Need regex to find and replace words from a string

Question

Suppose I have a string say "Hello ::2130837661:: stackoverflow, How ::2130837664:: are you?"

And I have a predefined Integer Arraylist like [ 2130837661, 2130837662, 2130837663, 2130837664, 2130837665, 2130837666, 2130837667, 2130837668 ]

I want to check if given string contains integer from that arraylist, it should replace by new word say "EXAMPLE".

For example above string(after replacement) will be :

"Hello EXAMPLE stackoverflow, How EXAMPLE are you?"

Any feasible solution to do this?

Thanks in advance.

so if a numbr (which is preceded by ::) is in the arraylist then you will replace it with `EXAMPLE` ? — Scary Wombat, Jun 06 '16 at 06:37
Yes, ::2130837661:: is a expression. whenever a integer comes between "::", check for that integer into arraylist values and if it contains, replaced it by new word. — Ambar Jain, Jun 06 '16 at 06:39
Your question looks similar to this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6745154/how-to-replace-multiple-words-in-a-single-string-in-java — Moon, Jun 06 '16 at 06:40
`Yes, ::2130837661:: is a expression. whenever a integer comes between "::", check for that integer into arraylist values and if it contains, replaced it by new word.` - so which part are you stuck with? — Scary Wombat, Jun 06 '16 at 06:45
There is already an answer. @Ambar Jain: Do you mind accepting or rejecting the answer? — Markus, Jun 06 '16 at 06:46
Possible duplicate of [Splitting a Java String by the pipe symbol using split("|")](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10796160/splitting-a-java-string-by-the-pipe-symbol-using-split) — Markus, Jun 06 '16 at 06:56

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 06 '16 at 06:46

0

Simply iterate over the ArrayList and (I assume you have a Map from these integers to Strings) use String.replace() to replace your integer with the respective replacement.

for(Integer i: arrayList)
{
  yourString.replace("::"+i+"::", replacement);
}

answered Jun 06 '16 at 06:46

Abdul Fatir

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This has a very poor performance and does not work because Java returns a new string! – Markus Jun 06 '16 at 06:52
Just look at the OPs question. He has an `ArrayList` which consists of specific integers. If we were to simply use those integers hardcoded in the regex as your solution, what is the point of having this `ArrayList`? If Java returns a new `String`, simply assign it to the original `String` what is the issue? – Abdul Fatir Jun 06 '16 at 06:56
I hope, he can interpret the regexp example and adjust it for his needs. As software dev you are supposed to think! – Markus Jun 06 '16 at 06:58
or you can use a good ol' Stringbuilder and then convert it to your needs – Zeromus Jun 06 '16 at 08:19

Need regex to find and replace words from a string

1 Answers1