Decide which special characters you want to escape and just call
query.replace("}", "\\}")
You may keep all special characters you allow in some array then iterate it and replace the occurrences as exemplified. This method replaces all regex meta characters.
public String escapeMetaCharacters(String inputString){
final String[] metaCharacters = {"\\","^","$","{","}","[","]","(",")",".","*","+","?","|","<",">","-","&","%"};
for (int i = 0 ; i < metaCharacters.length ; i++){
if(inputString.contains(metaCharacters[i])){
inputString = inputString.replace(metaCharacters[i],"\\"+metaCharacters[i]);
}
}
return inputString;
}
You could use it as query=escapeMetaCharacters(query);
Don't think that any library you would find would do anything more than that. At best it defines a complete list of specialCharacters.
W3Schools
w3schools.com โบ java โบ java_strings_specchars.asp
Java Strings - Special Characters
Java Examples Java Videos Java ... "Vikings" from the north."; The solution to avoid this problem, is to use the backslash escape character....
Baeldung
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Guide to Escaping Characters in Java RegExps | Baeldung
July 22, 2024 - Here, the dot character is escaped, ... since there is no match in the input String for that pattern. Alternatively, we can use \Q and \E to escape the special character....
Escape all special characters in a string
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August 29, 2023How to turn unicode escape characters back into string?
I've found one hacky way to do it, which works so long as the string doesn't contain any " characters. You wrap your string in " and then read it. (clojure.edn/read-string (str ""\" "you \\u0026 me" "\"")) ;;=> "you & me" More on reddit.com
9
7
June 20, 2019VS Code Power Tools - JSON Escape Assistant: Don't worry about escaping any more
Woah. Veey cool tool. This would be a really great time saver
More on reddit.com 14
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July 20, 2020Videos
Top answer 1 of 6
27
Decide which special characters you want to escape and just call
query.replace("}", "\\}")
You may keep all special characters you allow in some array then iterate it and replace the occurrences as exemplified. This method replaces all regex meta characters.
public String escapeMetaCharacters(String inputString){
final String[] metaCharacters = {"\\","^","$","{","}","[","]","(",")",".","*","+","?","|","<",">","-","&","%"};
for (int i = 0 ; i < metaCharacters.length ; i++){
if(inputString.contains(metaCharacters[i])){
inputString = inputString.replace(metaCharacters[i],"\\"+metaCharacters[i]);
}
}
return inputString;
}
You could use it as query=escapeMetaCharacters(query);
Don't think that any library you would find would do anything more than that. At best it defines a complete list of specialCharacters.
2 of 6
8
There is actually a better way of doing this in a sleek manner.
String REGEX = "[\\[+\\]+:{}^~?\\\\/()><=\"!]";
StringUtils.replaceAll(inputString, REGEX, "\\\\$0");
Medium
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Escaping Strings in Java: How to Handle Special Characters Effectively | by Anh Trแบงn Tuแบฅn | tuanhdotnet | Medium
February 1, 2025 - Escaping a string refers to the process of prefixing certain characters with a backslash () so that they are interpreted in a specific way by the Java compiler. Special characters, such as newline ( ), tab ( ), or double quotes (โ), have specific meanings in Java, and escaping them ensures that they are handled correctly by the program.
CodeGym
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Escaping characters in Java | CodeGym
In Java, a backslash combined with a character to be "escaped" is called a control sequence. For example, \" is a control sequence for displaying quotation marks on the screen. Upon encountering this construct in your code, the compiler will ...
Published ย July 23, 2024
Reddit
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r/javahelp on Reddit: Escape all special characters in a string
August 29, 2023 -
Let say I have a re = "abc\n"
I have to apply some logic and convert it into an ฮต-NFA transition table, that part is done, I want to escape special characters before printing but I don't want to apply conditional logic and check for all the special characters, is there a function which could do this, cannot use third party libraries and regex library.
Top answer 1 of 5
1
Please ensure that: Your code is properly formatted as code block - see the sidebar (About on mobile) for instructions You include any and all error messages in full You ask clear questions You demonstrate effort in solving your question/problem - plain posting your assignments is forbidden (and such posts will be removed) as is asking for or giving solutions. Trying to solve problems on your own is a very important skill. Also, see Learn to help yourself in the sidebar If any of the above points is not met, your post can and will be removed without further warning. Code is to be formatted as code block (old reddit: empty line before the code, each code line indented by 4 spaces, new reddit: https://i.imgur.com/EJ7tqek.png ) or linked via an external code hoster, like pastebin.com, github gist, github, bitbucket, gitlab, etc. Please, do not use triple backticks (```) as they will only render properly on new reddit, not on old reddit. Code blocks look like this: public class HelloWorld { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello World!"); } } You do not need to repost unless your post has been removed by a moderator. Just use the edit function of reddit to make sure your post complies with the above. If your post has remained in violation of these rules for a prolonged period of time (at least an hour), a moderator may remove it at their discretion. In this case, they will comment with an explanation on why it has been removed, and you will be required to resubmit the entire post following the proper procedures. To potential helpers Please, do not help if any of the above points are not met, rather report the post. We are trying to improve the quality of posts here. In helping people who can't be bothered to comply with the above points, you are doing the community a disservice. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
2 of 5
1
Why not regexes? It's in the base Java utils
CodeSignal
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Escaping into Java: Mastering Special Character Sequences
The output clearly illustrates how \" and \' help infuse strings with quotes! ... Great job! You've now mastered special character sequences in Java โ newline (\n), tab (\t), backslash (\\), and quotes (\" and \'). With these in your toolkit, you will be able to perform many string manipulations for real-world programming scenarios.
Blogger
javahungry.blogspot.com โบ 2020 โบ 09 โบ escape-special-characters.html
Escape Special Characters in String Using Java Library | Java Hungry
import org.apache.commons.text.StringEscapeUtils; public class JavaHungry { public static void main(String args[]) { // Given special character String testString = " < > & \" "; // Escape special character using StringEscapeUtils class String outputString = StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(testString); // Printing the output System.out.println("Special Characters : "+ testString +"\n Escaped Output : "+outputString); } } Output: Special Characters : < > & " Escaped Output : < > & " That's all for today, please mention in the comments in case you have any queries regarding escaping special characters in String using the commons-text Java library.
GeeksforGeeks
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Escape Sequences in Java - GeeksforGeeks
Escape sequences are required to: To include special characters such as new line, tab, backslash, and quotation marks in strings
Published ย January 16, 2026
Coderanch
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How to escape all special characters? (Beginning Java forum at Coderanch)
Tim Holloway wrote:The single-quote, which has to be escaped by doubling when it appears within a string literal. That is: 'O''Brian'. The percent sign when used in a LIKE clause, and which likewise has to be escaped by doubling. I don't think the first one is an issue when you used prepared statements and '?'. The second case should only apply to the WHERE clause (I'm guessing). JavaRanch-FAQ HowToAskQuestionsOnJavaRanch UseCodeTags DontWriteLongLines ItDoesntWorkIsUseLess FormatCode JavaIndenter SSCCE API-17 JLS JavaLanguageSpecification MainIsAPain KeyboardUtility
iO Flood
ioflood.com โบ blog โบ java-escape-characters
Java Escape Characters: Your Ultimate Guide
February 26, 2024 - In this example, weโve used the escape sequences \n and \t to format our string with a new line and a tab space. As you can see, escape characters are a powerful tool for representing special characters and formatting strings in Java.
Software Testing Help
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Escape Characters OR Escape Sequences In Java
April 1, 2025 - This sequence of characters is treated as a single character by the compiler. ... Answer: The escape sequence โ\rโ returns a carriage or a line break in java. It moves the cursor to the beginning of the next line. Q #4) How do you escape special characters in Java?
YouTube
youtube.com โบ watch
HOW TO ESCAPE SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN JAVA? || PRINT STRINGS WITH DOUBLE QUOTES - YouTube
In this video, I have explained - HOW TO ESCAPE SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN JAVA? || PRINT STRING WITH DOUBLE QUOTES~~~Subscribe to this channel, and press bell ic...
Published ย April 8, 2021
Mkyong
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How to escape special characters in java? - Mkyong.com
January 20, 2020 - In Java, we can use Apache commons-text to escape the special characters in HTML entities. ... <dependency> <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId> <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId> <version>1.8</version> </dependency> ... package com.mkyong.html; ...
Data Skills Academy
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Special characters in Java like \n, \t, and " in strings - Tutorial | Java programing โ Data Skills Academy
December 6, 2025 - In Java, special characters are ... characters within strings. These sequences include \n for new lines, \t for horizontal tabs, and escaping the double quote character as \"....
Oracle
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Handling Special Characters
cn=backslash\\\a If you specify this as a literal in the Java programming language, then you need to follow the Java language requirements and escape a backslash within a string literal with yet another backslash: ... You need to keep in mind that the string names that you pass to the Context methods are composite names. To avoid any surprises if a name contains special characters that might conflict with the JNDI composite name syntax, you should use the Context methods that accept a Name.
AlgoCademy
algocademy.com โบ link
Escaping Characters in Java | AlgoCademy
To include these characters in a string, we use the backslash (\) as an escape character. For example, to include a double quote inside a string, we use \" instead of just ". Similarly, to include a backslash, we use \\. This tells Java to treat ...
Javapractices
javapractices.com โบ topic โบ TopicAction.do
Java Practices->Escape special characters
If a query string is placed in an HREF attribute, then even a URL encoded query string is often not of valid form. This is because URLEncoder produces valid HTTP, but it doesn't in general produce text which is a valid HTML attribute - the ampersand character needs to be replaced by the corresponding character entity &. Here is an example of a utility class which escapes special characters for HTML, XML, regular expressions, and so on. package hirondelle.web4j.util; import java.net.URLEncoder; import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException; import java.text.CharacterIterator; import java.text
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โบ java โบ java-program-to-illustrate-escaping-characters-in-regex
Java Program to Illustrate Escaping Characters in Regex - GeeksforGeeks
September 30, 2021 - Generally used for escaping multiple characters. In the below source code the Regex pattern p is escaped for the dot(.) operator, whereas the pattern p1 is not escaped for dot(.). Thus, the pattern p matches only with the string s whereas the pattern p1 matches with both the strings s and s1. ... // Java Program to Illustrate Escaping Characters in Java // Regex Using \Q and \E for escaping // Importing required classes import java.io.*; import java.util.regex.*; // Main class class GFG { // Main driver method public static void main(String[] args) { // Sample strings as inputs String s = "Geeks.forGeeks"; String s1 = "GeeksforGeeks"; // Creating object of Pattern class // 1.
Coder Sathi
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Java Special Characters: Escaping, Unicode, and Text Blocks - CoderSathi
April 5, 2025 - Java uses backslashes (\) to escape characters with special meanings. ... String json = "{ \"name\": \"Alice\", \"age\": 30 }"; System.out.println(json); // Output: { "name": "Alice", "age": 30 } Java supports Unicode via \u followed by a 4-digit ...