Java replaceAll with parenthesis

Question

In the code below I'm trying to replace in text occurrences of fromString withtoString, but no replacement takes place. How to set the parenthesis in the regex to make this work?

public static void main(String[] args) {

    String fromString = "aaa(bbb)";
    String toString = "X";
    String text = "aaa(bbb) aaa(bbb)";
    String resultString = text.replaceAll(fromString, toString);
    System.out.println(resultString);

}

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

4

replaceAll uses regex as its first argument. Parenthesis () are used for capturing groups so need to be escaped

String fromString = "aaa\\(bbb\\)";

Since you can't modify the input String you can use Pattern.quote

String resultString = text.replaceAll(Pattern.quote(fromString), toString);

or simply String.replace could be used which doesnt use regex arguments

String resultString = text.replace(fromString, toString);

edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

Community

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answered Apr 28 '15 at 22:26

Reimeus

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Agree: http://goo.gl/7p3N09 – Wiktor Stribiżew Apr 28 '15 at 22:27
my issue is that I read `fromString` from a database and the parenthesis are already embedded in the field, how to escape the parenthesis? – ps0604 Apr 28 '15 at 22:33
You could use `Pattern.quote` but the simplest approach seems to be to use `String.replace` – Reimeus Apr 28 '15 at 22:38

Java replaceAll with parenthesis

1 Answers1