Java regular expression matcher mismatch

My string:

<a href="https://MYURL/browse/TEST-53">FOO.BAR</a></p>

Code:

Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("(browse/)(.*)(\">)");
Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(match);

return matcher.group(1);

Get error:

java.lang.IllegalStateException: No match found

Test my regular expression here and it matches:

http://regexpal.com/?flags=g&regex=(browse%2F)(.*)(%5C%22%3E)&input=%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2FMYURL%2Fbrowse%2FTEST-53%22%3EFOO.BAR%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E

Solution

You need to do this first

matcher.find()

Trigger actual search This is usually the case:

Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("(browse/)(.*)(\">)");
Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(match);
if (matcher.find()) 
    return matcher.group(1);

You might want to use a different regular expression:

Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("browse/([^<>\"]*)\">");

It will be safer and more effective (and provide the correct value in Group No. 1)