String parsing in Java with delimiter tab "\t" using split

user_87558 0
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I'm processing a string which is tab delimited. I'm accomplishing this using the split function, and it works in most situations. The problem occurs when a field is missing, so instead of getting null in that field I get the next value. I'm storing the parsed values in a string array.

String[] columnDetail = new String[11];
columnDetail = column.split("\t");

Any help would be appreciated. If possible I'd like to store the parsed strings into a string array so that I can easily access the parsed data.

csv java string
7 Answers

You can use yourstring.split("\x09"); I tested it, and it works.

user_14925700 
String[] columnDetail = new String[11];
columnDetail = column.split("\t", -1); // unlimited
OR
columnDetail = column.split("\t", 11); // if you are sure about limit.

 * The {@code limit} parameter controls the number of times the
 * pattern is applied and therefore affects the length of the resulting
 * array.  If the limit <i>n</i> is greater than zero then the pattern
 * will be applied at most <i>n</i>&nbsp;-&nbsp;1 times, the array's
 * length will be no greater than <i>n</i>, and the array's last entry
 * will contain all input beyond the last matched delimiter.  If <i>n</i>
 * is non-positive then the pattern will be applied as many times as
 * possible and the array can have any length.  If <i>n</i> is zero then
 * the pattern will be applied as many times as possible, the array can
 * have any length, and trailing empty strings will be discarded.
user_19080160
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