Question

I want to extract the string from the input string with “/” removed from the beginning and the end (if present).

For example :

Input String : /abcd
Output String : abcd

Input String : /abcd/
Output String : abcd

Input String : abcd/
Output String : abcd

Input String : abcd
Output String : abcd

Input String : //abcd/
Output String : /abcd

Answer 1

public static void main(String[] args) {
    String abcd1 = "/abcd/";
    String abcd2 = "/abcd";
    String abcd3 = "abcd/";
    String abcd4 = "abcd";
    System.out.println(abcd1.replaceAll("(^/)?(/$)?", ""));
    System.out.println(abcd2.replaceAll("(^/)?(/$)?", ""));
    System.out.println(abcd3.replaceAll("(^/)?(/$)?", ""));
    System.out.println(abcd4.replaceAll("(^/)?(/$)?", ""));
}

Will work.

Matches the first (^/)? means match 0 or 1 ‘/’ at the beginning of the string, and (/$)? means match 0 or 1 ‘/’ at the end of the string.

Make the regex "(^/*)?(/*$)?" to support matching multiple ‘/’:

String abcd5 = "//abcd///";
System.out.println(abcd1.replaceAll("(^/*)?(/*$)?", ""));