How do I replace a single instance of a string?

Question

I'm trying to replace a certain string in a text file. The problem is, there is other data in the text file that is being affected by the replace() function, since replace() replaces each substring that fits the pattern it's looking for. I want my replacement function to target one single instance of something, at one specific instance, and to leave the rest of my text alone.
Any thoughts on how I'd do that?

Answer 1

I don't see how to do it with a String direclty without making silly copies.
But it seems you could use a StringBuilder and its method replace(int start, int end, String str).
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/lang/StringBuilder.html#replace(int,%20int,%20java.lang.String)