How to parse and isolate a pattern from a string?

Question

Hello friends --
I am currently using the regex package to parse pathnames; i.e., active/99999999999/correspondence/file.tiff~23698, where 99999999999 is a variable 11-digit number. I have a method that is intended to not only parse but also isolate the 11-digit number and return it to the caller. The problem is that rather than return just the number, the method returns the entire string in which it is found.
Perhaps I'm going about this the wrong way. Perhaps I should convert everything to a char or byte[], and spin through each element in the array. If a digit is found, append that digit into a new array and return the new array. Sounds like it would take forever to run.
Does anyone have a clue?? A big, grateful thanks to anyone who can lend a hand.
Here is the code:
public static String locate(String subject, String find)
Pattern p = Pattern.compile(find);
Matcher m = p.matcher(subject);
String found = null;
if (m.find()) found = m.group(0);
return found;

Answer 1

I think your code should work, if you get the pattern right.
Using pattern \d{11} with your code ("\\d{11}" as a string), I can extract the 11 digit number. But if the path contains two eleven-digit numbers, do you know for sure that you want the first one?
What pattern are you using?
HTH,
Ken