QByteArray.split() returning QList with empty first element

Hey Guys,

I got a QByteArray containing some data. I distinguish different kinds of data via key characters which I prepend with a '&' character. Currently the data QByteArray only contians something like this: data = "&t02.04.2014".

Code:

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void foo(QByteArray data){
 
     QList<QByteArray> cmdList = data.split('&');
 
     if(cmdList.size() != data.count('&')) dispError("Command List size != number of '&'");
     //At this point the cmdList contains 2 elments where the first one is empty (presuming the data array is like noted above. 
 
     //do fancy stuff with the data
}

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I don't quite understand why there are two elments in the QList as I am only expecting one.

As a special character is treated as a marker for the end of the element. String "&&&aaa" gives You 4 elements.

In other words "&" separates items. Therefore by definition the number of items in the array equals to number of separators + 1. Since you have one occurence of the separator, you have two items (no separators would yield one item -- the whole input string).

right. Gotcha. Thank you!

Take a look at the other split() arguments if you want to suppress empty sections.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChrisW67

Take a look at the other split() arguments if you want to suppress empty sections.

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QByteArray::split don't have other arguments, QString::split has them.

Having read the thread again I think the OP should use regular expressions rather than split.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wysota

Having read the thread again I think the OP should use regular expressions rather than split.

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And why is that?

Because you want to "distinguish" things rather than split columns. At least that's what I understood.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wysota

Because you want to "distinguish" things rather than split columns. At least that's what I understood.

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What I ultimatelly will have will be Array like this: [&t25.01.2015&satFancy Name//6000//Blablubb//something//42&antRunning//0//Illuminati&gs6300//2655].

Each of the & indicates that the following stuff represents some values for objects that are specified by th name that follows '&'. The '//' seperate different values. Would it still be possible to use Regular Expressions? From first glance I figured split was what I wanted but you can teach me better ;)

Yes, you can still use regular expressions.