title: Search ArrayList for certain character in string
body: <p><em>What is the correct syntax for searching an <code>ArrayList</code> of strings for a single character?  I want to check each string in the array for a single character.
  Ultimately I want to perform multiple search and replaces on all strings in an array based on the presence of a single character in the string.
  I have reviewed java-examples.com and java docs as well as several methods of searching ArrayLists.  None of them do quite what I need.
  P.S. Any pointers on using some sort of file library to perform multiple search and replaces would be great.</em></p>
  
  <p><strong>--- Edit ---</strong></p>
  
  <p>As per MightyPork's recommendations <code>arraylist</code> revised to use simple <code>string</code> type.  This also made it compatible with hoosssein's solution which is included.</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <pre><code>public void ArrayInput() {
      String FileName;                            // set file variable
      FileName = fileName.getText();              // get file name
  
      ArrayList&lt;String&gt; fileContents = new ArrayList&lt;String&gt;();       // create arraylist
  
      try {
          BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(FileName)); // create reader
          String line = null;
  
          while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
              if(line.length() &gt; 0) {                         // don't include blank lines
                  line = line.trim();                         // remove whitespaces
                  fileContents.add(line);                     // add to array
              }
          }
  
          for (String row : fileContents) {
              System.out.println(row);        // print array to cmd
          }
  
          String oldstr;
          String newstr;
  
          oldstr = "}";
          newstr = "!!!!!";
  
          for(int i = 0; i &lt; fileContents.size(); i++) {
              if(fileContents.contains(oldstr)) {
                  fileContents.set(i, fileContents.get(i).replace(oldstr, newstr));
              }
          }   
  
          for (String row : fileContents) {
              System.out.println(row);        // print array to cmd
          }
                                  // close file
      }
  
      catch (IOException ex) {    // E.H. for try
          JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "File not found.  Check name and directory.");
      }           
  }
  </code></pre>