CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaregexreplace
Bala
Bala

Reputation: 4338

How to replace all matching patterns only if it does not match another pattern?

I want to replace a substring that matches a pattern, only if it does not match a different pattern. For example, in the code shown below, I want to replace all '%s' but leave ':%s' untouched.

String template1 = "Hello:%s";
String template2 = "Hello%s";

String regex = "[%s&&^[:%s]]";

String str = template1.replaceAll(regex, "");
System.out.println(str);

str = template2.replaceAll(regex, "");
System.out.println(str);

The output should be:

Hello:%s
Hello

I am missing something in my regex. Any clues? Thanks!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2204

Answers (1)

jlordo
jlordo

Reputation: 37833

Use a negative lookbehind to achieve your goal:

String regex = "(?<!:)%s";

It matches %s only if there is not a : right before it.

Upvotes: 7

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