RegEx: Matching a especific string that is not inside in HTML tag

Question

<tag value='botafogo'> botafogo is the best </tag>

Needs match only botafogo (...is the best) and not 'botafogo' value

my program "annotates" automatically the term in a pure text:

botafogo is the best 

to

<team attr='best'>botafogo</team> is the best 

and when i "replace all" the "best" word, i have a big problem...

<team attr='<adjective>best</adjective>'>botafogo</team> is the <adjective>best</adjective>

Ps.: Java language

Answer 1

The best way to accomplish this is to NOT use regular expression and use a proper HTML parser. HTML is not a regular language and doing this with regular expression will be tedious, hard to maintain, and more than likely still contain various errors.

HTML parsers, on the hand, are well-suited for the job. Many of them are mature and reliable, and they take care of every little details for you and makes your life much easier.