Check if a string starts with a specific prefix

Summary

The startswith macro checks if a given string starts with a specified prefix. Returns the string if it matches, empty string otherwise.

Syntax 

${startswith;<string>;<prefix>}

Parameters

  • string - The string to check
  • prefix - The prefix to look for

Behavior

  • Checks if string starts with the prefix
  • Returns the original string if it starts with prefix
  • Returns empty string (“”) if it doesn’t
  • Case-sensitive comparison

Examples

Check string prefix:

${startswith;com.example.api;com.example}
# Returns: "com.example.api"

Check with non-matching prefix:

${startswith;org.other.package;com.example}
# Returns: ""

Use in conditional:

${if;${startswith;${project};test.};test-project;regular-project}

Filter list by prefix:

${filter;${packages};${startswith;.*;com\.example}}

Use Cases

  • String prefix validation
  • Package name filtering
  • Path matching
  • Conditional logic based on prefixes
  • Name pattern checking

Notes

  • Case-sensitive comparison
  • Returns truthy (string) or falsy (empty) value
  • Useful with ${if} for conditional logic
  • See also: ${endswith} for suffix checking
  • See also: ${matches} for regex matching

See test cases in MacroTestsForDocsExamples.java