How to parse pipe-separated Attribute=Values pairs?

Question

I have string b="Name=Paul Roberts|Telephone=|Address=|City=LA"; I have been trying all day to get the output Attribute-Value pairs without equal and pipes signs. I have more then 4 results but this is what I want to achieve: Output (separate each pair because I have to put those two values into the fields of some table):

Name
Paul Roberts 

Telephone

Address

City
LA

So you can notice that VALUE can be null(empty).

I tried with SUBSTRING (maybe there is better way) but getting wrong results:

static String b="Name=Paul Roberts|Telephone=|Address=|City=LA";   

public static void main(String[] args) {

    System.out.println("b="+b);
    String match = "=";

    int i =0;
    while((i=(b.indexOf(match,i)+1))>0)
    { 
    String c=b.substring(0,i-1);
    String d=b.substring(i);
    String match2="|";
    int k=b.indexOf(match2);
    System.out.println("Attribute="+c);

    int j=d.indexOf(match2);
    if (j>-1)
    {
   String e=d.substring(0,j);
   System.out.println("Value="+e);
    }
    if (k>-1)
    {
    b=b.substring(k+1,b.length());
    }
    }
}

I am close to the correct result but this is what I am getting:

b=Name=Paul Roberts|Telephone=|Address=|City=LA
Attribute=Name
Value=Paul Roberts
Attribute=Telephone
Value=
Attribute=Address=|City

So you can notice that last row is not correct and I am missing two rows. Also is this with SUBSTRING most efficient way?

+1 for a clearly defined goal, an effort on your part and a description of how close you are to it. — Duncan Jones, Jun 01 '14 at 07:09
Although it would help if you'd indent your code more readably. If you're using an IDE, you should find there's an option to do that for you. — Jon Skeet, Jun 01 '14 at 07:10

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 01 '14 at 07:16

Splitting the string makes this easier:

public static void main(String[] args) {
  String b="Name=Paul Roberts|Telephone=|Address=|City=LA";

  for (String s : b.split("\\|")) {
    String[] pair = s.split("=");

    String attribute = pair[0];
    String value = ((pair.length > 1) ? pair[1] : "");

    System.out.println("Attribute=" + attribute);
    System.out.println("Value=" + value);
    System.out.println();
  }
}

Output:

Attribute=Name
Value=Paul Roberts

Attribute=Telephone
Value=

Attribute=Address
Value=

Attribute=City
Value=LA

thank you very much Duncan for your efforts and kindness. you saved my day — ja jaaaa, Jun 01 '14 at 07:23

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 01 '14 at 07:14

0

Very basic way to do this would be

    String b="Name=Paul Roberts|Telephone=|Address=|City=LA"; 
    b = b.replace("\"", "");
    b = b.replace("|", "\n");
    b = b.replace("=", "\n");
    System.out.println(b);

output is

Name
Paul Roberts
Telephone

Address

City
LA

Again it would be even better if you used StringBuffer for it rather than directly operating on Strings.

answered Jun 01 '14 at 07:14

Aniket Thakur

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Thank you for help but this is not what I want... I must get result in two separate String fields because both Attribute and Value I must insert in one row in two fields of additional table – ja jaaaa Jun 01 '14 at 07:19
Then now you can easily split using `\n` and use it the way you want. – Aniket Thakur Jun 01 '14 at 07:20

How to parse pipe-separated Attribute=Values pairs?

2 Answers2