Regular expression - replace text ignoring text from round brackets

Question

I have the following information:

a). a String in this format [name(label)] bla [name2(label2)] bla [name3(bla3)]

b). Strings name and name2

I need to replace [name(label)] and [name2(label2)] (anything can be between round brackets) with another string (say *), so the result needs to be * bla * bla [name3(bla3)]

Input

[name(label)] bla [name2(label2)] bla [name3(bla3)]

name and name2

Output

* bla * bla [name3(bla3)]

How can I do that using regex in Java?

Should `name` and `label` have the same number at the end, or was it just an example? — Eric Duminil, Apr 11 '17 at 09:44
Java language. `name` and `label` doesn't need to have the same number at the end. — Paul, Apr 11 '17 at 09:45

ZiTAL · Answer 1 · 2017-04-11T10:20:21.917

2

regex: "\[name2?\([^\)]+\)\]"

import java.util.regex.*;

public class ValidateDemo
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        String[] inputA = new String[] {"name", "name2"};
        String tmp = "";

        for (int i = 0; i < inputA.length; i++)
        {
            if(i>0)
                tmp+="|";
            tmp+=inputA[i];
        }
        tmp = "("+tmp+")";
/*
        System.out.println(tmp);
        System.exit(0);
*/
        String regex = "\\["+tmp+"\\([^\\)]+\\)\\]";
        String input = "[name(label)] bla [name2(label2)] bla [name3(bla3)]\n";
        String output = input.replaceAll(regex,"*");
        System.out.println(output);
    }
}

edited Apr 11 '17 at 10:20

answered Apr 11 '17 at 09:57

ZiTAL

3,466
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1

Better, thanks. Note that you reimplemented [`String.join`](http://stackoverflow.com/a/26195047/6419007). – Eric Duminil Apr 11 '17 at 11:23
1

@EricDuminil there is no String.join in java 1.7 :( – ZiTAL Apr 11 '17 at 14:25

Mustofa Rizwan · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-11T11:00:25.413

1

Try this regex:

\[(name|name2)(\(.*?\))?\]

and replace by your desired thing say *

Regex Demo

Java Sample:

String regex = "\\[(name|name2)(\\(.*?\\)\\)?]";
String string = "[name(label)] bla [name2(label2)] bla [name3(bla3)]\n";
String result = string.replaceAll(regex,"*");
System.out.println(result);

Javascript Sample:

const regex = /\[(name|name2)(\(.*?\))?\]/gm;
const str = `[name(label)] bla [name2(label2)] bla [name3(bla3)]  [name] [name2]`;
const subst = `*`;
const result = str.replace(regex, subst);
console.log(result);

edited Apr 11 '17 at 11:00

answered Apr 11 '17 at 09:42

Mustofa Rizwan

10,215
2
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works! can this be improved to replace also `[name]` and `[name2]` (without having those round brackets) with that character `*`? – Paul Apr 11 '17 at 09:52
Thanks. There is a small correction that needs to be done to the regex: delete last `\\` - I could not edit your post. – Paul Apr 12 '17 at 07:25

Regular expression - replace text ignoring text from round brackets

2 Answers2