Java regex: newline + white space

Question

should be simple, but I'm going crazy with it.

Given a text like:

line number 1
line number 2
 line number 2A
line number 3
 line number 3A
 line number 3B
line number 4

I need the Java regex that deletes the line terminators then the new line begin with space, so that the sample text above become:

line number 1
line number 2line number 2A
line number 3line number 3Aline number 3B
line number 4

Try `"\r?\n\W+"`. I haven't tried it, so I don't want to register it as an answer. In case you haven't checked it out already, you can find some specifics about Java regex here: http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html ... If you are guaranteed that "line" is the first text on a given line, you could also try `"\r?\n[^l]+"`. — Mike M, Jun 05 '11 at 16:59
Should work on OS-X though, right? Are people still using old versions of Apple? — Mike M, Jun 05 '11 at 18:28

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 05 '11 at 17:08

11

String res = orig.replaceAll("[\\r\\n]+\\s", "");

answered Jun 05 '11 at 17:08

Op De Cirkel

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score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 05 '11 at 16:56

10

yourString.replaceAll("\n ", " "); this wont help?

answered Jun 05 '11 at 16:56

dantuch

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1) The question says: _if you encounter line that begins with remove both the blank and the new line. 2) '\n' is not portable – Op De Cirkel Jun 05 '11 at 17:00
3

@MatteoSp, remeber that Stings are immutable, so in fact you need `yourString = yourString.replaceAll("\n ", " ");` or something like that, because calling method wont change String object itself permanently. Glad to help :) – dantuch Jun 05 '11 at 17:34

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 05 '11 at 17:02

3

Perhaps to make it cross-platform:

String pattern = System.getProperty("line.separator") + " ";
string.replaceAll(pattern, "");

answered Jun 05 '11 at 17:02

gouki

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Well, the system `line.separator` doesn't really help, since you don't know if the files were created on the system where the JVM is running – Op De Cirkel Jun 05 '11 at 17:46

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 05 '11 at 17:00

2

"\n " This is should do the trick if you are in Unix LF mode. For DOS like you need to match CRLF "\r\n ". Did check with RegexBuddy looking fine.

answered Jun 05 '11 at 17:00

millebii

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Java regex: newline + white space

4 Answers4

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