regExp matcher not working

[ketandba shah]

hi,
here is my java code snippet..

String REGEX = "(d*-d*-d*)";
String INPUT = "(some string)|(d*-d*-d*)";
String REPLACE = "(\\\\\\\\d*-\\\\\\\\d*-\\\\\\\\d*)";

Pattern p = Pattern.compile(REGEX);
Matcher m = p.matcher(INPUT); // get a matcher object
INPUT = m.replaceAll(REPLACE);
System.out.println(INPUT);

This not works....what is wrong in REGEXP...

i am expecting output as (some string)|(\\d*-\\d*-\\d*)

Thanks in advanced...

ketan

[Jim Yingst]

In a regex, * is a special character. If you want it to represent a literal * rather than its meaning as a special character, you need to escape it with \\. So your REGEX should be

String REGEX = "(d\\*-d\\*-d\\*)";