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copied!<p>You can use the <a href="http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/String.html#split%28java.lang.String,%20int%29" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>String[] split(String regex, int limit)</code></a> as follows:</p> <pre><code> String[] tests = { "NAME*ADRESS LINE1*ADDRESS LINE2*", "NAME*ADRESS LINE1**", "NAME**ADDRESS LINE2*", "NAME***", "*ADDRESS LINE1*ADDRESS LINE2*", "*ADDRESS LINE1**", "**ADDRESS LINE2*", "***", "-MS DEBBIE GREEN*1036 PINEWOOD CRES**", }; for (String test : tests) { test = test.substring(0, test.length() - 1); String[] parts = test.split("\\*", 3); System.out.printf( "%s%n Name: %s%n Address Line1: %s%n Address Line2: %s%n%n", test, parts[0], parts[1], parts[2] ); } </code></pre> <p>This prints (<a href="http://ideone.com/jETkj" rel="nofollow noreferrer">as seen on ideone.com</a>):</p> <pre><code>NAME*ADRESS LINE1*ADDRESS LINE2* Name: NAME Address Line1: ADRESS LINE1 Address Line2: ADDRESS LINE2 NAME*ADRESS LINE1** Name: NAME Address Line1: ADRESS LINE1 Address Line2: NAME**ADDRESS LINE2* Name: NAME Address Line1: Address Line2: ADDRESS LINE2 NAME*** Name: NAME Address Line1: Address Line2: *ADDRESS LINE1*ADDRESS LINE2* Name: Address Line1: ADDRESS LINE1 Address Line2: ADDRESS LINE2 *ADDRESS LINE1** Name: Address Line1: ADDRESS LINE1 Address Line2: **ADDRESS LINE2* Name: Address Line1: Address Line2: ADDRESS LINE2 *** Name: Address Line1: Address Line2: -MS DEBBIE GREEN*1036 PINEWOOD CRES** Name: -MS DEBBIE GREEN Address Line1: 1036 PINEWOOD CRES Address Line2: </code></pre> <p>The reason for the <code>"\\*"</code> is because <code>split</code> takes a regular expression, and <code>*</code> is a regex metacharacter, and since you want it to mean literally, it needs to be escaped with a <code>\</code>. Since <code>\</code> itself is a Java string escape character, to get a <code>\</code> in a string, you need to double it.</p> <p>The reason for the <code>limit</code> of <code>3</code> is because you want the array to have 3 parts, including trailing empty strings. A <code>limit</code>-less <code>split</code> discards trailing empty strings by default.</p> <p>The last <code>*</code> is discarded manually before the <code>split</code> is performed.</p>

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