Extract string between two words in Java

Question

I have the following string. I want to extract the string between two words <cases> and </cases> using Java. I want to extract the string to form a valid xml as per my requirement.

<cases><Final-Results><row>
          <CRDATTIM>2014-03-26-05.22.22.339840</CRDATTIM>
          <RECORDCD>C</RECORDCD>
          <CRNODE>01</CRNODE>
          <CKEY>2014-03-26-05.22.22.339840C01</CKEY>
          <STATCD>CREATED</STATCD>
          <UNITCD>CSMHCQA</UNITCD>
          <WRKTYPE>CALL</WRKTYPE>
          <issues><row>
      <IKEY>2014-03-26-05.22.22.193840T01</IKEY>
      <PRTY>999</PRTY>
      <ISSUEID>20140326-155047-DT81694</ISSUEID>
      <SUBJECT>Group</SUBJECT>
      <ISSTYP>GROUP</ISSTYP>
      <ISSCAT1>GROUP INQUIRY</ISSCAT1>
     </row></issues></row></Final-Results></cases><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
     <response>
        <FOLDERID>COMM*H</FOLDERID>
     </response>

I have tried with the following code. But its not working for me.

Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("<cases>(.*?)</cases>");
Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(string);
while (matcher.find()) {
    System.out.println(matcher.group(1));
}

Am I doing any mistake here?Could please share your idea to solve my issue? Thanks in advance.

please don't parse xml using pattern matching. There are, in almost every imaginable language, constructs to deal with xml. Use those. It will make your life a lot easier. — Wim Ombelets
– Wim Ombelets, Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 12:02
I agree. But my xml string is not a well formed one. So I am thinking of extracting the content using Pattern matching. — Ashok.N
– Ashok.N, Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 12:05
true, but it looks like a valid xml fragment, perhaps stackoverflow.com/questions/729621/… can give you some ideas. — Wim Ombelets
– Wim Ombelets, Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 12:15

Kent · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-14 12:03:39Z

4

try changing:

Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("<cases>(.*?)</cases>");

into

Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("<cases>(.*?)</cases>", Pattern.DOTALL);

btw, if it was a well-formed xml document, use parser instead of regex to handle it.

answered Apr 14, 2014 at 12:03

Kent

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1 Comment

Ashok.N Over a year ago

Worked perfectly! Thanks Kent!

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