How to use regex groups in Java

Question

I need to replace string 'name' with fullName in the following kind of strings:

software : (publisher:abc and name:oracle)

This needs to be replaced as:

software : (publisher:abc and fullName:xyz)

Now, basically, part "name:xyz" can come anywhere inside parenthesis. e.g.

software:(name:xyz)

I am trying to use groups and the regex I built looks :

(\bsoftware\s*?:\s*?\()((.*?)(\s*?(and|or)\s*?))(\bname:.*?\)\s|:.*?\)$)

Answer 1

You may use

\b(software\s*:\s*\([^()]*)\bname:\w+

and replace with $1fullName:xyz. See the regex demo and the regex graph:

Details

• \b - word boundary
• (software\s*:\s*\([^()]*) - Capturing group 1 ($1 in the replacement pattern is a placeholder for the value captured in this group):
  • software - a word
  • \s*:\s* - a : enclosed with 0+ whitespaces
  • \( - a ( char
  • [^()]* - 0 or more chars other than ( and )
• \bname - whole word name
• : - colon
• \w+ - 1 or more letters, digits or underscores.

Java sample code:

String result = s.replaceAll("\\b(software\\s*:\\s*\\([^()]*)\\bname:\\w+", "$1fullName:xyz");