Tips for writing a file parser in Java? [closed]

Question

EDIT: I'm mostly parsing "comma-seperated values", fuzzy brought that term to my attention.

Interpreting the blocks of CSV are the main question here.

I know how to read the file into something like a String[] and some of the basic features of String, but I don't think using methods like contains() and analyzing everything character by character will work.

What are some ways I can do this in a smarter way?

Example of a line:

-barfoob: boobs, foob, "foo bar"

Answer 1

There's a reason that everyone assumes you're talking about XML: inventing a proprietary text-based file format requires very strong justification in the face of the maturity and easy availability of XML parsers.

And your question indicates that you have very little prior knowledge about parsers (otherwise you'd be writing an ANTLR or JavaCC grammar instead of asking this question) - which is another strong argument against rolling your own, except as a learning experience.

Answer 2

Since the input is "formatted similarly to HTML", then it is likely that your data is best represented using a tree-like structure, and also, it is likely that it is XML or similar to XML.

If this is the case, I propose the smartest way to parse your file is to use an XML parser.

Here are some resources you may find helpful:

• A chapter on XML parsing from Sun: http://java.sun.com/developer/Books/xmljava/ch03.pdf
• An article that might help you get started qucikly: http://onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2002/06/26/xml.html

HTH