CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javastringsplittoken
RandomGuy
RandomGuy

Reputation: 5219

String.split not operating as expected

So I'm trying to split a string

String[] tokens = coded_string.split("\\)|\\(|\\,|\\s+");

so if the coded string is students = load(classlist.csv) all tokens are fine

token[0] = "students"
token[1] = "="
token[2] = "load"
token[3] = "classlist.csv"

but when the string students = load ( classlist.csv ) spaces between brackets i get empty tokens why is that and how can i fix it?

token[0] = "students"
token[1] = "="
token[2] = "load"
token[3] = ""

Upvotes: 1

Views: 107

Answers (2)

user1766873
user1766873

Reputation:

coded_string.split("(\\)|\\(|\\s+)+")will work fine

Upvotes: 0

Affe
Affe

Reputation: 47954

Because you have two delimiters in a row, an empty space followed by an open paren, it returns a match on the 'nothing' that is between them as an empty string. You could use a character class instead of alternation to match entire blocks of potential delimiter characters. You haven't stated your actual requirements, so it's tough to know if that would be strictly correct for all inputs.

String[] tokens = coded_string.split("[)(,\\s]+");

Upvotes: 3

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