Using \t regex with Scanner input

Question

String[] splitUp = line.split("\t");

This is the code and the string is this "John Doe 3.30 23123123" The problem is at the end of Doe and after 3.30 those spaces are actually tabs. Now I have to split up this string by the tabs and \t and \t aren't working. Help

Here is more code:

while(scan.hasNextLine()){


          String line = scan.nextLine();
          String[] splitUp = line.split("\\t");
          for(int i = 0; i < splitUp.length; i++){
              System.out.println(splitUp[i]);
          }

}

and I have a text file which is feeding in lines with tabs.

Answer:

if editing a .txt file with the java compiler IntelliJ then it replaces the \t char with the corresponding amount of spaces, therefore you cannot check for \t because it doesn't exist. you have to edit it in a regular text editor and all will be good.

XtremeBaumer · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-01T15:37:07.323

0

in java you need \\t to also escape the \.

following code works:

String test="asd    asd asd xsdv";
String[]t=test.split("\\t");
for(String st : t){
    System.out.println(st);
}

output is:

asd
asd
asd xsdv

edited Feb 01 '17 at 15:37

answered Feb 01 '17 at 15:27

XtremeBaumer

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String[] splitUp = line.split("\\t"); so this? – Sam Hoffmann Feb 01 '17 at 15:27
yes that should it be – XtremeBaumer Feb 01 '17 at 15:28
nope, still doesn't split – Sam Hoffmann Feb 01 '17 at 15:28
i updated my answer with some test code that works – XtremeBaumer Feb 01 '17 at 15:31
my output doesn't split – Sam Hoffmann Feb 01 '17 at 15:35
asd asd asd is what i get – Sam Hoffmann Feb 01 '17 at 15:35
paste more code than just that line, because my code works just fine – XtremeBaumer Feb 01 '17 at 15:36
i added more code if that helps – Sam Hoffmann Feb 01 '17 at 15:39
and you are sure that those are tabs coming in and not 4 single spaces? – XtremeBaumer Feb 01 '17 at 15:41
well when i do 4 spaces it works. however i am typing a tab – Sam Hoffmann Feb 01 '17 at 15:42
it works sorry! – Sam Hoffmann Feb 01 '17 at 15:43
you are welcome. what was the problem? – XtremeBaumer Feb 01 '17 at 15:45
The problem was that when editing a .txt file in intellij it replaces the white space \t with a corresponding amount of actual spaces. I had to edit it in a regular text file and then it worked. – Sam Hoffmann Feb 02 '17 at 16:35
ahh well good to know – XtremeBaumer Feb 03 '17 at 07:07

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 01 '17 at 15:33

You can use it and then save each group => Array

import java.util.regex.Matcher;
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

final String regex = "(\\w+\\s\\w+|\\d+.\\d+)";
final String string = "John Doe 3.30    23123123";

final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex, Pattern.MULTILINE);
final Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(string);

while (matcher.find()) {
    System.out.println("Full match: " + matcher.group(0));
    for (int i = 1; i <= matcher.groupCount(); i++) {
        System.out.println("Group " + i + ": " + matcher.group(i));
    }
}

Input:

John Doe    3.30    23123123

Output:

John Doe
3.30
23123123

See: https://regex101.com/r/Us6G3X/1

your regex only works with your example. what happens if the string changes? — XtremeBaumer, Feb 01 '17 at 15:34

Using \t regex with Scanner input

2 Answers2