Splitting user input in Java

Question

I'm writing a program that takes 3 or 5 arguments. The first is a String, the middle is/are numbers, and the last one is a String. However, the last argument is also surrounded by quotation marks, and needs to be treated as one string. This makes it impossible to use .split(), as I have tried.

For example: bob 1 2 3 "jimmy john" should be [bob, 1, 2, 3, jimmy john], not [bob, 1, 2, 3, jimmy, john]. Thanks!

*This makes it impossible to use .split()* [Are you sure?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1757065/java-splitting-a-comma-separated-string-but-ignoring-commas-in-quotes) — C.B., Feb 18 '14 at 15:39
Why not just add each input to the array, without splitting anything? — Lani1234, Feb 18 '14 at 15:40
Use a [commandline argument parser](http://jcommander.org/) and don't reinvent the wheel - what happens when input is `bob 1 2 3 "jimmy \"the king\" john"` — Boris the Spider, Feb 18 '14 at 15:41
I can't imagine what you're trying to use `split` for, and you don't include any code that shows us how. — ajb, Feb 18 '14 at 15:57

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 18 '14 at 15:45

You said "arguments," so you must mean command line arguments.

public static void main(final String[] arguments)
{
    Object[] myArray = new Object[arguments.length];

    for (int index = 0; index < arguments.length; ++index)
    {
        myArray = transformAsDesired(arguments[index]);
    }
}

implement transformAsDesired to convert numbers to Integers as desired. The argument "blammy blam" will show as one entry in the arguments array.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 18 '14 at 16:00

0

If this is a constructor taking in arguements then you should make the String at the end a variable before passing it through? So you would pass through (bob 1 2 3 variableName)

answered Feb 18 '14 at 16:00

William Collishaw

85
11

Splitting user input in Java

2 Answers2