Java RegEx to replace a XML tag name

Question

I am trying to replace the MessageParam within the XML tag with XXYY1...

The MessageParam has requested to travel <BR/>From <MessageParam name="0" desc="city code"/> to <MessageParam name="1" desc="city code"/> on <MessageParam name="2" desc="date"/> at <MessageParam name="3" desc="time"/>.

I expect the output to be

The MessageParam has requested to travel <BR/>From <XXYY1 name="0" desc="city code"/> to <XXYY2 name="1" desc="city code"/> on <XXYY3 name="2" desc="date"/> at <XXYY4 name="3" desc="time"/>.

Here is my code

private void ProcessString()
{
    String text = "The Traveler has requested to travel <BR/>From <MessageParam name=\"0\" desc=\"city code\"/> to <MessageParam name=\"1\" desc=\"city code\"/> on <MessageParam name=\"2\" desc=\"date\"/> at <MessageParam name=\"3\" desc=\"time\"/>.";
    int Counter = 0;
    StringBuffer outString = new StringBuffer();
    Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("(<MessageParam.*?>)");
    Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(text);

    while (matcher.find())
    {
        Counter++;
        String sReplacer = new StringBuffer("XXYY").append(Counter).toString();
        matcher.appendReplacement(outString, sReplacer);
    }
    matcher.appendTail(outString);
    System.out.println(outString.toString());
  }

The output i am getting is

 The MessageParam has requested to travel <BR/> From XXYY1 to XXYY2 on XXYY3 at XXYY4.

I am pretty sure that my regex is not correct. since i am not good with regex i am not able to figure out whats going wrong.

You can search just for <MessageParam since you don't need the rest. — Alex
– Alex, Commented Jan 6, 2013 at 19:15
don't parse non-regular languages with a regular expression! — user177800
– user177800, Commented Jan 6, 2013 at 20:01

duffymo · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-06 19:16:20Z

3

I wouldn't do such a thing with a regular expression.

I'd prefer to parse the source XML and map target values into an output XML using a template engine like Velocity.

My second choice would be an XSL-T transformation from one XML to another.

answered Jan 6, 2013 at 19:16

duffymo

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Anirudha · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-06 19:58:31Z

2

The regex should be (?<=<)MessageParam

That would solve your problem

edited Jan 6, 2013 at 19:58

answered Jan 6, 2013 at 19:38

Anirudha

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prageeth · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-07 03:48:59Z

0

Simply use <MessageParam as the regex and use <XXYY as the replacement string portion.

answered Jan 7, 2013 at 3:48

prageeth

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