How do I convert strings like "<br><br><br><br><br><br>" to "<br>" using java's String.replaceAll(String, String) method?

Question

how to convert string

"<br><br><br><br><br><br>" to 
"<br>" using java's String.replaceAll(String, String) method?

I've tried both:

    str.replaceAll("<br>+","<br>");
    str.replaceAll("<br>{1,}","<br>);

but neither work.

Answer 1

<br>+ matches "<br>>>>>>>>", try this instead: (<br>)+

And if there are spaces in between the tags, do:

str = str.replaceAll("(<br>\\s*)+","<br>");