Java Regexp matching exact word

Question

I have this java regular expression.

        Pattern regex = Pattern.compile("(\\£\\d[\\d\\,\\.]+)[k|K]");

        Matcher finder = regex.matcher(price);

        if(finder.find()){

               etc;

        }

Note ... java

I'm trying to match whole word k or K not kilo or kilometer. IVe tried \\bk\\b but the online testers show no match. Has it something to do with square brackets.

Thank you in advance

Recommended for you: Get network issues from WhatsUp Gold. Not end users.

Answer 1

Beside the fact that currently your pattern matches a k or K before any char, it does not match values like £1k as the + quantifier requires another digit, dot or comma before k or K.

Also note that [\\b] does not match a word boundary, it only matches a b letter.

Putting a \b between [\\d\\,\\.]+ and [k|K] is not a good idea since there is always a word boundary between . / , and k, and there is no word boundary between a digit and k.

You need to use

Pattern regex = Pattern.compile("(£\\d[\\d,.]*)[kK]\\b");

Details

(£\\d[\\d,.]*) - Group 1:
- £ - a pound sign
- \\d - a digit
- [\\d,.]* - zero or more digits, , or .
[kK] - a k or K
\\b - a word boundary (there must be end of string or a non-word char after k or K)

Java Regexp matching exact word

Sign up