Using split in Java String

Question

I need to split a String with dot '.' but with one catch as explained below For example, if a String is like this

   String str = "A.B.C"

then, splitting with dot, will give A,B and C.

But if the some part is marked with single inverted comma, then split should ignore it

String str = "A.B.'C.D'"

then, splitting with dot, should give A,B and C.D.

How can I achieve this?

TheLostMind · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-21 08:50:50Z

2

If the String is always in the given format, you could try : \\.(?![A-Za-z]') as regex

demo here

answered Oct 21, 2014 at 8:50

TheLostMind

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3 Comments

IAmGroot Over a year ago

I could be wrong, but it looks like its matched the dots.

TheLostMind Over a year ago

@Doomsknight - It splits on what it selects / consumes (not what it matches). It consumes only the literal "." the negative-look ahead is just matched, not consumed.:)

IAmGroot Over a year ago

Oops, im getting mixed up with Match. +1 for a working solution.

Smutje · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-21 08:58:38Z

2

First, split at ' and afterwards, if any of the split results end in ., split at . as well again.

"A.B.'C.D'"
=>
"A.B.", "C.D"
=> "A", "B", "C.D"

Java 8 Example

public static void main(String[] args) {
    final String str = "A.B.'C.D'";
    final List<String> result = new ArrayList<>();

    for (String singleQuoteSplitResultArrayElement : str.split("'")) {
        if (singleQuoteSplitResultArrayElement.endsWith(".")) {
            Collections.addAll(result, singleQuoteSplitResultArrayElement.split("\\."));
        } else {
            result.add(singleQuoteSplitResultArrayElement);
        }
    }

    System.out.println(result.stream().collect(Collectors.joining(", ")));
}

edited Oct 21, 2014 at 8:58

answered Oct 21, 2014 at 8:51

Smutje

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Comments

Mena · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-21 08:53:17Z

0

What you can do is as follows - will work with single letter and multiple letter tokens:

String input = "A.B.'C.D'";
//                                              | not following capital letter(s) and '
//                                              |           | dot (escaped)
//                                              |           |  | not followed by 
//                                              |           |  | capital letter(s) and '
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(input.split("(?<![A-Z]+?')\\.(?![A-Z]+?')")));

Output

[A, B, 'C.D']

Note

If you want it case-insensitive, prepend (?i) to the Pattern: (?i)(?<![A-Z]+?')\\.(?![A-Z]+?')")

answered Oct 21, 2014 at 8:53

Mena

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Comments

Hoopje · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-21 09:23:57Z

I don't know of a method in the standard library that does this. It is not too difficult to write yourself, though:

public static String[] splitByDots(String s)
{
    List<String> ss = new ArrayList<>();
    boolean inString = false;
    int start = 0;

    for (int p = 0; p < s.length(); p++) {
        char ch = s.charAt(p);
        if (ch == '\'') {
            inString = !inString;
        }
        else if (ch == '.') { 
            if (!inString) {
                ss.add(s.substring(start, p));
                start = p + 1;
            }
        }
    }

    ss.add(s.substring(start));
    return ss.toArray(new String[ss.size()]);
}

If you want to trim whitespace or remove the quote characters, you will have to tweak the above code a bit, but otherwise it does what you asked for.

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