Question

I have a Html string which include lots of image tag, I need to get the tag and change it. for example:

String imageRegex = "(<img.+(src=\".+\").+/>){1}";
String str = "<img src=\"static/image/smiley/comcom/9.gif\" smilieid=\"296\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" />hello world<img src=\"static/image/smiley/comcom/7.gif\" smilieid=\"294\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" />";
Matcher matcher = Pattern.compile(imageRegex, Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE).matcher(msg);
int i = 0;
while (matcher.find()) {
    i++;
    Log.i("TAG", matcher.group());
}

the result is :

<img src="static/image/smiley/comcom/9.gif" smilieid="296" border="0" alt="" />hello world<img src="static/image/smiley/comcom/7.gif" smilieid="294" border="0" alt="" />

but it’s not I want, I want the result is

<img src="static/image/smiley/comcom/9.gif" smilieid="296" border="0" alt="" />
<img src="static/image/smiley/comcom/7.gif" smilieid="294" border="0" alt="" /> 

what’s wrong with my regular expression?

Answer 1

Try (<img)(.*?)(/>), this should do the trick, although yes, you shouldn’t use Regex for parsing HTML, as people will tell you over and over.

I don’t have eclipse installed, but I have VS2010, and this works for me.

        String imageRegex = "(<img)(.*?)(/>)";
        String str = "<img src=\"static/image/smiley/comcom/9.gif\" smilieid=\"296\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" />hello world<img src=\"static/image/smiley/comcom/7.gif\" smilieid=\"294\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" />";
        System.Text.RegularExpressions.MatchCollection match = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches(str, imageRegex, System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        foreach (System.Text.RegularExpressions.Match m in match)
        {
            sb.AppendLine(m.Value);
        }
        System.Windows.MessageBox.Show(sb.ToString());

Result:

<img src="static/image/smiley/comcom/9.gif" smilieid="296" border="0" alt="" /> 
<img src="static/image/smiley/comcom/7.gif" smilieid="294" border="0" alt="" />