Search and replace with regular expressions in Java

Question

In my string, I want to put a # in start and end of : cast(.* as varchar)

I tried:

s.replaceAll("cast(.* as varchar)","#cast$1#");

But for a string "('abas' + cast(x as varchar ))" the result is "( ' abas ' +' # cast ( x as varchar # ' ) )" which is not correct. What am I doing wrong?

be more clear. give your exact input and output vs what you would like it to output — nhouser9
– nhouser9, Commented Oct 29, 2016 at 0:46

Wilder Pereira · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-29 00:59:57Z

2

s.replaceAll("(cast\\(\\.\\* as varchar\\))","#$1#");

Will do the trick.

You were getting the wrong output because the parenthesis around ".* as varchar" weren't being scaped so the $1 was replacing what was inside them.

edited Oct 29, 2016 at 0:59

answered Oct 29, 2016 at 0:57

Wilder Pereira

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3 Comments

JimN Over a year ago

You also need to escape the '.' and '*' characters.

user2698684 Over a year ago

This time the result is "( ' abas ' +'#cast#' ( x as varchar ) )" which is still not correct

user2698684 Over a year ago

I also tried: s.replaceAll("cast($.* as varchar.*$)","#cast$1#")) , but still I get a wron answer: "('abas' + #cast(x as varchar ))#"

Zbynek Vyskovsky - kvr000 · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-29 00:59:19Z

0

() have special meening, you need to escape:

s.replaceAll("(cast\\(.* as varchar\\))","#$1#");

answered Oct 29, 2016 at 0:59

Zbynek Vyskovsky - kvr000

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1 Comment

user2698684 Over a year ago

the result is "( ' abas ' +'#cast#' ( x as varchar ) )" which is still not correct

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