Java - How to remove angle brackets and text between from a string

Question

I would like to remove all the occurrences of angle brackets and the text in between, from my string. So given the following:

<a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_%28series%29">Grand Theft Auto</a> is a video game series created and primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North, published in 1998.

I need this:

Grand Theft Auto is a video game series created and primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North, published in 1998.

I have tried using the following, which doesn't seems to change the original string at all:

string.replaceAll("<.*?>","");

Did you check: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20867719/removing-a-href-tag-using-regex — Eray Balkanli, Feb 17 '16 at 13:25

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 17 '16 at 13:30

2

Java strings are immutable, and don't change by themselves. You need to change them. Change this:

string.replaceAll("<.*?>","");

To this:

string = string.replaceAll("<.*?>","");

answered Feb 17 '16 at 13:30

dryairship

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I cant believe I made such a basic mistake – OFR Feb 17 '16 at 13:33
Yes. Your logic was completely correct. A silly mistake. – dryairship Feb 17 '16 at 13:34

anaxin · Answer 2 · 2016-02-18T07:52:52.133

0

Try

String str = string.replaceAll("\\<.*?\\>", "");

Edit: Correction made @John Hascall comment.

edited Feb 18 '16 at 07:52

answered Feb 17 '16 at 13:25

anaxin

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This would be a better answer if you explained *why* that regex. (And BTW, I think your regex is wrong.) Consider an input: `Hello
blahbleahblurgh
World` -- This is why the original RE had the non-greedy qualifier `?` – John Hascall Feb 17 '16 at 16:58

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 17 '16 at 13:27

0

String tmp = yourString.replaceAll("<a.*?>", "");
String finalString = tmp.replaceAll("</a>,"");
System.out.print(finalString);

answered Feb 17 '16 at 13:27

Eray Balkanli

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Was about to comment that it would not compile :) – Marius Kaunietis Feb 17 '16 at 13:31
Lol, I noticed 1 second before than you :P – Eray Balkanli Feb 17 '16 at 13:40

Java - How to remove angle brackets and text between from a string

3 Answers3