static S unquote_accurate(S s) { if (s == null) null; if (startsWith(s, '[')) { int i = 1; while (i < s.length() && s.charAt(i) == '=') ++i; if (i < s.length() && s.charAt(i) == '[') { String m = s.substring(1, i); if (s.endsWith("]" + m + "]")) return s.substring(i+1, s.length()-i-1); } } int l = s.length(); if (l > 1) { char opener = s.charAt(0); if (opener == '\"' || opener == '\'') { if (s.charAt(l-1) != opener) ret s; --l; StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(l); for (int i = 1; i < l; i++) { char ch = s.charAt(i); if (ch == opener) ret s; // improper string if (ch == '\\') { char nextChar = (i == l - 1) ? '\\' : s.charAt(i + 1); // Octal escape? if (nextChar >= '0' && nextChar <= '7') { String code = "" + nextChar; i++; if ((i < l - 1) && s.charAt(i + 1) >= '0' && s.charAt(i + 1) <= '7') { code += s.charAt(i + 1); i++; if ((i < l - 1) && s.charAt(i + 1) >= '0' && s.charAt(i + 1) <= '7') { code += s.charAt(i + 1); i++; } } sb.append((char) Integer.parseInt(code, 8)); continue; } switch (nextChar) { case '\"': ch = '\"'; break; case '\\': ch = '\\'; break; case 'b': ch = '\b'; break; case 'f': ch = '\f'; break; case 'n': ch = '\n'; break; case 'r': ch = '\r'; break; case 't': ch = '\t'; break; case '\'': ch = '\''; break; // Hex Unicode: u???? case 'u': if (i >= l - 5) { ch = 'u'; break; } int code = Integer.parseInt( "" + s.charAt(i + 2) + s.charAt(i + 3) + s.charAt(i + 4) + s.charAt(i + 5), 16); sb.append(Character.toChars(code)); i += 5; continue; default: ch = nextChar; // added by Stefan } i++; } sb.append(ch); } ret sb.toString(); } } ret s; // not quoted - return original }