Java Regular expression matching square brackets

Question

I'm trying to do the following using regular expression (java replaceAll):

**Input:**
Test[Test1][Test2]Test3

**Output**
TestTest3

In short, i need to remove everything inside square brackets including square brackets.

I'm trying this, but it doesn't work:

\\[(.*?)\\]

Would you be able to help?

Thanks,
Sash

VTC, lacks MCVE where the pattern fails. http://ideone.com/wf5YMT — Sebastian Proske, Apr 06 '17 at 05:11
Do you plan to have _nested_ brackets, or would everything be top level as you have shown here? — Tim Biegeleisen, Apr 06 '17 at 05:13

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 06 '17 at 05:06

14

You can try this regex:

\[[^\[]*\]

and replace by empty

Demo

Sample Java Source:

final String regex = "\\[[^\\[]*\\]";
final String string = "Test[Test1][Test2]Test3\n";
final String subst = "";
final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex, Pattern.MULTILINE);
final Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(string);
final String result = matcher.replaceAll(subst);
System.out.println(result);

answered Apr 06 '17 at 05:06

Mustofa Rizwan

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Thanks @Rizwan, it works, +1 for the sample source even though you did not need to take the pain! – Pruthvi Raj Nadimpalli Apr 06 '17 at 05:11
@sash glad to know that it worked for you and never mind the pain! as long as the source is a generated one :) you can also generate from regex101.com – Mustofa Rizwan Apr 06 '17 at 05:17

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 06 '17 at 05:09

3

Your original pattern works for me:

String input = "Test[Test1][Test2]Test3";
input = input.replaceAll("\\[.*?\\]", "");
System.out.println(input);

Output:

TestTest3

Note that you don't need the parentheses inside the brackets. You would use that if you planned to capture the contents in between each pair of brackets, which in your case you don't need. It isn't wrong to have them in there, just not necessary.

Demo here:

Rextester

answered Apr 06 '17 at 05:09

Tim Biegeleisen

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Thanks Tim. +1 for you .This works but @Rizwan was fast. – Pruthvi Raj Nadimpalli Apr 06 '17 at 05:12

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 07 '21 at 15:58

0

\[\w+]

This works for me, this regex matches all the words which are enclosed in square brackets.

answered Jul 07 '21 at 15:58

Karan_raj

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Java Regular expression matching square brackets

3 Answers3

Rextester

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