java regex replace all ) but not leading a apostophe

Question

I need a regex that replaces all brackets with a single bracket, but not if an apostrophe is leading the bracket

Examples

a) ))) --> expected )
b) )))))) --> expected )
c) '))) --> expected ))

Would anybody please help? I tried replaceAll("[^']\\)\\)+", ")"); but unfortunately this is not working.

What is the rule when there's an apostrophe? Remove the adjacent parenthesis and leave all others? Or reduce everything to two parentheses? — paultamalunas, Mar 23 '18 at 14:44

The fourth bird · Answer 1 · 2018-03-23T14:59:49.220

3

For your example data, you could match ') and capture in a group one or more ).

Then replace with a single )

As per recommendation from @ctwheels (Thanks for that!) this can be shortened to:

Explanation

This will use an alternation to match either ') or multiple times )

When this matches, you can replace it with a single )

edited Mar 23 '18 at 14:59

answered Mar 23 '18 at 14:48

The fourth bird

1

More elegant than the one I just deleted. Can be shortened to `'\)|\)+` replacement `)` - no need to capture. – ctwheels Mar 23 '18 at 14:49
1

@ctwheels I have updated my answer and included your recommendation! – The fourth bird Mar 23 '18 at 14:55

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 23 '18 at 14:50

1

Use one regex to remove extra parentheses:

replaceAll("(?<!')\\)+", ")")

And another one to get rid of the quotes ':

replaceAll("'\\)", ")")

Putting this together:

System.out.println("')'))))".replaceAll("(?<!')\\)+", ")").replaceAll("'\\)", ")"));

Prints ))).

Try it online here.

answered Mar 23 '18 at 14:50

O.O.Balance

Can be condensed into one regex instead of two separate calls. I just deleted my answer that resembles this though because the fourth bird's answer is the same, but shorter and performs better. – ctwheels Mar 23 '18 at 14:51
@ctwheels I elected to use two calls for readability, but The fourth bird's answer's simplicity is hard to match. – O.O.Balance Mar 23 '18 at 14:53

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 23 '18 at 15:05

0

Try regex:

(?<!(\'))\)+

replaceAll("(?<!(\\'))\\)+", ")");

answered Mar 23 '18 at 15:05

Frido

3 Answers3