[SalesForce] Problem using string replace method

I'm attempting to replace a portion of a large text area using the code below without success. Have I misunderstood the proper usage of the string replace method, and if so, is there another methodology I should be using instead? I'll add that I've verified that the data is valid.

for(Event ev:Evt){
    Descrip = ev.Description;
    // oEvtOwners is a map of WhatID to the old OwnerID
    // nEvtOwners is a map of WhatID to new OwnerID

    system.debug(string.valueOf(oEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID)); // old event owner name

    system.debug(string.valueOf(nEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID)); // new event owner name

    system.debug(Descrip.contains(string.valueOf(oEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID)))==true);

    if(Descrip.contains(string.valueOf(oEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID)))==true){

       Descrip.replace(string.valueOf(oEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID))), string.valueOf(nEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID)));

       /* if true, replace old owner string with new owner string anyplace in Descrip */

    }

    system.debug(Descrip); // old owner is still there, not the new owner!!!

    ev.Description = Descrip;

    ev.OwnerID = nEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID); // new owner applied as expected!!!  

    Evnt.add(ev);            

    } // end for e:Evt

update Evnt;

As you can see from the comments in the code, the old ownerID is being updated to the new ownerID just before the update is performed, but the string code isn't updating the Description string/textArea from what I'm seeing in the debug logs.

This is happening even though the old owner and the new owner values along with the Descrip.contains are all evaluating properly in the system.debug statements. As such, I don't understand why the Descrip.replace(oldstring,newstring) isn't working! Any insights or suggestions?

Best Answer

Strings are immutable which means that they cannot be modified. When you call an instance operation on a String it creates a new String instance to return.

You need to assign the result to another variable (or to the variable itself).

For example:

Descrip = Descrip.replace(string.valueOf(oEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID))), string.valueOf(nEvtOwnrs.get(ev.WhatID)));

Related Solutions

[SalesForce] Using RegEx Pattern Match to create DateTime fields in trigger

Ultimately, the code I came up with for validation looked something like what's below:

list<Event> ToInsert = new list<Event>();
Date ClosDt;
Integer ClsDay; 
Integer ClsMnth;
Integer ClsYear; 
String sClsDay; 
String sClsMnth;
String sClsYear; 
String StrtTmDt;
Integer plnMns;
String endTm;
String endDtTm;
String notes;
Pattern TimePttrn = Pattern.compile('((([1])([0-2])|(([0])([1-9])))(\\u003A)(([0-5])([0-9]))(\\s)(([AP])([M])))'); // hh:mm a


// The initial section below is to use Event_Notes__c to track any error messages 
// related to the start time and return them for correction while allowing 
// successful creation of the event. It existed before we went to a picklist.

try{
    If (opp.Event_Notes__c == null) notes = 'None';

    }catch(NullPointerException e){

    notes = 'None';

    } 

    notes = opp.Event_Notes__c;

try{
    opp.Event_Start_Time_Pik__c.normalizeSpace();

    }catch(NullPointerException e){

        if (notes == 'None') {

            notes = 'Error A1 processing Start Time!!! Check for correct time and resubmit form.';

            opp.Event_Start_Time_Pik__c = '12:00 AM';

        } else{

            notes = 'Error A2 processing Start Time!!! Check for correct time and resubmit form.'+ notes;

            opp.Event_Start_Time_Pik__c = '12:00 AM'; 

        }

    } // End try/catch block

// Do time pattern and match validation

Matcher m = TimePttrn.matcher(opp.Event_Start_Time_Pik__c);
boolean hasMatch = m.matches();
strtTm = m.group(0);

opp.Event_Notes__c = notes;

// Assemble StartTimeDate and Calculate Planned Mins

ClosDt = opp.CloseDate;
ClsDay = ClosDt.day();

if(ClsDay >= 1 && ClsDay <= 9){ 

sClsDay = '0' + String.ValueOf(ClsDay);

} else {

sClsDay = String.ValueOf(ClsDay);

}

ClsMnth = ClosDt.month();

if(ClsMnth >=0 && ClsMnth <= 9){ 

   sClsMnth = '0' + String.ValueOf(ClsMnth);

   } else {

   sClsMnth = String.ValueOf(ClsMnth);

   }

ClsYear = ClosDt.year();

sClsYear = String.ValueOf(ClsYear);    

StrtTmDt = sClsMnth + '/' + sClsDay + '/' + sClsYear + ' ' + strtTm;

Later in the code when creating the event:

Event e = New Event(StartDateTime = DateTime.parse(StrtTmDt), ActivityDateTime = DateTime.parse(StrtTmDt), EndDateTime = (DateTime.parse(StrtTmDt)).addMinutes(plnMns), DurationInMinutes = plnMns, Subject = EvtSubjct, OwnerId = opp.Owner.Id, WhatId = opp.Id, WhoId = opp.Customer_Contact__r.Id, Description = Descr1 + Descr2 + Descr3 + Descr5 + Descr6 + Descr7 );

I wound up doing a lot of string method and regex testing bits of code in the Developer Console and creating some string test classes before I managed to get all of this to work satisfactorily. I learned a great deal in the process. I hope others find this of use as until there's a "true" Time method other than the Salesforce System Time, this will continue to be an issue we'll all need to deal with on occasion.

[SalesForce] String method startsWith(String) is case-sensitive or not

The String.startsWith method is case sensitive.

However there is a String.startsWithIgnoreCase method which as the name notes is case insensitive.

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