Comparing string against arraylist

Question

I have an arrayList which I need to compare against String.

What I have done:

ArrayList<String> val = new ArrayList<String>();
val= getValues();

If I print val , it gives me expected values.But

if(val.contains("abcd"))

It is returning false although at time of printing values of val it consists of abcd.

What can possibly be wrong?

Edited: How my arraylist is getting values:

IOUtils.copy(inputStream , write)
str = write.toString()

ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
list.addAll(Arrays.asList(str));
return list;

you need to deep compare it

Sanjay Rabari
– Sanjay Rabari

2014-04-21 05:13:25 +00:00
Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:13 — Sanjay Rabari
– Sanjay Rabari, Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:13
does your getValues() method return a String?

anirudh
– anirudh

2014-04-21 05:15:26 +00:00
Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:15 — anirudh
– anirudh, Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:15
No, it is returning arrayList

user3505394
– user3505394

2014-04-21 05:16:37 +00:00
Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:16 — user3505394
– user3505394, Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:16
May be you need to trim and compare

ray
– ray

2014-04-21 05:18:22 +00:00
Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:18 — ray
– ray, Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:18
@user3505394 focus on trim and case sensitive of the value

Giri
– Giri

2014-04-21 05:32:14 +00:00
Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:32 — Giri
– Giri, Commented Apr 21, 2014 at 5:32

Baby · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-21 05:42:17Z

2

you need to make sure that val contains string exactly as abcd(no space, no uppercase). But if it is not case-sensitive and you allow space, then you may check it like this:

boolean isExist = false;
for(int i=0;i<val.size();i++){
    if(val.get(i).trim().toLowerCase().equals("abcd")){
        isExist=true;
        break;
    }
}

answered Apr 21, 2014 at 5:42

Baby

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Comments

anirudh · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-21 05:28:09Z

0

If getValues() returns an arraylist of strings, you need to ensure that the string "abcd" is exactly as given in parameter. Also since according to the docs, the contains method implements the equals method for comparison, you should make sure that the string has the right case as equals is case sensitive.

answered Apr 21, 2014 at 5:28

anirudh

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Amit Singh · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-21 05:38:13Z

0

contain() method works by comparing elements of Arraylist on equals() method. If your arraylist has "abcd", it should return 'true'. Try checking if your getValues() method returns some hidden character/space along with "abcd".

answered Apr 21, 2014 at 5:38

Amit Singh

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maddy d · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-21 05:25:01Z

-1

do something like below.

for(int i=0;i<val.size();i++){
    if(val.get(i).contains("abcd") || val.get(i).contains("ABCD")){
      // do some thing here
    }
}

answered Apr 21, 2014 at 5:25

maddy d

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1 Comment

maddy d Over a year ago

may i know the reason of down-vote of my ans and up-vote for aprox same ans

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