Replace parts of list elements using regex patterns

Summary

The replace macro applies regex-based replacement to each element in a comma-separated list. Uses simple comma splitting (doesn’t handle quoted sections).

Syntax 

${replace;<list>;<regex>[;<replacement>[;<delimiter>]]}

Parameters

  • list - Comma-separated list of elements
  • regex - Regular expression pattern to match
  • replacement (optional) - Replacement string with $1-$9 back-references (default: empty)
  • delimiter (optional) - Output delimiter (default: “,”)

Behavior

  • Splits list on commas (simple: \s*,\s*)
  • Applies element.replaceAll(regex, replacement) to each
  • Supports regex back-references ($1, $2, etc.)
  • Cannot handle commas within quoted sections
  • Returns delimited result

Examples

Add file extension:

impls: foo,bar
${replace;${impls};$;.jar}
# Returns: "foo.jar,bar.jar"

Replace pattern:

${replace;v1.0,v2.0,v3.0;^v;version-}
# Returns: "version-1.0,version-2.0,version-3.0"

Using back-references:

${replace;com.example.api,com.example.impl;com\.example\.(.+);$1}
# Returns: "api,impl"

Custom delimiter:

${replace;a,b,c;$;-suffix;;}
# Returns: "a-suffix;b-suffix;c-suffix"

Use Cases

  • Adding prefixes/suffixes to list elements
  • Pattern-based transformations
  • File extension handling
  • List element modification
  • Bulk string operations

Notes

  • Simple comma splitting only
  • For quoted sections, use ${replacelist}
  • Regex uses Java syntax
  • Empty replacement removes matched text
  • See also: ${replacelist} for quoted section support
  • See also: ${replacestring} for single string replacement

See test cases in MacroTestsForDocsExamples.java