Thread: VM re-evaluating a string

First of, sorry for the poor title, I dont know how to describe it in a better way.

My problem is as follows. I have a string where I need to do the vm's escape evalutation twice.

One time evalutation:

		String s = "\b";
		System.out.println(s.charAt(0));
		System.out.println((int) s.charAt(0));

output:

8

The wm reads the escape (when the string gets autoboxed I think) and translate it into backslash, with the charcode 8. All is as espected.

However, I need to redo the evaluation, so that can get the same result but from the string "\\b".

		String s = "\\b";
		System.out.println(s.charAt(0));
		System.out.println(s.charAt(1));
		String s2 = "" + s.charAt(0) +  s.charAt(1); 	//Here is where, I need to re evaluate the escape
											//Instead i get the "\b"
		System.out.println(s2);

output:
\b

I also tried

		String s = "\\b";
		char a = s.charAt(0);
		char b = s.charAt(1);
		char c = (char) (a + b);
		System.out.println(c);
		System.out.println((int) c);

output:
¾
190

Can this even be done? Hope there is an idea out there. Thanks in advance

get the same result but from the string "\\b".

Is the same result is the single letter: b

What is it you are trying to do? If the String (at execution time) contains "\b" what do you want get from it?
What about if the String contains "\\\\\b" what do you want to get back?

After the compiler has done the escaping, it generates a String. The String can contain one or more \ characters.

vm's escape evalutation

Actually it is NOT the JVM that does the escaping. Its the compiler.

Originally Posted by Norm

Is the same result is the single letter: b

What is it you are trying to do? If the String (at execution time) contains "\b" what do you want get from it?
What about if the String contains "\\\\\b" what do you want to get back?

After the compiler has done the escaping, it generates a String. The String can contain one or more \ characters.

Actually it is NOT the JVM that does the escaping. Its the compiler.

I want the compiler to do escaping one more time.

Take string "\\b"
Do escaping -> "\b"
Take string "\b"
Do escaping -> 'backslash' (escape symbol)

The reason being Im trying to make my own escape function as in a java compiler (written in java).

So for testing Im inputting a string that contains "\\b", to simulate a string with "\b"

Hopes that makes sense.

PS. Dont know why I always refere to the jvm as the complete java entity, when its clearly wrong.

Not sure I follow. Can you give some examples in two columns.
Column one would be what is in the String at execution time (after the compiler has done all the escaping)
Coumn two would be the results you want to obtain by reworking the contents of column one.

	//String at exe				//Wanted Result
	\b						(backspace)
	\\						\
	dasfasdf\\addaf				dasfasdf\addaf

But since the string at execution is already escaped, I cant figure out how to do it again.

I cant figure out how to do it again.

You have to play compiler. When you see a \ you have to look at the next character and create the "escaped" character.
A switch should do it:

  switch (theChar) {
   case 'b': return '\b';
   case '\':  return '\';
   case 'n':  return '\n';
}

Yeah thats what I ended up with, a switch case followed by 2 different regex, one for "normal" escapes and one for octals, then followed by other switches. I just thought it would be more elegant to just return a char from the related part of the string. This way the end result becomes a rather deep nesting of conditionals. Thanks for you time btw