String replace in Maven with regex


October 29th 2019


I had an issue where I needed to replace all backslashes in a Maven property with forward slashes. The build helper plugin did the trick.


    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
        <artifactId>build-helper-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>${maven.build-helper.version}</version>
        <executions>
           <execution>
            <id>regex-property</id>
            <goals>
              <goal>regex-property</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <name>some.property.replaced</name>
              <value>${some.property}</value>
              <regex>\</regex>
              <replacement>/</replacement>
              <failIfNoMatch>false</failIfNoMatch>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
    </plugin>

To validate that this all worked, the antrun plugin can echo out the new property:


      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>${maven.antrun.version}</version>
        <executions>
           <execution>
            <id>echo-property</id>
            <goals>
              <goal>run</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <tasks>
                <echo>some.property.replaced=${some.property.replaced}</echo>
              </tasks>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
      </plugin>

I'm an "old" programmer who has been blogging for almost 20 years now. In 2017, I started Highline Solutions, a consulting company that helps with software architecture and full-stack development. I have two degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, one practical (Information and Decision Systems) and one not so much (Philosophy - thesis here). Pittsburgh, PA is my home where I live with my wife and 3 energetic boys.
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