Is there a way to replace class by another one in Intellij Idea?

Question

Guys, here is my problem: I have some class which is used in many places in my project. And I must replace this class with another from jar provided. Is there any ways to refactor this? I suppose this is a simple problem, but I dont know how to solve it.

Its not about replacing source code - what I want is to replace all class usages by class from my library and be able to completely remove my own class. Imagine I have created my own StringUtils and have found out that there is a apache.common StringUtils library, and now I want to use it everywhere in my code. And the signatures of class methods are not a problem: they coincide.

?

Answer 1

There is this "migrate" function. Right click in whatever class -> Refactor -> Migrate.

It's a bit annoying that you have to create a new migrate set and you can't run it from scratch. But it does exactly what you need.

You pick class or package to migrate and tell it to which class or package it should change. Press run and all usages are rewritten. Then you're free to delete the old class because there will be no usages.

EDIT: In the newer versions it isn't in the context menu anymore. Just go to the menu on top - Refactor - Migrate (or simply pres shift twice and type migrate).

Cheers!

Answer 2

If you are using static methods (like your StringUtils example suggests), delegate to the new class in your previous implementation like

public static String myOldMethod(String argument) {
    return MyNewClass.myNewMethod(argument);
}

then select Refactor->Inline and select "All invocations and remove the method" in the option dialog. In this way you can handle method name changes and argument order changes are well.