Java Regex - Matcher Class



Introduction

The java.util.regex.Matcher class acts as an engine that performs match operations on a character sequence by interpreting a Pattern.

Class declaration

Following is the declaration for java.util.regex.Matcher class −

public final class Matcher
   extends Object
      implements MatchResult

Class methods

Sr.No Method & Description
1 Matcher appendReplacement(StringBuffer sb, String replacement)

Implements a non-terminal append-and-replace step.

2 StringBuffer appendTail(StringBuffer sb)

Implements a terminal append-and-replace step.

3 int end()

Returns the offset after the last character matched.

4 int end(int group)

Returns the offset after the last character of the subsequence captured by the given group during the previous match operation.

5 boolean find()

Attempts to find the next subsequence of the input sequence that matches the pattern.

6 boolean find(int start)

Resets this matcher and then attempts to find the next subsequence of the input sequence that matches the pattern, starting at the specified index.

7 String group()

Returns the input subsequence captured by the given group during the previous match operation.

8 String group(String name)

Returns the input subsequence captured by the given named-capturing group during the previous match operation.

9 int groupCount()

Returns the number of capturing groups in this matcher's pattern.

10 boolean hasAnchoringBounds()

Queries the anchoring of region bounds for this matcher.

11 boolean hasTransparentBounds()

Queries the transparency of region bounds for this matcher.

12 boolean hitEnd()

Returns true if the end of input was hit by the search engine in the last match operation performed by this matcher.

13 boolean lookingAt()

Attempts to match the input sequence, starting at the beginning of the region, against the pattern.

14 boolean matches()

Attempts to match the entire region against the pattern.

15 Pattern pattern()

Returns the pattern that is interpreted by this matcher.

16 static String quoteReplacement(String s)

Returns a literal replacement String for the specified String.

17 Matcher region(int start, int end)

Sets the limits of this matcher's region.

18 int regionEnd()

Reports the end index (exclusive) of this matcher's region.

19 int regionStart()

Reports the start index of this matcher's region.

20 String replaceAll(String replacement)

Replaces every subsequence of the input sequence that matches the pattern with the given replacement string.

21 String replaceFirst(String replacement)

Replaces the first subsequence of the input sequence that matches the pattern with the given replacement string.

22 boolean requireEnd()

Returns true if more input could change a positive match into a negative one.

23 Matcher reset()

Resets this matcher.

24 Matcher reset(CharSequence input)

Resets this matcher with a new input sequence.

25 int start()

Returns the start index of the previous match.

26 int start(int group)

Returns the start index of the subsequence captured by the given group during the previous match operation.

27 MatchResult toMatchResult()

Returns the match state of this matcher as a MatchResult.

28 String toString()

Returns the string representation of this matcher.

29 Matcher useAnchoringBounds(boolean b)

Sets the anchoring of region bounds for this matcher.

30 Matcher usePattern(Pattern newPattern)

Changes the Pattern that this Matcher uses to find matches with.

31 Matcher useTransparentBounds(boolean b)

Sets the transparency of region bounds for this matcher.

Methods inherited

This class inherits methods from the following classes −

  • Java.lang.Object
Advertisements