import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;

/**
 *  Provides one or two static methods to alter text
 *  in a string. 
 *
 *  @author http://bumble.sf.net
 */
 
  
public class BetweenText extends Object
{
  //--------------------------------------------
  private static String NEWLINE = System.getProperty("line.separator");
  //--------------------------------------------
  private String text;  

  //--------------------------------------------
  public BetweenText()
  {
    this.text = "";
  }

  //--------------------------------------------
  public BetweenText(String sText)
  {
    this.text = sText;
  } 

  //--------------------------------------------
  /** remove text between two characters. if the characters are
   *  the same, nothing is done. The characters themselves are
   *  not removed */
  public static String removeBetween(String sText, char cStart, char cEnd)
  {
    char cCurrent;
    boolean bIsBetween = false;

    StringBuffer sbReturn = new StringBuffer("");

    if (cStart == cEnd)
    {
      return sText;
    }

    if (sText.indexOf(cStart) == -1)
    {
      return sText;
    }

    if (sText.indexOf(cEnd) == -1)
    {
      return sText;
    }

    for (int ii = 0; ii < sText.length(); ii++)
    {
      cCurrent = sText.charAt(ii);

      if (cCurrent == cEnd)
      {
        bIsBetween = false;
      }

      if (!bIsBetween)
      {
        sbReturn.append(cCurrent);
      }

      if (cCurrent == cStart)
      {
        //-- if there are no following end characters,
        //-- do not start removing
        if (sText.indexOf(cEnd, ii) != -1)
        {
          bIsBetween = true;
        }
      }
    } //-- for

    return sbReturn.toString();

  } //-- method: removeBetween

  //--------------------------------------------
  /** remove text between two characters. if the characters are
   *  the same, nothing is done. The characters themselves are
   *  removed */
  public static String removeBetweenIncluding(String sText, char cStart, char cEnd)
  {
    char cCurrent;
    boolean bIsBetween = false;

    StringBuffer sbReturn = new StringBuffer("");

    if (cStart == cEnd)
    {
      return sText;
    }

    if (sText.indexOf(cStart) == -1)
    {
      return sText;
    }

    if (sText.indexOf(cEnd) == -1)
    {
      return sText;
    }

    for (int ii = 0; ii < sText.length(); ii++)
    {
      cCurrent = sText.charAt(ii);

      if (cCurrent == cStart)
      {
        //-- if there are no following end characters,
        //-- do not start removing
        if (sText.indexOf(cEnd, ii) != -1)
        {
          bIsBetween = true;
        }
      }

      if (!bIsBetween)
      {
        sbReturn.append(cCurrent);
      }

      if (cCurrent == cEnd)
      {
        bIsBetween = false;
      }

    } //-- for

    return sbReturn.toString();

  } //-- method: removeBetween


  //--------------------------------------------
  /** a main method for testing */
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
  {
    
    StringBuffer sbUsageMessage = new StringBuffer("");
    sbUsageMessage.append("test usage: java BetweenText startChar endChar");
    sbUsageMessage.append(NEWLINE);

    StringBuffer sbMessage = new StringBuffer("");


    if (args.length < 2)
    {	    
      System.out.println(sbUsageMessage);
      System.exit(-1);
    }

    String sText = "abcdefghijklmnopqrst abcdefg 876543 ";
    char cStart = args[0].charAt(0);
    char cEnd = args[1].charAt(0);
        
    System.out.print("Using text               >");
    System.out.println(sText);

    System.out.println("");
                                         
    System.out.print(".removeBetween()          >");
    System.out.println(BetweenText.removeBetween(sText, cStart, cEnd));
    System.out.print(".removeBetweenIncluding() >");
    System.out.println(BetweenText.removeBetweenIncluding(sText, cStart, cEnd));
 
  } //-- main()
  
} //-- BetweenText class