE
       + input.substring(input.length() - charactersAfterEllipse);
  }


  public static void main (String args[])
    throws Exception {
     String s = "Real's HowTo @ www.rgagnon.com";
     System.out.println(s);
     // max length is 15 with the last six characters.
     System.out.println(StringUtils.toEllipsis(s, 15, 6));
     // max length is 15 with no character at the end.
     System.out.println(StringUtils.toEllipsis(s, 15, 0));

     /*
      * output :
      *   Real's HowTo @ www.rgagnon.com
      *   Real's Ho...on.com
      *   Real's HowTo @ ...
      */
  }
}

public static final String ELLIPSE = "\u2026";