Split on space ignore if inside quotes using regex / Java code

Question

I have two string like below..I want to split those string on space but ignore space if space found inside quotes....

LA    L'TL0BPC,C'ABC  '   THIS IS COMMENT
LA    C'TL0PC',C'ABC  '   THIS IS COMMENT
MVC   EBW000(4),=C'MPI '  THIS IS ANOTHER' CASE

I want to split those lines like this

LA L'TL0BPC,C'ABC ' THIS IS COMMENT

LA C'TL0PC',C'ABC ' THIS IS COMMENT

How to achieve this using java regex....Any other solution is also acceptable..

I have tried this:

String ODD_QT_REGEX="[ ]+(?=([^'']*'[^'']*')*[^'']*)"; 
String EVEN_QT_REGEX="[ ]+(?=([^'']*'[^'']*')*[^'']*$)";

but this doesn't do what I need.

String ODD_QT_REGEX="[ ]+(?=([^'']*'[^'']*')*[^'']*)"; String EVEN_QT_REGEX="[ ]+(?=([^'']*'[^'']*')*[^'']*$)"; I tried with this two ...but its failing...... — Anupam Maiti
– Anupam Maiti, Commented Mar 6, 2015 at 14:28
Why did you post it as comment? Your attempts should be part of your question. So use edit option to place it there. — Pshemo
– Pshemo, Commented Mar 6, 2015 at 14:33

Avinash Raj · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-06 14:47:05Z

2

You could do matching instead of splitting. Splitting according to this "[ ]+(?=([^'']*'[^'']*')*[^'']*)"; regex is possible only if your input has balanced quotes.

Seems like i figured out the problem. Same like the op's regex but this regex won't consider an apostrophe as a single quote. The below regex would match one or more space characters which is followed by

\b'\b An apostrophe.
| OR
'[^']' single quote block.
| OR
[^'] Any character but not of single quote.
(?:\\b'\\b|'[^']*'|[^'])*, zero or more times. Then it must be followed by an end of the line anchor.

Code:

String r = "LA    L'TL0BPC,C'ABC  '  THIS IS COMMENT";
String[] m = r.split("\\s+(?=(?:\\b'\\b|'[^']*'|[^'])*$)");
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(m));

OR

For more exact case, you could replace \b in the above regex with lookarounds.

"\\s+(?=(?:(?<=[a-zA-Z])'(?=[A-Za-z])|'[^']*'|[^'])*$)"

Output:

[LA, L'TL0BPC,C'ABC  ', THIS, IS, COMMENT]

edited Mar 6, 2015 at 14:47

answered Mar 6, 2015 at 14:33

Avinash Raj

175k32 gold badges247 silver badges289 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

6 Comments

gtgaxiola Over a year ago

The unbalanced quote threw me off!

Anupam Maiti Over a year ago

Doing some testing.....If passed i will accept your ans...and +1 for explanation...

Anupam Maiti Over a year ago

EMPAS870 EQU * >>> TOP OF 'RESTACK THE INELIGIBLES LOOP..Any correction possible for this line???its not splitting on space before quote...

Avinash Raj Over a year ago

no, because there is only one single quote present and it's not an apostrophe.

Anupam Maiti Over a year ago

MVC EBW000(4),=C'MPI ' TELL EMQ4 TO PROCESS COMP NRFN'S this one also failing...Plz help.....

|

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Split on space ignore if inside quotes using regex / Java code

1 Answer 1

6 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

6 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related