Java regular expression to split the String

Question

How would I split a string upon one or more spaces in between, preserving the effect of having more than one space.

e.g. when the input string is:

s = "a bc de fg "; 
spl = s.split(" ");

gives me the array

{a, bc, de, fg}.

how do I get the same array to 1-or-more spaces in between, like

s = "a  bc  de     fg ";

TIA.

hwnd · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-30 02:09:34Z

3

You can use the + quantifier meaning "one or more".

String s = "a  bc  de     fg ";
String[] parts = s.split(" +");
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(parts)); // [a, bc, de, fg]

You may also consider using \s which matches any white space character.

String[] parts = s.split("\\s+");

answered Aug 30, 2014 at 2:04

hwnd

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1 Comment

The * quantifier means "zero or more"

Avinash Raj · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-30 02:11:58Z

2

Just split the string using the below regex,

String tok[] = s.split(" +");
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(tok));

<space>+ matches one or more spaces.

answered Aug 30, 2014 at 2:03

Avinash Raj

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