Package org.apache.commons.text

Class WordUtils

java.lang.Object
org.apache.commons.text.WordUtils
public class WordUtils extends Object
Operations on Strings that contain words.

This class tries to handle null input gracefully. An exception will not be thrown for a null input. Each method documents its behavior in more detail.

Since:
1.1

  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor
    Description
    WordUtils()
    WordUtils instances should NOT be constructed in standard programming.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    static String
    abbreviate(String str, int lower, int upper, String appendToEnd)
    Abbreviates the words nicely.
    static String
    capitalize(String str)
    Capitalizes all the whitespace separated words in a String.
    static String
    capitalize(String str, char... delimiters)
    Capitalizes all the delimiter separated words in a String.
    static String
    capitalizeFully(String str)
    Converts all the whitespace separated words in a String into capitalized words, that is each word is made up of a titlecase character and then a series of lowercase characters.
    static String
    capitalizeFully(String str, char... delimiters)
    Converts all the delimiter separated words in a String into capitalized words, that is each word is made up of a titlecase character and then a series of lowercase characters.
    static boolean
    containsAllWords(CharSequence word, CharSequence... words)
    Checks if the String contains all words in the given array.
    static String
    initials(String str)
    Extracts the initial characters from each word in the String.
    static String
    initials(String str, char... delimiters)
    Extracts the initial characters from each word in the String.
    static boolean
    isDelimiter(char ch, char[] delimiters)
    Deprecated.
    as of 1.2 and will be removed in 2.0
    static boolean
    isDelimiter(int codePoint, char[] delimiters)
    Deprecated.
    as of 1.2 and will be removed in 2.0
    static String
    swapCase(String str)
    Swaps the case of a String using a word based algorithm.
    static String
    uncapitalize(String str)
    Uncapitalizes all the whitespace separated words in a String.
    static String
    uncapitalize(String str, char... delimiters)
    Uncapitalizes all the whitespace separated words in a String.
    static String
    wrap(String str, int wrapLength)
    Wraps a single line of text, identifying words by ' '.
    static String
    wrap(String str, int wrapLength, String newLineStr, boolean wrapLongWords)
    Wraps a single line of text, identifying words by ' '.
    static String
    wrap(String str, int wrapLength, String newLineStr, boolean wrapLongWords, String wrapOn)
    Wraps a single line of text, identifying words by wrapOn.

    Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

    clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

  • Constructor Details

    • WordUtils

      public WordUtils()
      WordUtils instances should NOT be constructed in standard programming. Instead, the class should be used as WordUtils.wrap("foo bar", 20);.

      This constructor is public to permit tools that require a JavaBean instance to operate.

  • Method Details

    • abbreviate

      public static String abbreviate(String str, int lower, int upper, String appendToEnd)
      Abbreviates the words nicely.

      This method searches for the first space after the lower limit and abbreviates the String there. It will also append any String passed as a parameter to the end of the String. The upper limit can be specified to forcibly abbreviate a String.

      Parameters:
      str - the string to be abbreviated. If null is passed, null is returned. If the empty String is passed, the empty string is returned.
      lower - the lower limit; negative value is treated as zero.
      upper - the upper limit; specify -1 if no limit is desired. The upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit.
      appendToEnd - String to be appended to the end of the abbreviated string. This is appended ONLY if the string was indeed abbreviated. The append does not count towards the lower or upper limits.
      Returns:
      The abbreviated String. 
       WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 0, 40, null));     = "Now"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 10, 40, null));    = "Now is the"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 20, 40, null));    = "Now is the time for all"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 0, 40, ""));       = "Now"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 10, 40, ""));      = "Now is the"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 20, 40, ""));      = "Now is the time for all"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 0, 40, " ..."));   = "Now ..."
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 10, 40, " ..."));  = "Now is the ..."
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 20, 40, " ..."));  = "Now is the time for all ..."
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 0, -1, ""));       = "Now"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 10, -1, ""));      = "Now is the"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 20, -1, ""));      = "Now is the time for all"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 50, -1, ""));      = "Now is the time for all good men"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 1000, -1, ""));    = "Now is the time for all good men"
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 9, -10, null));    = IllegalArgumentException
 WordUtils.abbreviate("Now is the time for all good men", 10, 5, null));     = IllegalArgumentException

    • capitalize

      public static String capitalize(String str)
      Capitalizes all the whitespace separated words in a String. Only the first character of each word is changed. To convert the rest of each word to lowercase at the same time, use capitalizeFully(String).

      Whitespace is defined by Character.isWhitespace(char). A null input String returns null. Capitalization uses the Unicode title case, normally equivalent to upper case.

       WordUtils.capitalize(null)        = null
 WordUtils.capitalize("")          = ""
 WordUtils.capitalize("i am FINE") = "I Am FINE"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to capitalize, may be null
      Returns:
      capitalized String, null if null String input
      See Also:

    • capitalize

      public static String capitalize(String str, char... delimiters)
      Capitalizes all the delimiter separated words in a String. Only the first character of each word is changed. To convert the rest of each word to lowercase at the same time, use capitalizeFully(String, char[]).

      The delimiters represent a set of characters understood to separate words. The first string character and the first non-delimiter character after a delimiter will be capitalized.

      A null input String returns null. Capitalization uses the Unicode title case, normally equivalent to upper case.

       WordUtils.capitalize(null, *)            = null
 WordUtils.capitalize("", *)              = ""
 WordUtils.capitalize(*, new char[0])     = *
 WordUtils.capitalize("i am fine", null)  = "I Am Fine"
 WordUtils.capitalize("i aM.fine", {'.'}) = "I aM.Fine"
 WordUtils.capitalize("i am fine", new char[]{}) = "I am fine"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to capitalize, may be null
      delimiters - set of characters to determine capitalization, null means whitespace
      Returns:
      capitalized String, null if null String input
      See Also:

    • capitalizeFully

      public static String capitalizeFully(String str)
      Converts all the whitespace separated words in a String into capitalized words, that is each word is made up of a titlecase character and then a series of lowercase characters.

      Whitespace is defined by Character.isWhitespace(char). A null input String returns null. Capitalization uses the Unicode title case, normally equivalent to upper case.

       WordUtils.capitalizeFully(null)        = null
 WordUtils.capitalizeFully("")          = ""
 WordUtils.capitalizeFully("i am FINE") = "I Am Fine"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to capitalize, may be null
      Returns:
      capitalized String, null if null String input

    • capitalizeFully

      public static String capitalizeFully(String str, char... delimiters)
      Converts all the delimiter separated words in a String into capitalized words, that is each word is made up of a titlecase character and then a series of lowercase characters.

      The delimiters represent a set of characters understood to separate words. The first string character and the first non-delimiter character after a delimiter will be capitalized.

      A null input String returns null. Capitalization uses the Unicode title case, normally equivalent to upper case.

       WordUtils.capitalizeFully(null, *)            = null
 WordUtils.capitalizeFully("", *)              = ""
 WordUtils.capitalizeFully(*, null)            = *
 WordUtils.capitalizeFully(*, new char[0])     = *
 WordUtils.capitalizeFully("i aM.fine", {'.'}) = "I am.Fine"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to capitalize, may be null
      delimiters - set of characters to determine capitalization, null means whitespace
      Returns:
      capitalized String, null if null String input

    • containsAllWords

      public static boolean containsAllWords(CharSequence word, CharSequence... words)
      Checks if the String contains all words in the given array.

      A null String will return false. A null, zero length search array or if one element of array is null will return false. 

       WordUtils.containsAllWords(null, *)            = false
 WordUtils.containsAllWords("", *)              = false
 WordUtils.containsAllWords(*, null)            = false
 WordUtils.containsAllWords(*, [])              = false
 WordUtils.containsAllWords("abcd", "ab", "cd") = false
 WordUtils.containsAllWords("abc def", "def", "abc") = true
      Parameters:
      word - The CharSequence to check, may be null
      words - The array of String words to search for, may be null
      Returns:
      true if all search words are found, false otherwise

    • initials

      public static String initials(String str)
      Extracts the initial characters from each word in the String.

      All first characters after whitespace are returned as a new string. Their case is not changed.

      Whitespace is defined by Character.isWhitespace(char). A null input String returns null.

       WordUtils.initials(null)             = null
 WordUtils.initials("")               = ""
 WordUtils.initials("Ben John Lee")   = "BJL"
 WordUtils.initials("Ben J.Lee")      = "BJ"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to get initials from, may be null
      Returns:
      String of initial letters, null if null String input
      See Also:

    • initials

      public static String initials(String str, char... delimiters)
      Extracts the initial characters from each word in the String.

      All first characters after the defined delimiters are returned as a new string. Their case is not changed.

      If the delimiters array is null, then Whitespace is used. Whitespace is defined by Character.isWhitespace(char). A null input String returns null. An empty delimiter array returns an empty String.

       WordUtils.initials(null, *)                = null
 WordUtils.initials("", *)                  = ""
 WordUtils.initials("Ben John Lee", null)   = "BJL"
 WordUtils.initials("Ben J.Lee", null)      = "BJ"
 WordUtils.initials("Ben J.Lee", [' ','.']) = "BJL"
 WordUtils.initials(*, new char[0])         = ""
      Parameters:
      str - the String to get initials from, may be null
      delimiters - set of characters to determine words, null means whitespace
      Returns:
      String of initial characters, null if null String input
      See Also:

    • isDelimiter

      @Deprecated public static boolean isDelimiter(char ch, char[] delimiters)
      Deprecated.
      as of 1.2 and will be removed in 2.0
      Is the character a delimiter.
      Parameters:
      ch - the character to check
      delimiters - the delimiters
      Returns:
      true if it is a delimiter

    • isDelimiter

      @Deprecated public static boolean isDelimiter(int codePoint, char[] delimiters)
      Deprecated.
      as of 1.2 and will be removed in 2.0
      Is the codePoint a delimiter.
      Parameters:
      codePoint - the codePint to check
      delimiters - the delimiters
      Returns:
      true if it is a delimiter

    • swapCase

      public static String swapCase(String str)
      Swaps the case of a String using a word based algorithm.
      • Upper case character converts to Lower case
      • Title case character converts to Lower case
      • Lower case character after Whitespace or at start converts to Title case
      • Other Lower case character converts to Upper case

      Whitespace is defined by Character.isWhitespace(char). A null input String returns null.

       StringUtils.swapCase(null)                 = null
 StringUtils.swapCase("")                   = ""
 StringUtils.swapCase("The dog has a BONE") = "tHE DOG HAS A bone"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to swap case, may be null
      Returns:
      The changed String, null if null String input

    • uncapitalize

      public static String uncapitalize(String str)
      Uncapitalizes all the whitespace separated words in a String. Only the first character of each word is changed.

      Whitespace is defined by Character.isWhitespace(char). A null input String returns null.

       WordUtils.uncapitalize(null)        = null
 WordUtils.uncapitalize("")          = ""
 WordUtils.uncapitalize("I Am FINE") = "i am fINE"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to uncapitalize, may be null
      Returns:
      uncapitalized String, null if null String input
      See Also:

    • uncapitalize

      public static String uncapitalize(String str, char... delimiters)
      Uncapitalizes all the whitespace separated words in a String. Only the first character of each word is changed.

      The delimiters represent a set of characters understood to separate words. The first string character and the first non-delimiter character after a delimiter will be uncapitalized.

      Whitespace is defined by Character.isWhitespace(char). A null input String returns null.

       WordUtils.uncapitalize(null, *)            = null
 WordUtils.uncapitalize("", *)              = ""
 WordUtils.uncapitalize(*, null)            = *
 WordUtils.uncapitalize(*, new char[0])     = *
 WordUtils.uncapitalize("I AM.FINE", {'.'}) = "i AM.fINE"
 WordUtils.uncapitalize("I am fine", new char[]{}) = "i am fine"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to uncapitalize, may be null
      delimiters - set of characters to determine uncapitalization, null means whitespace
      Returns:
      uncapitalized String, null if null String input
      See Also:

    • wrap

      public static String wrap(String str, int wrapLength)
      Wraps a single line of text, identifying words by ' '.

      New lines will be separated by the system property line separator. Very long words, such as URLs will not be wrapped.

      Leading spaces on a new line are stripped. Trailing spaces are not stripped.

      Examples
      input wrapLength result
      null * null
      "" * ""
      "Here is one line of text that is going to be wrapped after 20 columns." 20 "Here is one line of\ntext that is going\nto be wrapped after\n20 columns."
      "Click here to jump to the commons website - https://commons.apache.org" 20 "Click here to jump\nto the commons\nwebsite -\nhttps://commons.apache.org"
      "Click here, https://commons.apache.org, to jump to the commons website" 20 "Click here,\nhttps://commons.apache.org,\nto jump to the\ncommons website"
      (assuming that '\n' is the systems line separator)
      Parameters:
      str - the String to be word wrapped, may be null
      wrapLength - the column to wrap the words at, less than 1 is treated as 1
      Returns:
      a line with newlines inserted, null if null input

    • wrap

      public static String wrap(String str, int wrapLength, String newLineStr, boolean wrapLongWords)
      Wraps a single line of text, identifying words by ' '.

      Leading spaces on a new line are stripped. Trailing spaces are not stripped.

      Examples
      input wrapLength newLineString wrapLongWords result
      null * * true/false null
      "" * * true/false ""
      "Here is one line of text that is going to be wrapped after 20 columns." 20 "\n" true/false "Here is one line of\ntext that is going\nto be wrapped after\n20 columns."
      "Here is one line of text that is going to be wrapped after 20 columns." 20 "<br />" true/false "Here is one line of<br />text that is going< br />to be wrapped after<br />20 columns."
      "Here is one line of text that is going to be wrapped after 20 columns." 20 null true/false "Here is one line of" + systemNewLine + "text that is going" + systemNewLine + "to be wrapped after" + systemNewLine + "20 columns."
      "Click here to jump to the commons website - https://commons.apache.org" 20 "\n" false "Click here to jump\nto the commons\nwebsite -\nhttps://commons.apache.org"
      "Click here to jump to the commons website - https://commons.apache.org" 20 "\n" true "Click here to jump\nto the commons\nwebsite -\nhttps://commons.apach\ne.org"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to be word wrapped, may be null
      wrapLength - the column to wrap the words at, less than 1 is treated as 1
      newLineStr - the string to insert for a new line, null uses the system property line separator
      wrapLongWords - true if long words (such as URLs) should be wrapped
      Returns:
      a line with newlines inserted, null if null input

    • wrap

      public static String wrap(String str, int wrapLength, String newLineStr, boolean wrapLongWords, String wrapOn)
      Wraps a single line of text, identifying words by wrapOn.

      Leading spaces on a new line are stripped. Trailing spaces are not stripped.

      Examples
      input wrapLength newLineString wrapLongWords wrapOn result
      null * * true/false * null
      "" * * true/false * ""
      "Here is one line of text that is going to be wrapped after 20 columns." 20 "\n" true/false " " "Here is one line of\ntext that is going\nto be wrapped after\n20 columns."
      "Here is one line of text that is going to be wrapped after 20 columns." 20 "<br />" true/false " " "Here is one line of<br />text that is going<br /> to be wrapped after<br />20 columns."
      "Here is one line of text that is going to be wrapped after 20 columns." 20 null true/false " " "Here is one line of" + systemNewLine + "text that is going" + systemNewLine + "to be wrapped after" + systemNewLine + "20 columns."
      "Click here to jump to the commons website - https://commons.apache.org" 20 "\n" false " " "Click here to jump\nto the commons\nwebsite -\nhttps://commons.apache.org"
      "Click here to jump to the commons website - https://commons.apache.org" 20 "\n" true " " "Click here to jump\nto the commons\nwebsite -\nhttps://commons.apach\ne.org"
      "flammable/inflammable" 20 "\n" true "/" "flammable\ninflammable"
      Parameters:
      str - the String to be word wrapped, may be null
      wrapLength - the column to wrap the words at, less than 1 is treated as 1
      newLineStr - the string to insert for a new line, null uses the system property line separator
      wrapLongWords - true if long words (such as URLs) should be wrapped
      wrapOn - regex expression to be used as a breakable characters, if blank string is provided a space character will be used
      Returns:
      a line with newlines inserted, null if null input