Android - Split the paragraphs in a string

Question

I have a long string which holds the tags p /p for paragraphs. This is html string to be placed in web view.

I need to split the paragraphs into two and assign each one to a string. Example:

String A:

<p> I have an orange <\p>
<p> I have an apple <\p>
<p> I have a banana <\p>
<p> I have a fruit <\p>
<p> I love to go bike riding<\p>
<p> Hello how are you <\p>

Now I need to split the paragraphs into 2 and assign to 2 different strings:

String B should have:
<p> I have an orange <\p>
<p> I have an apple <\p>
<p> I have a banana <\p>

String C should have:

<p> I have a fruit <\p>
<p> I love to go bike riding<\p>
<p> Hello how are you <\p>

how can I achieve it?

You mean ``. Put a marker before the string **split**, such as "§" or the like. Then simply use the **split** function on A, using "§" as separator - in order to return an array of two strings. At position 0, you have B. At position 1, you have C. — Phantômaxx, Mar 24 '14 at 14:40
It will return an array of two strings. At position 0, you have B. At position 1, you have C. Just extract these strings from the array. — Phantômaxx, Mar 24 '14 at 14:41
if you use <\p> it will contain <\p>, so first you'd have to replace "<\p>" with "". — Phantômaxx, Mar 24 '14 at 14:46
"§" just to say a separator character - you can use "^", if you like it better. Just it must be a character that you don't use in regular text or in HTML tags — Phantômaxx, Mar 24 '14 at 14:48

Phantômaxx · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-24T14:49:58.947

1

This is the code. Note where I added the § character in strA, in order to split the string:

final String strA = "<p> I have an orange </p><p> I have an apple </p><p> I have a banana </p>§<p> I have a fruit </p><p> I love to go bike riding</p><p> Hello how are you </p>";
final String arr[] = strA.split("§");
final String strB = arr[0]; // Contains: "<p> I have an orange </p><p> I have an apple </p><p> I have a banana </p>"
final String strC = arr[1]; // Contains: "<p> I have a fruit </p><p> I love to go bike riding</p><p> Hello how are you </p>"

edited Mar 24 '14 at 14:49

answered Mar 24 '14 at 14:43

Phantômaxx

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I am getting index ou of bounds exception saying index is 1 – Sweety Bertilla Mar 24 '14 at 15:00
Show me the code. I think you didn't copy my code exactly. If it says that the length is 0 and index is 1, it didn't split correctly. This is due to: `it doesn't find the split character in the full string`. – Phantômaxx Mar 24 '14 at 15:01
final String arr[] = articleBody.split("§"); firstString = arr[0]; nextString = arr[1]; – Sweety Bertilla Mar 24 '14 at 15:06
But did you add the "§" character to `articleBody`? It won't split if it doesn't find the split character in the origin string. – Phantômaxx Mar 24 '14 at 15:10
No I don't have that character in the string. it has
and
– Sweety Bertilla Mar 24 '14 at 15:19
That's why. You must add the split character or it won't work. – Phantômaxx Mar 24 '14 at 15:20

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 24 '14 at 14:55

I just assume you mean  instead of <\p> as the closing tag.

Assuming you always have this structure, with ... following ... and nothing inbetween, you can just do this:

String A = "<p> I have an orange </p>"
    + "<p> I have an apple </p>"
    + "<p> I have a banana </p>"
    + "<p> I have a fruit </p>"
    + "<p> I love to go bike riding</p>"
    + "<p> Hello how are you </p>";

String[] paragraphs = A.split("</p>");
final int halfParagraphs = (int) Math.ceil((double) paragraphs.length / 2);

StringBuilder bBuilder = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder cBuilder = new StringBuilder();
for(int idxB = 0; idxB < halfParagraphs; idxB++) {
    int idxC = idxB + halfParagraphs;
    // split removes the separator, so we need to append it again
    bBuilder.append(paragraphs[idxB]).append("</p>");
    if (paragraphs.length > idxC) {
        cBuilder.append(paragraphs[idxC]).append("</p>");
    }
}
String B = bBuilder.toString();
String C = cBuilder.toString();

I also assumed you want String B to hold more values if the number cannot be evenly distributed. This is certainly not the cleanest solution, but it works without adding an extra character in the Text.

sample string :
Mar 24, 2014

They say 2014 will be a rebuilding year for the Phillies.
Same for Aramark, which handles the food at Citizens Bank Park.
For its 11th season at the ballpark, Aramark rebuilt many kitchens. The new equipment will allow for new food options and perhaps add some speed this season.
At least part of the new lineup - to be announced Monday, March 24 - is smokin'.
Kevin Tedesco, Aramark's general manager, and Jeremy Campbell, its director of concessions — Sweety Bertilla, Mar 24 '14 at 15:12
Well if you have a full-blown HTML String, you should probably use an HTML/XML parser instead of writing your own stuff. — Thrakbad, Mar 24 '14 at 15:15
Take a look at the list here and see if anything works for you: http://stackoverflow.com/a/2188513/1966616 — Thrakbad, Mar 24 '14 at 15:47

Android - Split the paragraphs in a string

2 Answers2