empty array, split method

Question

My problem is that the array ms[ ] doesn't get values when I do split( ); Why is this happening ?

public class Test {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Date date = new Date();
        SimpleDateFormat ft = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy.MM.dd.HH.mm.ss.");    //change format          
        String msgTime = ft.format(date);
        System.out.println(msgTime);

        String ms[] = msgTime.split(".");
        System.out.println(ms.length);
    }
}

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 05 '13 at 17:55

1

The problem is split() function takes regular expression as argument, not a simple string. And "." regular expression means "any symbol". So you need just escape it.

String ms[] = msgTime.split("\\.");

answered Apr 05 '13 at 17:55

infthi

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 05 '13 at 17:54

0

I'm guessing you meant to do

String ms[] = msgTime.split("\\.");

String.split() takes a regular expression so you should escape any special characters, such as ..

answered Apr 05 '13 at 17:54

cklab

3,761
20
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+1 for an explanation. I'd give it another +1 for a link to the docs if I could. – jedwards Apr 05 '13 at 17:56

empty array, split method

2 Answers2