Convert String in Array form to String Array

Question

Let's say I've got a string with three strings looking like this:

String s = "[object1,object2,object3]";

How do I convert this to a String array which looks like this:

String[] ary = {"object1", "object2", "object3"};

Also mind that each string item (object1, object2 and object3) may also contain additional comma (,) characters.

Are those just string values (`"object1"`) or are they meant to represent variable names? — Sotirios Delimanolis, Jun 24 '16 at 15:44
@Zeromus I rejected your edit suggestion for two reasons: changing the items to "a", "b" and "c" isn't helpful and calling them "character" is also misleading, since each item is more than just a single character. But it is very nice to see, that you like to help to improve questions on this page. Please keep doing that. — Tom, Jun 24 '16 at 16:03

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 24 '16 at 15:45

2

just use the split method String[] str = s.split(","); if you want the "[ ]" out use the string.replace method to replace "[]" with ""

answered Jun 24 '16 at 15:45

Seek Addo

either this or use a regex – Zeromus Jun 24 '16 at 15:47
@Zeromus Alright, but what if my string already contains commas like ","? Lets say I have converted an array (with jsons converted to strings) to a string, and then I want to convert it back? – Mark Tyers Jun 24 '16 at 15:47
@MarkTyers Then it is obiviously impossible to split these strings. – Tom Jun 24 '16 at 15:49
1

@MarkTyers do you mean "object,1,object,2,object,3" then is impossible as Tom said. you need to be clear what you want to achieve with this – Seek Addo Jun 24 '16 at 15:51
1

@MarkTyers *"Lets say I have converted an array (with jsons converted to strings) to a string, and then I want to convert it back?"* If this is the real reason why you ask this question, then say that in the question and provide a proper example? This would result in better answers for your use-case. – Tom Jun 24 '16 at 16:05

DamienB · Answer 2 · 2016-06-24T15:54:13.313

0

To do the stuff in your situation you can do

String[] ary = s.substring(1, s.length() -1).split(",");

If there is no "[" and "]" just remove the substring call

edited Jun 24 '16 at 15:54

answered Jun 24 '16 at 15:48

DamienB

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 24 '16 at 15:49

0

I assume you want don't want the outer [], you could use replace/split or substring/split

String myArray[] = s.replace("[","").replace("]","").split(",");

Or

String myArray[] = s.substring(1, s.length() -1 ).split(",");

answered Jun 24 '16 at 15:49

Abubakkar

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 24 '16 at 15:50

0

See the code below with comments to explain what each does.

s = s.replace("[","").replace("]},""); //remove the brackets
String[] ary = s.split(",");           //split the string around commas

answered Jun 24 '16 at 15:50

nhouser9

4 Answers4