Need some String Logic....!

Question

Hi,
I have a String str="-a-b_-c-d" ,
I want to rename the String by making the following changes.
If a is -ve(ie., -a) then it should be changed to aW (ie, '-a'='aW')
If a is +ve(ie., a) then it should be changed to  aE (ie, '-a'='aE')
If b is -ve(ie., -b) then it should be changed to bS (ie, '-b'='bS')
If b is +ve(ie., b) then it should be changed to bN (ie, '-b'='bN')
Same logic of 'a' for 'c' as well.
ie., '-c'='cW' and 'c'='cE'
Same logic of 'b' for 'd' as well.
ie., '-d'='dS' and 'd'='dN'
The output of the above String str should be str2="aWbS_cWdS";
Some examples str="a-b_-cd" == "aEbS_cWdN"
Thanks in Advance..,
regards
Rao.

Answer 1

I tend to agree with kamranA, but I had a few minutes and felt like being a sucker for a challenge, so I took a shot at it. BUT DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN! Anyway, not that this code is so wonderful, but all caveats apply . . . test and use at your own risk:
public class Str2CharII {
  public static void main(String[] argv) {
    System.out.println("The result is: "+getNewString(argv[0]));
  public static String getNewString(String s) {
    StringBuffer sb    = new StringBuffer();
    char[]       chars = s.toCharArray();
    int          ind   = -2;
    for (int idx=0; idx < chars.length; idx++) {
      switch (chars[idx]) {
        case '-': {
          ind = idx;
          continue;
        case '_': {
          sb.append("_");
          continue;
        case 'a': {
          if ( idx == (ind + 1) ) { sb.append("aW"); }
          else                    { sb.append("aE"); }
          continue;
        case 'b': {
          if ( idx == (ind + 1) ) { sb.append("bS"); }
          else                    { sb.append("bN"); }
          continue;
        case 'c': {
          if ( idx == (ind + 1) ) { sb.append("cW"); }
          else                    { sb.append("cE"); }
          continue;
        case 'd': {
          if ( idx == (ind + 1) ) { sb.append("dS"); }
          else                    { sb.append("dN"); }
          continue;
    return(new String(sb));
}~Bill