Java "||" String replace by "OR"

Question

I have a string like

"age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' || gender = '0' "

and i need to replace "||" by "OR". I tryied following code.

System.out.println("age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' || gender = '0'".replaceAll("||", "OR"));

but i got

"ORaORgOReOR OR=OR OR1OR8OR OR|OR|OR ORnORaORmOReOR OR=OR OR'ORMORiORsORtORiORcOR'OR OR|OR|OR ORcORiORvORiORlORsORtORaORtORuORsOR OR=OR OR'ORmORaORrORrORiOReORdOR'OR OR|OR|OR ORgOReORnORdOReORrOR OR=OR OR'OR0OR'OR"

What i need is

"age = 18 OR name = 'Mistic' OR civilstatus = 'married' OR gender = '0' "

How can i achieve this.

Edit I have read the question and answer of this question and it is not simiar. Because that question is about replacing string and my question is about getting unfamiliar result to my code.

@ErwinBolwidt This question is not a duplicate with my question. — Lakmal Vithanage, Jun 01 '16 at 08:52
Why is it not a duplicate? The OP of that question had the same confusion as you had and the answer is the same. You should also look at the highest voted answer to your own question. The answer to the duplicate explains better why you may be confused between `replaceAll` and `replace`. — Erwin Bolwidt, Jun 01 '16 at 08:55
That is because `replaceAll` takes a regular expression, like `split`. Look at the linked question. — Tunaki, Jun 01 '16 at 15:43

score 10 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 01 '16 at 06:03

Why are you using replaceAll when you are not wanting to replace by regex?

Try just using normal replace

System.out.println("age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' 
    || gender = '0'".replace("||", "OR"));

Output

age = 18 OR name = 'Mistic' OR civilstatus = 'married' OR gender = '0'

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 01 '16 at 05:56

| has a special meaning in regex. You need to escape it.

public static void main(String[] args) {
    String s = "age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' || gender = '0' ";
    System.out.println(s.replaceAll("\\|\\|", "OR"));
}

O/P :

age = 18 OR name = 'Mistic' OR civilstatus = 'married' OR gender = '0'

PS : Alternatively, you can use Pattern.quote() to escape special characters.

String  st = Pattern.quote("||");
System.out.println(s.replaceAll(st, "OR"));

Michael Markidis · Answer 3 · 2016-06-01T06:23:28.590

You have to escape the "||"s since they are meta characters in regular expressions.

Use:

System.out.println("age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' || gender = '0'".replaceAll("\\|\\|", "OR"));

The reason why you are getting:

"ORaORgOReOR OR=OR OR1OR8OR OR|OR|OR ORnORaORmOReOR OR=OR OR'ORMORiORsORtORiORcOR'OR OR|OR|OR ORcORiORvORiORlORsORtORaORtORuORsOR OR=OR OR'ORmORaORrORrORiOReORdOR'OR OR|OR|OR ORgOReORnORdOReORrOR OR=OR OR'OR0OR'OR"

Is because the regular expression "||" says "replace an empty string OR an empty string OR an empty string" with "OR". In other words, replace all empty strings with "OR".

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 01 '16 at 08:58

2

Use Pattern.quote

System.out.println("age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' || gender = '0'".replaceAll(Pattern.quote("||"), "OR"));

edited Jun 01 '16 at 08:58

TheLostMind

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answered Jun 01 '16 at 06:04

nitika

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Harish Nayak · Answer 5 · 2016-06-01T07:09:00.367

2

you can use replace instead of replaceAll, try using the following..

    System.out.println("age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' || gender = '0' ".replace("||", "OR"));

edited Jun 01 '16 at 07:09

answered Jun 01 '16 at 06:05

Harish Nayak

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why are you assigning to a string, then not even using it? – Scary Wombat Jun 01 '16 at 06:32
oh yes, thank you no need to take string, I corrected.. – Harish Nayak Jun 01 '16 at 07:05

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 01 '16 at 05:58

1

You need to escape the special characters in the input string.

answered Jun 01 '16 at 05:58

Jobin

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 01 '16 at 06:02

1

You can use following code to replace all '||' with "OR"

String str = "age = 18 || name = 'Mistic' || civilstatus = 'married' || gender = '0' ";
System.out.println(str.replaceAll("\\|\\|", "OR"));

answered Jun 01 '16 at 06:02

Question Warriors

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Java "||" String replace by "OR"

7 Answers7