CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaregex
mlg dog
mlg dog

Reputation: 43

Replace all characters before and after specific characters

I need to replace all characters in a string which come before an open parenthesis but come after an asterisk:

Input: 1.2.3 (1.234*xY)

Needed Output: 1.234

I tried the following:

string.replaceAll(".*\\(|\\*.*", "");

but I ran into an issue here where Matcher.matches() is false even though there are two matches... What is the most elegant way to solve this?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 135

Answers (3)

RavinderSingh13
RavinderSingh13

Reputation: 133458

With your shown samples and attempts please try following regex:

^.*?\(([^*]*)\*\S+\)$

Here is the Regex Online Demo and here is the Java code Demo for used regex.

Explanation: Adding detailed explanation for used Regex.

^       ##Matching starting of the value here.
.*?\(   ##Using lazy match here to match till ( here.
(       ##Creating one and only capturing group of this regex here.
  [^*]* ##Matching everything till * here.
)       ##Closing capturing group here.
\*      ##Matching * here.
\S+     ##Matching non-spaces 1 or more occurrences here.
\)$     ##Matching literal ) here at the end of the value.

Upvotes: 2

The fourth bird
The fourth bird

Reputation: 163217

You could try matching the whole string, and replace with capture group 1

^[^(]*\(([^*]+)\*.*

The pattern matches:

  • ^ start of string
  • [^(]*\( Match any char except ( and then match (
  • ([^*]+) Capture in group 1 matching any char except *
  • \*.* Match an asterix and the rest of the line

Regex demo | Java demo

String string = "1.2.3 (1.234*xY)";
System.out.println(string.replaceFirst("^[^(]*\\(([^*]+)\\*.*", "$1"));

Output

1.234

Upvotes: 3

anubhava
anubhava

Reputation: 784998

You may use this regex to match:

[^(]*\(|\*.*

and replace with an empty string.

RegEx Demo

RegEx Demo:

  • [^(]*\(: Match 0 or more characters that are not ( followed by a (
  • |: OR
  • \*.*: Match * and everything after that

Java Code:

String s = "1.2.3 (1.234*xY)";
String r = s.replaceAll("[^(]*\\(|\\*.*", "");
//=> "1.234"

Upvotes: 3

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