Question

Consider the following code:

class Sample{
public static void main(String args[]){
    String text1="C:\Documents\User\sample";

    String text2=text1.replace('\','/');

    System.out.println(text2);
        }
}

I have an input where the text1 is receiving a file path. Now I want to replace all the “\” in text1 to “/”. I have used the code above.

First of all, the error shown is : “Illegal Escape Sequence” which is understandable and is not my issue because I am making a Java EE application where the user enters the path in the input box.

But I have trouble changing the “\” into “/” which is essential for my code to run properly. I am not able to solve this problem. I have even tried using String.replaceAll() method, but no result.

Answer 1

You need to escape the backslash:

String text2=aa.replace('\\','/');

By the way, replaceAll() would make your problem even more complicated: Now you’re dealing with a regex instead of a simple string replace, and that means your backslashes need to be escaped yet again for the regex engine:

String text2=aa.replaceAll("\\\\", "/");