Question

I have to separate a value from a .txt file.
I created a LineNumberReader and used the .split(“\t”) to separate the words, but I only need the second last value (q-value).
Is there an option to specify the .split()?

This is my .txt file

test_id gene_id gene    locus   sample_1    sample_2    status  value_1 value_2 log2(fold_change)   test_stat   p_value q_value significant
XLOC_000001 XLOC_000001 TC012951    ChLG10:20399-27664  naive   BttO    NOTEST  0   0.0498691   1.79769e+308    1.79769e+308    0.210754    1   no

Answer 1

You can use the String#split(String regex, int limit) method, to stop splitting after the column you wish to extract and get the String you want in one line of code:

    String line = "A\tB\tC\tD\tE\tF"; // tab separated content
    int column = 3; // specify the column you want (first is 1)
    String content = line.split("\t", column + 1)[column - 1]; // get content 
    System.out.println(content);  // prints C (3rd column)