Verify if String matches a format String

Question

In Java, how can you determine if a String matches a format string (ie: song%03d.mp3)?

In other words, how would you implement the following function?

Answer 1

You can use String.matches; although you'd need to use a regular expression then, rather then the format string.

It shouldn't be too hard to replace something like %03d with a \d{3} regex equivalent

Example:

"song001.mp3".matches("song\\d{3}\\.mp3") // True

"potato".matches("song\\d{3}\\.mp3") // False

If you really need the format string, you'll need to make a function that replaces the format with a regex equivalent, and escapes the regex reserved characters; then use the String.matches function.