[java] Java Regex Replace with Capturing Group

Is there any way to replace a regexp with modified content of capture group?

Example:

Pattern regex = Pattern.compile("(\\d{1,2})");
Matcher regexMatcher = regex.matcher(text);
resultString = regexMatcher.replaceAll("$1"); // *3 ??

And I'd like to replace all occurrence with $1 multiplied by 3.

edit:

Looks like, something's wrong :(

If I use

Pattern regex = Pattern.compile("(\\d{1,2})");
Matcher regexMatcher = regex.matcher("12 54 1 65");
try {
    String resultString = regexMatcher.replaceAll(regexMatcher.group(1));
} catch (Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

It throws an IllegalStateException: No match found

But

Pattern regex = Pattern.compile("(\\d{1,2})");
Matcher regexMatcher = regex.matcher("12 54 1 65");
try {
    String resultString = regexMatcher.replaceAll("$1");
} catch (Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

works fine, but I can't change the $1 :(

edit:

Now, it's working :)

Java 9 offers a Matcher.replaceAll() that accepts a replacement function:

resultString = regexMatcher.replaceAll(
        m -> String.valueOf(Integer.parseInt(m.group()) * 3));

earl's answer gives you the solution, but I thought I'd add what the problem is that's causing your IllegalStateException. You're calling group(1) without having first called a matching operation (such as find()). This isn't needed if you're just using $1 since the replaceAll() is the matching operation.

Source: java-implementation-of-rubys-gsub

Usage:

// Rewrite an ancient unit of length in SI units.
String result = new Rewriter("([0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+)?)[- ]?(inch(es)?)") {
    public String replacement() {
        float inches = Float.parseFloat(group(1));
        return Float.toString(2.54f * inches) + " cm";
    }
}.rewrite("a 17 inch display");
System.out.println(result);

// The "Searching and Replacing with Non-Constant Values Using a
// Regular Expression" example from the Java Almanac.
result = new Rewriter("([a-zA-Z]+[0-9]+)") {
    public String replacement() {
        return group(1).toUpperCase();
    }
}.rewrite("ab12 cd efg34");
System.out.println(result);

Implementation (redesigned):

import static java.lang.String.format;

import java.util.regex.Matcher;
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

public abstract class Rewriter {
    private Pattern pattern;
    private Matcher matcher;

    public Rewriter(String regularExpression) {
        this.pattern = Pattern.compile(regularExpression);
    }

    public String group(int i) {
        return matcher.group(i);
    }

    public abstract String replacement() throws Exception;

    public String rewrite(CharSequence original) {
        return rewrite(original, new StringBuffer(original.length())).toString();
    }

    public StringBuffer rewrite(CharSequence original, StringBuffer destination) {
        try {
            this.matcher = pattern.matcher(original);
            while (matcher.find()) {
                matcher.appendReplacement(destination, "");
                destination.append(replacement());
            }
            matcher.appendTail(destination);
            return destination;
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new RuntimeException("Cannot rewrite " + toString(), e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.append(pattern.pattern());
        for (int i = 0; i <= matcher.groupCount(); i++)
            sb.append(format("\n\t(%s) - %s", i, group(i)));
        return sb.toString();
    }
}