how to substitute the "\t" value available in a variable in java

Question

I am having an xml

<field>
       <fieldSeparator>\t</fieldSparator>
       <fieldOrder>field1,field2,field3</fieldOrder>
</field>

corresponsing FieldVO has the respective values in it.

StringBuffer stringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
stringBuffer.append("someValue").append(fieldSeparator).append("SomeOtherText");

Output - someValue\tSomeOtherText

Here i want to render the tab space instead of "\t".

But

String str = "text1,text2,text3";
String str1="\t";
StringBuffer stringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
stringBuffer.append(str.replaceAll(",",str1));
System.out.println(stringBuffer);

Output --> text1 text2 text3.

Can anybody explain those 2 behaviours?

Thanks.

Possible duplicate of [Howto unescape a Java string literal in Java](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3537706/howto-unescape-a-java-string-literal-in-java/4298836)? — Balder, Feb 19 '14 at 11:05

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 19 '14 at 10:58

0

Check your string at runtime (through a debugger).
It probably has \\t and not \t.
If so, the behavior is quite normal.
You should see what exactly you have in your string.
Then you should replace \\t with \t.

answered Feb 19 '14 at 10:58

peter.petrov

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Just did that before seeing your reply.Thanks much for the reply – Senthil Kumar Sekar Feb 19 '14 at 12:01

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 19 '14 at 10:59

0

When an XML file is read, then \t is read as two separate characters. In Java it will look like this: \\t. Just replace it like:

str.replace("\\t", "\t");

answered Feb 19 '14 at 10:59

Moritz Petersen

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 19 '14 at 11:12

0

You have to use \\t instead of \t.

answered Feb 19 '14 at 11:12

D3X

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how to substitute the "\t" value available in a variable in java

3 Answers3