Using StringBuilder class to input text into a program

soup

I want to make a program that accepts a string as a command, and then splits it at a period, so that if I input "move.12", the program will be able to use both word and the number as commands. In other words, is there a split() function for a stringBuilder variable? Here is my current code:

//stringBuilder for the command
StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder("");

void setup()  {
}
void draw() {
}
void keyTyped() {
  if(key == ENTER)
    {//enter the code to split the string and assign it to ints. I was thinking something like:
     String datastring[] = split(text, "."); //but you can't do this
     text.setLength(0); //clears the text string to make it ready for the next command
    }
   else
    {text.append(key); //adds each new character to text.
     println(text);
    }
}

_vk

Without digging in it... You can use text.toString() to have a String out of a StringBuilder.

//stringBuilder for the command
StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder("move.12");

void setup()  {
}
void draw() {
}
void keyTyped() {
  if(key == ENTER)
    {//enter the code to split the string and assign it to ints. I was thinking something like:
     String datastring[] = split(text.toString(), "."); //but you can't do this
     text.setLength(0); //clears the text string to make it ready for the next command
     println(datastring);
    }
   else
    {text.append(key); //adds each new character to text.
     println(text);
    }
}

and here StringBuilder reference...

soup

Yep. it works. Thanks

PhiLho

Note that it is recommended to avoid doing stuff like: text += char; in a loop when text is a String, because it creates lot of overhead (generating a new String on each step, throwing away the previous one).

But while StringBuilder is a good solution for this problem, it is a bit overkill for your need, when you add a new char only when the user hits a key, which is quite slow: there is no problem of garbage collection and memory filling there.