Java Replace unicode chars in string

Question

I have a program that reads in a file. In this file there are some crazy chars that I have never seen before. The purpose of this file is to parse certain information into SQL statements.

When I get to this line in the file "read “Details for …(the name of the title”" (notice the horizontal ellipses and the right/left quotes), it outputs into this:

�Details for �(the name of the title�

I just want to replace the chars that are right with chars defined by me. I have tried:

st = st.replaceAll("…","...");
st = st.replaceAll("\u2026","...");

This is how i read the file:

 FileInputStream file = new FileInputStream(filePath);
 DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(file); 
 BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));

And other things that I cant even remember. How can I do this seemingly simple task?

Can you be more specific, which file you are trying to read? (txt, xls, html etc) — choop
– choop, Commented Apr 26, 2012 at 19:34
So you're reading the file in the wrong encoding and want to replace arbitrary chars? Well I can't see what could go wrong with that ;) — Voo
– Voo, Commented Apr 26, 2012 at 19:34
Original file was in rft, it was then saved to txt using Word. I am trying to parse the txt file. — jensengar
– jensengar, Commented Apr 26, 2012 at 19:40

Paul Vargas · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-26 19:52:05Z

1

You need specify the encoding on read the file before replaces specials chars...

FileInputStream inputStream = new FileInputStream("input.txt");
// Specify the enconding
InputStreamReader streamReader = new InputStreamReader(inputStream, "UTF-8");
BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(streamReader);

answered Apr 26, 2012 at 19:52

Paul Vargas

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ChristopheD · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-26 19:38:16Z

0

Unless it's absolutely necessary you don't really have to drop those weird (yet still meaningful) characters...

Have a look at the documentation for InputStreamReader and specify the right encoding when reading your file.

answered Apr 26, 2012 at 19:38

ChristopheD

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2 Comments

jensengar Over a year ago

Can you give me an example of how to call that inputStream? currently I have: FileInputStream file = new FileInputStream(filePath); DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(file); BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));

ChristopheD Over a year ago

You'll find a clear illustrated example here: docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/i18n/text/stream.html You will need to find out what specific encoding your .txt file is in (and pass that to the constructor).

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