String.split() ignores null fields

[Sasikanth Malladi]

Please compile the following code and you'll see what I mean.

public class split
{
        public static void main(String args[])
        {
        String split = "this,is,a,simple,string,,,";
        System.out.println(split);
        String tokens [] = split.split(",");
        System.out.println("Num tokens = " + tokens.length);
        for(int i=0; i<tokens.length;i++)
        {
                System.out.print(tokens[i]);
                if(i><tokens.length-1)
                        System.out.print(",");
        }
        }
}

The API doesn't list an option to include null fields. This probably revolves around the philosophical discussion of the meaning of the "" string and a null string.
Practically speaking, is there way of making Java respect my nulls, even if they don't exist?
Can I split my string into {"this","is","a","simple","string","",""}?
Not even sure if this makes sense.

awk has no such hangups and works well. But for my present purposes I was thinking of engaging Java.

Thanks,
Sashi>

[Henry Wong]

This is specifically mentioned in the JavaDoc...

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/lang/String.html

I'll let you read it on your own... but regarding your question, you want this.

String tokens [] = split.split(",", -1);   

Henry

[Sasikanth Malladi]

Did I say that the API didn't mention what I'm looking for?
Spoken in haste.

Thanks, Henry!
Sashi