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

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

This method performs the following actions:

1. It reads characters from the input sequence, starting at the append position, and appends them to the given string buffer. It stops after reading the last character preceding the previous match, that is, the character at index Matcher.start() - 1.

2. It appends the given replacement string to the string buffer.

3. It sets the append position of this matcher to the index of the last character matched, plus one, that is, to Matcher.end().

The replacement string may contain references to subsequences captured during the previous match: Each occurrence of $g will be replaced by the result of evaluating group(g). The first number after the $ is always treated as part of the group reference. Subsequent numbers are incorporated into g if they would form a legal group reference. Only the numerals '0' through '9' are considered as potential components of the group reference. If the second group matched the string "foo", for example, then passing the replacement string "$2bar" would cause "foobar" to be appended to the string buffer. A dollar sign ($) may be included as a literal in the replacement string by preceding it with a backslash (\$).

Note that backslashes (\) and dollar signs ($) in the replacement string may cause the results to be different than if it were being treated as a literal replacement string. Dollar signs may be treated as references to captured subsequences as described above, and backslashes are used to escape literal characters in the replacement string.

This method is intended to be used in a loop together with the appendTail and find methods. The following code, for example, writes one dog two dogs in the yard to the standard-output stream:

 Pattern p = Pattern.compile("cat");
 Matcher m = p.matcher("one cat two cats in the yard");
 StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
 while (m.find()) {
     m.appendReplacement(sb, "dog");
 }
 m.appendTail(sb);
 System.out.println(sb.toString());

Returns: This matcher
Parameters:
- sb - The target string buffer
- replacement - The replacement string
Throws:
- IllegalStateException - If no match has yet been attempted, or if the previous match operation failed
- IndexOutOfBoundsException - If the replacement string refers to a capturing group that does not exist in the pattern

  Implements a terminal append-and-replace step.

  Implements a terminal append-and-replace step.

This method reads characters from the input sequence, starting at the append position, and appends them to the given string buffer. It is intended to be invoked after one or more invocations of the appendReplacement method in order to copy the remainder of the input sequence.

Returns: The target string buffer
Parameters:
- sb - The target string buffer

  Returns this Matcher's input character at index i.

  Returns this Matcher's input character at index i.
Returns: A char from the specified index

  Returns the offset after the last character matched.

  Returns the offset after the last character matched.

Returns: The offset after the last character matched
Throws:
- IllegalStateException - If no match has yet been attempted, or if the previous match operation failed

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

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

Capturing groups are indexed from left to right, starting at one. Group zero denotes the entire pattern, so the expression m.end(0) is equivalent to m.end().

Returns: The offset after the last character captured by the group, or -1 if the match was successful but the group itself did not match anything
Parameters:
- group - The index of a capturing group in this matcher's pattern
Throws:
- IllegalStateException - If no match has yet been attempted, or if the previous match operation failed
- IndexOutOfBoundsException - If there is no capturing group in the pattern with the given index

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

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

This method starts at the beginning of this matcher's region, or, if a previous invocation of the method was successful and the matcher has not since been reset, at the first character not matched by the previous match.

If the match succeeds then more information can be obtained via the start, end, and group methods.

Returns: true if, and only if, a subsequence of the input sequence matches this matcher's pattern

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

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

If the match succeeds then more information can be obtained via the start, end, and group methods, and subsequent invocations of the Matcher.find() method will start at the first character not matched by this match.

Returns: true if, and only if, a subsequence of the input sequence starting at the given index matches this matcher's pattern
Throws:
- IndexOutOfBoundsException - If start is less than zero or if start is greater than the length of the input sequence.

  Generates a String from this Matcher's input in the specified range.

  Generates a String from this Matcher's input in the specified range.
Returns: A String generated from this Matcher's input
Parameters:
- beginIndex - the beginning index, inclusive
- endIndex - the ending index, exclusive

  Returns the end index of the text.

  Returns the end index of the text.
Returns: the index after the last character in the text

  Returns the input subsequence matched by the previous match.

  Returns the input subsequence matched by the previous match.

For a matcher m with input sequence s, the expressions m.group() and s.substring(m.start(), m.end()) are equivalent.

Note that some patterns, for example a*, match the empty string. This method will return the empty string when the pattern successfully matches the empty string in the input.

Returns: The (possibly empty) subsequence matched by the previous match, in string form
Throws:
- IllegalStateException - If no match has yet been attempted, or if the previous match operation failed

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

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

For a matcher m, input sequence s, and group index g, the expressions m.group(g) and s.substring(m.start(g), m.end(g)) are equivalent.

Capturing groups are indexed from left to right, starting at one. Group zero denotes the entire pattern, so the expression m.group(0) is equivalent to m.group().

If the match was successful but the group specified failed to match any part of the input sequence, then null is returned. Note that some groups, for example (a*), match the empty string. This method will return the empty string when such a group successfully matches the empty string in the input.

Returns: The (possibly empty) subsequence captured by the group during the previous match, or null if the group failed to match part of the input
Parameters:
- group - The index of a capturing group in this matcher's pattern
Throws:
- IllegalStateException - If no match has yet been attempted, or if the previous match operation failed
- IndexOutOfBoundsException - If there is no capturing group in the pattern with the given index

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

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

Group zero denotes the entire pattern by convention. It is not included in this count.

Any non-negative integer smaller than or equal to the value returned by this method is guaranteed to be a valid group index for this matcher.

Returns: The number of capturing groups in this matcher's pattern

  Queries the anchoring of region bounds for this matcher.

  Queries the anchoring of region bounds for this matcher.

This method returns true if this matcher uses anchoring bounds, false otherwise.

See useAnchoringBounds for a description of anchoring bounds.

By default, a matcher uses anchoring region boundaries.
Returns: true iff this matcher is using anchoring bounds, false otherwise.
Since: 1.5
See Also: Matcher.useAnchoringBounds(boolean),

  Queries the transparency of region bounds for this matcher.

  Queries the transparency of region bounds for this matcher.

This method returns true if this matcher uses transparent bounds, false if it uses opaque bounds.

See useTransparentBounds for a description of transparent and opaque bounds.

By default, a matcher uses opaque region boundaries.
Returns: true iff this matcher is using transparent bounds, false otherwise.
Since: 1.5
See Also: Matcher.useTransparentBounds(boolean),

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

 

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

When this method returns true, then it is possible that more input would have changed the result of the last search.
Returns: true iff the end of input was hit in the last match; false otherwise
Since: 1.5

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

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

Like the matches method, this method always starts at the beginning of the region; unlike that method, it does not require that the entire region be matched.

If the match succeeds then more information can be obtained via the start, end, and group methods.

Returns: true if, and only if, a prefix of the input sequence matches this matcher's pattern

  Initiates a search for an anchored match to a Pattern within the given bounds.

  Initiates a search for an anchored match to a Pattern within the given
bounds. The groups are filled with default values and the match of the
root of the state machine is called. The state machine will hold the
state of the match as it proceeds in this matcher.

  Attempts to match the entire region against the pattern.

  Attempts to match the entire region against the pattern.

If the match succeeds then more information can be obtained via the start, end, and group methods.

Returns: true if, and only if, the entire region sequence matches this matcher's pattern

  Returns the pattern that is interpreted by this matcher.

  Returns the pattern that is interpreted by this matcher.
Returns: The pattern for which this matcher was created

  Returns a literal replacement String for the specified String.

  Returns a literal replacement String for the specified
String.

This method produces a String that will work
as a literal replacement s in the
appendReplacement method of the Matcher class.
The String produced will match the sequence of characters
in s treated as a literal sequence. Slashes ('\') and
dollar signs ('$') will be given no special meaning.
Returns: A literal string replacement
Parameters:
- s - The string to be literalized
Since: 1.5

  Sets the limits of this matcher's region.

  Sets the limits of this matcher's region. The region is the part of the input sequence that will be searched to find a match. Invoking this method resets the matcher, and then sets the region to start at the index specified by the start parameter and end at the index specified by the end parameter.

Depending on the transparency and anchoring being used (see useTransparentBounds and useAnchoringBounds), certain constructs such as anchors may behave differently at or around the boundaries of the region.
Returns: this matcher
Parameters:
- start - The index to start searching at (inclusive)
- end - The index to end searching at (exclusive)
Throws:
- IndexOutOfBoundsException - If start or end is less than zero, if start is greater than the length of the input sequence, if end is greater than the length of the input sequence, or if start is greater than end.
Since: 1.5

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

  Reports the end index (exclusive) of this matcher's region.
The searches this matcher conducts are limited to finding matches
within regionStart (inclusive) and
regionEnd (exclusive).
Returns: the ending point of this matcher's region
Since: 1.5

  Reports the start index of this matcher's region.

  Reports the start index of this matcher's region. The
searches this matcher conducts are limited to finding matches
within regionStart (inclusive) and
regionEnd (exclusive).
Returns: The starting point of this matcher's region
Since: 1.5

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

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

This method first resets this matcher. It then scans the input sequence looking for matches of the pattern. Characters that are not part of any match are appended directly to the result string; each match is replaced in the result by the replacement string. The replacement string may contain references to captured subsequences as in the appendReplacement method.

Note that backslashes (\) and dollar signs ($) in the replacement string may cause the results to be different than if it were being treated as a literal replacement string. Dollar signs may be treated as references to captured subsequences as described above, and backslashes are used to escape literal characters in the replacement string.

Given the regular expression a*b, the input "aabfooaabfooabfoob", and the replacement string "-", an invocation of this method on a matcher for that expression would yield the string "-foo-foo-foo-".

Invoking this method changes this matcher's state. If the matcher is to be used in further matching operations then it should first be reset.

Returns: The string constructed by replacing each matching subsequence by the replacement string, substituting captured subsequences as needed
Parameters:
- replacement - The replacement string

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

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

This method first resets this matcher. It then scans the input sequence looking for a match of the pattern. Characters that are not part of the match are appended directly to the result string; the match is replaced in the result by the replacement string. The replacement string may contain references to captured subsequences as in the appendReplacement method.

Note that backslashes (\) and dollar signs ($) in the replacement string may cause the results to be different than if it were being treated as a literal replacement string. Dollar signs may be treated as references to captured subsequences as described above, and backslashes are used to escape literal characters in the replacement string.

Given the regular expression dog, the input "zzzdogzzzdogzzz", and the replacement string "cat", an invocation of this method on a matcher for that expression would yield the string "zzzcatzzzdogzzz".

Invoking this method changes this matcher's state. If the matcher is to be used in further matching operations then it should first be reset.

Returns: The string constructed by replacing the first matching subsequence by the replacement string, substituting captured subsequences as needed
Parameters:
- replacement - The replacement string

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

 

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

If this method returns true, and a match was found, then more input could cause the match to be lost. If this method returns false and a match was found, then more input might change the match but the match won't be lost. If a match was not found, then requireEnd has no meaning.
Returns: true iff more input could change a positive match into a negative one.
Since: 1.5

  Resets this matcher.

  Resets this matcher.

Resetting a matcher discards all of its explicit state information and sets its append position to zero. The matcher's region is set to the default region, which is its entire character sequence. The anchoring and transparency of this matcher's region boundaries are unaffected.
Returns: This matcher

  Resets this matcher with a new input sequence.

  Resets this matcher with a new input sequence.

Resetting a matcher discards all of its explicit state information and sets its append position to zero. The matcher's region is set to the default region, which is its entire character sequence. The anchoring and transparency of this matcher's region boundaries are unaffected.
Returns: This matcher
Parameters:
- input - The new input character sequence

  Initiates a search to find a Pattern within the given bounds.

  Initiates a search to find a Pattern within the given bounds.
The groups are filled with default values and the match of the root
of the state machine is called. The state machine will hold the state
of the match as it proceeds in this matcher.

Matcher.from is not set here, because it is the "hard" boundary
of the start of the search which anchors will set to. The from param
is the "soft" boundary of the start of the search, meaning that the
regex tries to match at that index but ^ won't match there. Subsequent
calls to the search methods start at a new "soft" boundary which is
the end of the previous match.

  Returns the start index of the previous match.

  Returns the start index of the previous match.

Returns: The index of the first character matched
Throws:
- IllegalStateException - If no match has yet been attempted, or if the previous match operation failed

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

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

Capturing groups are indexed from left to right, starting at one. Group zero denotes the entire pattern, so the expression m.start(0) is equivalent to m.start().

Returns: The index of the first character captured by the group, or -1 if the match was successful but the group itself did not match anything
Parameters:
- group - The index of a capturing group in this matcher's pattern
Throws:
- IllegalStateException - If no match has yet been attempted, or if the previous match operation failed
- IndexOutOfBoundsException - If there is no capturing group in the pattern with the given index

  Returns the match state of this matcher as a MatchResult.

  Returns the match state of this matcher as a MatchResult.
The result is unaffected by subsequent operations performed upon this
matcher.
Returns: a MatchResult with the state of this matcher
Since: 1.5

  Returns the string representation of this matcher.

 

Returns the string representation of this matcher. The string representation of a Matcher contains information that may be useful for debugging. The exact format is unspecified.
Returns: The string representation of this matcher
Since: 1.5

  Sets the anchoring of region bounds for this matcher.

  Sets the anchoring of region bounds for this matcher.

Invoking this method with an argument of true will set this matcher to use anchoring bounds. If the boolean argument is false, then non-anchoring bounds will be used.

Using anchoring bounds, the boundaries of this matcher's region match anchors such as ^ and $.

Without anchoring bounds, the boundaries of this matcher's region will not match anchors such as ^ and $.

By default, a matcher uses anchoring region boundaries.
Returns: this matcher
Parameters:
- b - a boolean indicating whether or not to use anchoring bounds.
Since: 1.5
See Also: Matcher.hasAnchoringBounds(),

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

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

This method causes this matcher to lose information about the groups of the last match that occurred. The matcher's position in the input is maintained and its last append position is unaffected.

Returns: This matcher
Parameters:
- newPattern - The new pattern used by this matcher
Throws:
- IllegalArgumentException - If newPattern is null
Since: 1.5

  Sets the transparency of region bounds for this matcher.

  Sets the transparency of region bounds for this matcher.

Invoking this method with an argument of true will set this matcher to use transparent bounds. If the boolean argument is false, then opaque bounds will be used.

Using transparent bounds, the boundaries of this matcher's region are transparent to lookahead, lookbehind, and boundary matching constructs. Those constructs can see beyond the boundaries of the region to see if a match is appropriate.

Using opaque bounds, the boundaries of this matcher's region are opaque to lookahead, lookbehind, and boundary matching constructs that may try to see beyond them. Those constructs cannot look past the boundaries so they will fail to match anything outside of the region.

By default, a matcher uses opaque bounds.
Returns: this matcher
Parameters:
- b - a boolean indicating whether to use opaque or transparent regions
Since: 1.5
See Also: Matcher.hasTransparentBounds(),