Java substring: 'string index out of range'

Question

I\'m guessing I\'m getting this error because the string is trying to substring a null value. But wouldn\'t the \".length() > 0\" part eliminate

Answer 1

Java's substring method fails when you try and get a substring starting at an index which is longer than the string.

An easy alternative is to use Apache Commons StringUtils.substring:

public static String substring(String str, int start)

Gets a substring from the specified String avoiding exceptions.

A negative start position can be used to start n characters from the end of the String.

A null String will return null. An empty ("") String will return "".

 StringUtils.substring(null, *)   = null
 StringUtils.substring("", *)     = ""
 StringUtils.substring("abc", 0)  = "abc"
 StringUtils.substring("abc", 2)  = "c"
 StringUtils.substring("abc", 4)  = ""
 StringUtils.substring("abc", -2) = "bc"
 StringUtils.substring("abc", -4) = "abc"

Parameters:
str - the String to get the substring from, may be null
start - the position to start from, negative means count back from the end of the String by this many characters

Returns:
substring from start position, null if null String input

Note, if you can't use Apache Commons lib for some reason, you could just grab the parts you need from the source

// Substring
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
 * <p>Gets a substring from the specified String avoiding exceptions.</p>
 *
 * <p>A negative start position can be used to start {@code n}
 * characters from the end of the String.</p>
 *
 * <p>A {@code null} String will return {@code null}.
 * An empty ("") String will return "".</p>
 *
 * <pre>
 * StringUtils.substring(null, *)   = null
 * StringUtils.substring("", *)     = ""
 * StringUtils.substring("abc", 0)  = "abc"
 * StringUtils.substring("abc", 2)  = "c"
 * StringUtils.substring("abc", 4)  = ""
 * StringUtils.substring("abc", -2) = "bc"
 * StringUtils.substring("abc", -4) = "abc"
 * </pre>
 *
 * @param str  the String to get the substring from, may be null
 * @param start  the position to start from, negative means
 *  count back from the end of the String by this many characters
 * @return substring from start position, {@code null} if null String input
 */
public static String substring(final String str, int start) {
    if (str == null) {
        return null;
    }

    // handle negatives, which means last n characters
    if (start < 0) {
        start = str.length() + start; // remember start is negative
    }

    if (start < 0) {
        start = 0;
    }
    if (start > str.length()) {
        return EMPTY;
    }

    return str.substring(start);
}