How to find multiple Pattern(s) (using Matcher) in Java

Question

Suppose I have a String, say one two three one one two one. Now I'm using a Pattern and a Matcher to find any specific Pattern in the String. Like this:

Pattern findMyPattern = Pattern.compile("one");
Matcher foundAMatch = findMyPattern.matcher(myString);
while(foundAMatch.find())
           // do my stuff

But, suppose I want to find multiple patterns. For the example String I took, I want to find both one and two. Now it's a quite small String,so probable solution is using another Pattern and find my matches. But, this is just a small example. Is there an efficient way to do it, instead of just trying it out in a loop over all the set of Patterns?

Matt Ball · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-15 15:50:00Z

6

Use the power of regular expressions: change the pattern to match one or two.

Pattern findMyPattern = Pattern.compile("one|two");
Matcher foundAMatch = findMyPattern.matcher(myString);
while(foundAMatch.find())
           // do my stuff

answered Mar 15, 2012 at 15:50

Matt Ball

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3 Comments

Kazekage Gaara Over a year ago

I have mentioned it in the question,that it is just a small example. What if I have many,say about 100 plus,patterns to match for?

Chetter Hummin Over a year ago

Just create the string one|two|three.. dynamically using a loop

Matt Ball Over a year ago

It really depends on exactly what you're trying to do. If the patterns still look like they do in your example, you don't need a pattern at all. You can use String#contains(). Or do what Amit suggests.

Aka · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-29 21:07:58Z

0

this wont solve my issue, this way we can change (one|two) to a perticular string.

but my requirementis to change pattern one -> three & two -> four

answered Nov 29, 2012 at 21:07

Aka

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