KITFORMA · EDITORIAL ANSWER
Why does Java split discard empty fields at the end of a record?
KitForma editorial guide. The default split behavior may discard trailing empty tokens. That changes a fixed-column record even though the separators are still present in the input.
Step-by-step answer
The default split behavior may discard trailing empty tokens. That changes a fixed-column record even though the separators are still present in the input.
For a simple delimiter format without quoting, use
line.split("\|", -1) to retain trailing fields when the separator is a pipe. Validate the resulting field count before mapping positions to names. An empty final field is different from an absent column.
Verify a normal row, a row ending in one delimiter and a row containing consecutive delimiters. String.split uses regex syntax, so literal separators require appropriate quoting. It is not a CSV parser: embedded delimiters, escaped quotes and multiline quoted cells require a parser for that format.Sources and verification
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