Java: String splitting into multiple elements

Question

I am having a difficult time figuring out how to split a string like the one following:

String str = "hi=bye,hello,goodbye,pickle,noodle

This string was read from a text file and I need to split the string into each element between the commas. So I would need to split each element into their own string no matter what the text file reads. Keep in mind, each element could be any length and there could be any amount of elements which 'hi' is equal to. Any ideas? Thanks!

Youssef G. · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-13 19:22:28Z

5

use split!

String[] set=str.split(",");

then access each string as you need from set[...] (so lets say you want the 3rd string, you would say: set[2]).

As a test, you can print them all out:

for(int i=0; i<set.length;i++){
    System.out.println(set[i]);
}

edited Apr 13, 2012 at 19:22

answered Apr 13, 2012 at 19:20

Youssef G.

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4 Comments

amit Over a year ago

or to use Arrays.toString(set) [for test]

Robson França Over a year ago

Split is great because you can use regular expressions. For example: str.split(",\\s*") That code will split the source string (str) in each comma and zero or more (*) spaces.

MrDrProfessorTyler Over a year ago

Thank you! I can't believe I have never heard of this method before... Thanks!

David Harkness Over a year ago

Don't forget to use split("=") first to extract the name--hi in this case.

nansen · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-13 19:32:26Z

1

If you need a bit more advanced approach, I suggest guava's Splitter class:

Iterable<String> split = Splitter.on(',')
                                 .omitEmptyStrings()
                                 .trimResults()
                                 .split(" bye,hello,goodbye,, , pickle, noodle  ");

This will get rid of leading or trailing whitespaces and omit blank matches. The class has some more cool stuff in it like splitting your String into key/value pairs.

answered Apr 13, 2012 at 19:32

nansen

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Comments

sarwar026 · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-14 17:31:20Z

1

str = str.subString(indexOf('=')+1); // remove "hi=" part
String[] set=str.split(",");

edited Apr 14, 2012 at 17:31

answered Apr 13, 2012 at 19:32

sarwar026

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Comments

holocron · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-13 19:26:06Z

0

I'm wondering: Do you mean to split it as such:

"hi=bye"
"hi=hello"
"hi=goodbye"
"hi=pickle"
"hi=noodle"

Because a simple split(",") will not do this. What's the purpose of having "hi=" in your given string?

Probably, if you mean to chop hi= from the front of the string, do this instead:

String input = "hi=bye,hello,goodbye,pickle,noodle";
String hi[] = input.split(",");
hi[0] = (hi[0].split("="))[1];
for (String item : hi) {
    System.out.println(item);
}

answered Apr 13, 2012 at 19:26

holocron

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1 Comment

Youssef G. Over a year ago

Yes, I am pretty sure that i what he/she is looking for, although I did not go that far as split can be used once again to get hi at the beginning and combining strings should be relatively easy to figure out from there. Either way, it seemed the difficult was in splitting up the string, rather than applying "hi=" to all of them.

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