trouble using replaceregexp when replacing string DIR location

Question

I am having trouble in doing this. there is 1 batch file with this line:

set TEST_DIR=C:\temp\dir1

I just want to set some new value to TEST_DIR

But, when I use in my ant script, it escapes forward slashes and gives this result:

set TEST_DIR=C:homedir2

Instead, I want to give it:

set TEST_DIR=C:\home\dir2

I am using this command:

<replaceregexp file="${MT_BATCH_FILE_LOCATION}\myfile.bat" match="TEST_DIR=C:\\temp\\dir1" replace="TEST_DIR=C:\home\dir2" byline="true" />

ewan.chalmers · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-10 15:15:22Z

7

You can get the result you want by using this replace pattern:

 replace="TEST_DIR=C:\\\\home\\\\dir2"

The reason is that you must escape the backslash once for the regex and once for Java - backslash is an escape character in both those contexts.

In answer to your subsequent questions in comments...

I expect the answer will be the same. You will need to double-escape the backslash in the value of ${new_loc}, i.e. use C:\\\\my_projcode not C:\my_projcode.

If new_loc is coming in as an environment variable, you could use the propertyregex task from ant-contrib to escape backslashes in the value:

<project default="test">

  <!-- import ant-contrib --> 
  <taskdef resource="net/sf/antcontrib/antlib.xml">
    <classpath>
      <pathelement location="C:/lib/ant-contrib/ant-contrib-1.0b3.jar"/>
    </classpath>
  </taskdef>

  <target name="test">

    <!-- load environment variables -->
    <property environment="env"/>

    <!-- escape backslashes in new_loc -->
    <propertyregex property="loc" input="${env.new_loc}" regexp="\\" replace="\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" />

    <echo message="env.new_loc: ${env.new_loc}"/>
    <echo message="loc: ${loc}"/>

    <!-- do the replace --> 
    <replaceregexp file="test.bat" match="TEST_DIR=C:\\temp\\dir1" replace="TEST_DIR=${loc}\\\\home\\\\dir2" byline="true" />

  </target>

Output:

c:\tmp\ant>set new_loc=c:\foo\bar

c:\tmp\ant>ant
Buildfile: c:\tmp\ant\build.xml

test:
     [echo] new_loc: c:\foo\bar
     [echo] env.new_loc: c:\foo\bar
     [echo] loc: c:\\\\foo\\\\bar

BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 0 seconds

c:\tmp\ant>type test.bat
set TEST_DIR=c:\foo\bar\home\dir2

edited Nov 10, 2011 at 15:15

answered Nov 10, 2011 at 11:19

ewan.chalmers

16.3k47 silver badges62 bronze badges

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

6 Comments

user1037728 Over a year ago

hey it worked well..but my problem got resolved partially....actually in original built i have one variable also which i wand to add to my new location... here is the code i am using..

user1037728 Over a year ago

user1037728 Over a year ago

and its giving result... TEST_DIR=C:my_projcode\home\dir2 between C: and my_projcode the slash seems to be still missing..

user1037728 Over a year ago

hey that is the problem; here the variable is taking value from environment i cant edit on my own..

user1037728 Over a year ago

is there any way to put this variable to constant string and then append it to my location

|

user1037728 · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-11 14:43:35Z

5

I have found another simple solution use replace instead of replaceregexp.

<replace file="${MT_BATCH_FILE_LOCATION}\myfile.bat"
                            token='TEST_DIR=C:\temp\dir1'
                    value='TEST_DIR=${new_loc}\home\dir2' />

answered Nov 11, 2011 at 14:43

user1037728

1332 silver badges10 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

trouble using replaceregexp when replacing string DIR location

2 Answers 2

6 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

6 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related