how to replace the bracket in java?

[deepika deepi]

hi good evening,


i am trying to change the brackets for the following inputs such as any thing given within "[ ]" i want that to be replaced by "( )?" the bracket change followed by question mark the other things should be the same


apple[s]
apple|Mango[es]
Mango[s]
Papaya[s] | apple | mango
Papaya | apple


Expected output

apple(s)?
apple|Mango(es)?
Mango(s)?
Papaya(s)? | apple | mango
Papaya | apple


i have taken this in a file and now i have that string s

String s;
s = s.replaceAll("[.*]","(.*?)");
System.out.println(s);

here i am getting only the same output.
there is no change in the input and output. can any body help me ?

[Swastik Dey]

public static void main(String[] args) {
                   String s="apple[s]";
                   s=s.replaceAll("\\[","(");
                   s=s.replaceAll("]",")?");
		   System.out.println(s);
            }

[Aniruddh Joshi]

s.replaceAll("\\[", "(").replaceAll("\\]", ")");

[deepika deepi]

thank's for your reply i am able to get the correct output

but Aniruddh Joshi sorry to tell that there is no change in this step you have given. the input and the output is the same.

[Panagiotis Kalogeropoulos]

sorry to tell that there is no change in this step you have given. the input and the output is the same.

You should use

s = s.replaceAll("\\[", "(").replaceAll("\\]", ")");

if you want to see the changes.

[Darryl Burke]

Since you don't need the power of a regular expression, I would recommend using replace(...) -- not replaceAll(...).

s = s.replace("[", "(").replace("]", ")");

edit: And in case it's a concern, replace(...) also replaces all occurrences.

[deepika deepi]

hi yaar,

the code does not work for this statement even after the replacement of replaceAll by replace.

s = s.replace("[", "(").replace("]", ")"); 

but the code is working fine for this

  public static void main(String[] args) {
                   String s="apple[s]";
                   s=s.replaceAll("\\[","(");
                   s=s.replaceAll("]",")?");
		   System.out.println(s);
            }

thank's for your replies

[Campbell Ritchie]

Both [ and ] are meta-characters in regular expressions, so both need to be escaped with \\.

[deepika deepi]

the code works fine after introducing the escape symbol... thanl's a lot

[Campbell Ritchie]

You’re welcome