Split string on multiple white space not on single space?

I am reading text from a text file and saving it to the database. The data is sorted like a imaginary table with columns. I need to split each line with multiple white space, I tried this code

String[] arrayofStr = line.split("\\s+");

It splits the string with every white space, And one more issue to solve is, I will paste the lines of text in the text file.

P11570		24311VG10281-01		1			011441-X		SPL-01		1.1		7430030711		FAB		2		0.4 M		PIPE			5		938		2448		1465		2448		PIPE, SMLS, BE, 80, ASTM A106 GR.B,SOUR SERVICE		LC1-N		2"-VG-10281-011441-X-N

P11570		24311VG10281-01		1			011441-X		SPL-01		1.1		7430030711		FAB		2		0.4 M		PIPE			2		938		2448		1465		2448		PIPE, SMLS, BE, 80, ASTM A106 GR.B,SOUR SERVICE		LC1-N		2"-VG-10281-011441-X-N

P11570		24311VG10281-01		1			011441-X					1.1		8543603141		EREC	5/8		2			BOLTS																PIPE, SMLS, BE, 80, ASTM A106 GR.B,SOUR SERVICE		LC1-N		2"-VG-10281-011441-X-N

For more clarity i will add a screen shot too.

> In the first line I need to read the text Pipe,Smls, be etc as single string and in the 5th and 6th line there appear blank spaces where as the previous line have data in that position, I need to insert null data for that position in the database.

Here is an example of what I was talking about.

• You need to ensure that your tabs are converted to spaces while preserving the column locations.
• Because tabs and spaces are intermixed, the easiest solution is to eye the column starts and manually enter them into an array. If you make a guide as shown below this is trivial to do.
• Then just read in the lines and split them using the column locations.
• The "data" is followed by the column number, or if grouped in the same column, the number and a letter.

String[] data = {
//	           1111111111222222222233333333334444444444555555555566666666667777777777 
//	 01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789
"Data1  Data2      Data3   Data4   Data5a  Data5b  Data5c  Data6 Data7     Data8", 
"Data1  Data2      Data3   Data4   Data5a  Data5b  Data5c  Data6 Data7          ", 
"Data1  Data2      Data3                                   Data6 Data7     Data8", 
"Data1  Data2              Data4   Data5a  Data5b  Data5c  Data6 Data7     Data8",
};
// last entry is string length of the line
int[] columnStarts = { 0, 7, 18, 26, 34, 58, 64, 74, 79};
for (String line : data) {
int columnNumber = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < columnStarts.length - 1; i++) {
System.out.printf("%3d : %3d  -- '%s'%n",
(columnNumber + 1),
columnStarts[columnNumber],
line.substring(columnStarts[i],
columnStarts[i + 1]).trim());
columnNumber++;
}
System.out.println();
}

Prints

  1 :   0  -- 'Data1'
2 :   7  -- 'Data2'
3 :  18  -- 'Data3'
4 :  26  -- 'Data4'
5 :  34  -- 'Data5a  Data5b  Data5c'
6 :  58  -- 'Data6'
7 :  64  -- 'Data7'
8 :  74  -- 'Data8'
1 :   0  -- 'Data1'
2 :   7  -- 'Data2'
3 :  18  -- 'Data3'
4 :  26  -- 'Data4'
5 :  34  -- 'Data5a  Data5b  Data5c'
6 :  58  -- 'Data6'
7 :  64  -- 'Data7'
8 :  74  -- ''
1 :   0  -- 'Data1'
2 :   7  -- 'Data2'
3 :  18  -- 'Data3'
4 :  26  -- ''
5 :  34  -- ''
6 :  58  -- 'Data6'
7 :  64  -- 'Data7'
8 :  74  -- 'Data8'
1 :   0  -- 'Data1'
2 :   7  -- 'Data2'
3 :  18  -- ''
4 :  26  -- 'Data4'
5 :  34  -- 'Data5a  Data5b  Data5c'
6 :  58  -- 'Data6'
7 :  64  -- 'Data7'
8 :  74  -- 'Data8'

Note that the Data is trimmed and printed to show just the data portion of the column. Without the white space trimming, the data would show trailing white space for each column.

The above should be enough for you to store the information in an array or list and modify it based on column number.