14

I've a csv string like 

"abc, java, stackoverflow , stack exchange , test"

Can I use regex to remove the space around the commas to get a string like 

"abc,java,stackoverflow,stack exchange,test"
David Newcomb
11k3 gold badges52 silver badges63 bronze badges
asked Jun 8, 2011 at 12:40
3
  • 1
    What about a , "b , b" , c? Commented Jun 8, 2011 at 12:43
  • Unfortunately "b , b" will be treated as two different values, but i'm fine with that :) Commented Jun 8, 2011 at 12:46
  • okay, then Chris' solution will do. Commented Jun 8, 2011 at 12:47

1 Answer 1

29 
str = str.replaceAll("\\s*,\\s*", ",");
answered Jun 8, 2011 at 12:41
Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

@Rnet: \s (which has to be written as \\s in a Java string literal) matches one whitespace character. * matches zero or more of the "thing" before it. So, \s* means zero or more whitespace characters. You can figure out the rest. ;-)
@Chris Jester-Young: Thank you:)
+1 Damn. I was thinking why replace() is not working. Now I see from the docs, that replaceAll() supports regex. Thanks!
@asgs: if you had used replace() to replace the white space, it would have replaced the space between the values also.
@Rnet actually, i was using the same regex inside the replace().

Your Answer

Draft saved
Draft discarded

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google
Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Required, but never shown

Post as a guest

Required, but never shown

By clicking "Post Your Answer", you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.