Java: Get delimeters in a string in the same order it appeared

Question

I am planning to split a string which is composed of numbers and operators (eg. +,-,*,/) and store the numbers in an array and also store the operators in an array. I have managed to get the numbers and store them in an array with this code

String num = "58.5+98*78/96/78.7-3443*12-3";
String[] strings = (num.split("[+|*|/|-]"));
for (String string : strings) {
    System.out.println(string);
}

Which outputs:

58.5
98
78
96
78.7
3443
12
3

What I want to do/have is get the delimiters in the same order they appeared on the string, like this:

+
*
/
/
-
*
-

I know this has something to do with regex but I am having a hard time implementing it. Thank you for the help.

if you also need the value of the captured match you need to use a proper regex class and not just `String.split`. — xander, Nov 30 '17 at 09:40

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 30 '17 at 09:57

1

For something quick and dirty you can split using the negated regex and ignore/remove the empty strings.

String strings = (num.split("[^+|*|/|-]"));
for (String string : strings) {
    if (!string.equals("")) {
        System.out.println(string);
    }
}

answered Nov 30 '17 at 09:57

Oleg

6,124
2
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that worked! really Don't know much bout regex, thanks for your help!! – Ralph Nov 30 '17 at 10:23

Java: Get delimeters in a string in the same order it appeared

1 Answers1