org.xins.common.text
Class SimplePatternParser

java.lang.Object
  org.xins.common.text.SimplePatternParser

public class SimplePatternParser

extends Object

Simple pattern parser.

Format

A simple pattern is a text string that may contain letters, digits, underscores, hyphens, dots and the wildcard characters '*' (asterisk) and '?' (question mark).

The location of an asterisk indicates any number of characters is allowed. The location of a question mark indicates exactly one character is expected.

To allow matching of simple patterns, a simple pattern is first compiled into a Perl 5 regular expression. Every asterisk is converted to ".*", while every question mark is converted to ".".

Examples

Examples of conversions from a simple pattern to a Perl 4 regular expression:

Simple pattern	Perl 5 regex equivalent
*	.*
?	.
_Get*	_Get.*
_Get*i?n	_Get.*i.n
*on	.*on
_Get*,_Dis*	_Get.*|_Dis.*

Since:

XINS 1.0.0

Version:

$Revision: 1.16 $ $Date: 2006/10/05 15:35:29 $

Author:

Ernst de Haan, Peter Troon

Constructor Summary

SimplePatternParser()
Creates a new SimplePatternParser object.

Method Summary

Perl5Pattern

parseSimplePattern(String simplePattern) Converts the specified simple pattern to a Perl 5 regular expression.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

SimplePatternParser

public SimplePatternParser()

Creates a new SimplePatternParser object.

Method Detail

parseSimplePattern

public Perl5Pattern parseSimplePattern(String simplePattern)
                                throws IllegalArgumentException,
                                       ParseException

Converts the specified simple pattern to a Perl 5 regular expression.

Parameters:

simplePattern - the simple pattern, cannot be null.

Returns:

the Perl 5 regular expression, never null.

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if simplePattern == null.

ParseException - if provided simplePattern is invalid or could not be parsed.