I need to have a number formatted with certain leading characters. Ideally the code will be obvious so that it can be easily maintained. For example, if you have a number, say an integer of 42 or a currency amount of $1234.56, for example, output the following formats:
FOO.....42 A customer specified ID number format with leading periods.
$ xxxxxxx42 Format for dollar amounts with leading x's.
$ ~~~~1,234.56 Format for printing checks with leading tilde.
This question came about while I was refactoring some ugly Regex code, and I wanted to make it easier for others to modify and maintain.
You may be interested in the PadLeft method, which pads the left part of any string with a number of characters so that the overall string length is equal to the specified length. Obviously it doesn't do anything if the string is already greater than or equal to the specified length.
The following method takes in a string, a prefix, and a character to use as padding between the prefix and the string. It does some initial validation to change null strings to empty strings and to check the string length against the desired length, and then it uses PadLeft to pad the string with the specified character:
private static string PrefixAndPad(string text, string prefix, char padChar, int length)
{
text = text ?? "";
prefix = prefix ?? "";
if (text.Length >= length) return text;
if (prefix.Length + text.Length >= length) return prefix + text;
return prefix + text.PadLeft(length - prefix.Length, padChar);
}
You could then use it like:
private static void Main()
{
// Our input strings, which are numbers converted to strins
string str1 = 42.ToString();
// The following line formats as currency ("c") then removes the currency symbol
string str2 = 1234.56.ToString("c").Replace("$", "");
Console.WriteLine(PrefixAndPad(str1, "FOO", '.', 10));
Console.WriteLine(PrefixAndPad(str1, "$ ", 'x', 11));
Console.WriteLine(PrefixAndPad(str2, "$ ", '~', 14));
Console.Write("\nDone!\nPress any key to exit...");
Console.ReadKey();
}
Output
The following string formatting should be easily understood and maintained. Use the {0,n} string format for n leading spaces, and then .Replace() to modify the string after that.
var n = 1234;
var c = "FOO";
var d = 1234.56;
var s = string.Format("{0}{1,8}", c, n); // The ",8" denotes up to 8 leading spaces.
Console.WriteLine(s);
s = string.Format("{0}{1,8}", c, n)
.Replace(' ', '.'); // Change leading space to period.
Console.WriteLine(s);
s = string.Format("$_{0,8}", n) // Up to 8 leading spaces.
.Replace(' ', 'x') // Replace spaces with 'x'.
.Replace('_', ' '); // Replace the leading underscore with space.
Console.WriteLine(s);
s = string.Format("$_{0,12:#,#.##}", d) // Decimal format with leading spaces.
.Replace(' ', '~') // Replace spaces with '~'
.Replace('_', ' '); // Replace the leading underscore with space.
Console.WriteLine(s);
Output:
FOO 1234
FOO....1234
$ xxxx1234
$ ~~~~1,234.56
Related
I want to remove all characters after the fourth space in a string.
Example:
Source: AAD BCCD QWD SDKE DJQWEK DJT
Result: AAD BCCD QWD SDKE
I tried to use 'String.indexof'. but, I couldn't.
Here is my code:
Result = source.Substring(source.IndexOf(string.Empty, source.IndexOf(string.Empty) + 3));
You could try this:
string result = string.Join(" ", source.Split(' ').Take(4));
This splits the original source string at each space character, takes the first 4 occurrences and concatenates them with a space character.
It will also work correctly in cases where there are less than 4 counts of spaces in the source string.
Maybe try this (if it's still actuall of course):
string Source = "AAD BCCD QWD SDKE DJQWEK DJT"
int space = GetNthIndex(Source, ' ', 4);
string result = sample.Substring(0, space);
You can make a loop with a counter and check each character. Pseudocode:
counter = 0;
foreach(character in string)
if(counter > 4)
exit;
else if(character == space)
counter++;
output character
else
output character
how can I get a substring of everything before dot or comma?
For example:
string input = "2.1";
int charLocation = text.IndexOf(".", StringComparison.Ordinal);
string test = input.Substring(0, charLocation );
but what if I have an input = "2,1" ?
I would like to do it in one method, not using twice a substring (once for dot and once for comma)?
string test = input.Split(new Char[] { ',', '.' })[0];
This will split the string for either comma or period...
input.Split(',','.');
Use the IndexOfAny function. It allows you to specify a list of characters to look for, rather than just a single character. You could then make a substring up to the return value of that function.
e.g.
char[] chars = { '.', ',' }
String out = s.Substring(0,s.IndexOfAny(chars));
I've found many references to do similar to this but none seem to be exactly what I'm after, so hoping someone could help.
In simple terms, I want to take a string entered by a user (into a Winform input), and firstly strip out any blanks, then replace any of a list of 'illegal' characters with the UK currency symbol (£). The requirement is for the input to be used but the file that is generated by the process has the modified filename.
I wrote a function (based on an extension method) but it's not working quite as expected:
public static class ExtensionMethods
{
public static string Replace(this string s, char[] separators, string newVal)
{
var temp = s.Split(separators, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
return String.Join(newVal, temp);
}
}
public static string RemoveUnwantedChars(string enteredName, char[] unwanted, string rChar)
{
return enteredName.Replace(unwanted, rChar);
}
Which in my code, I've called twice:
char[] blank = { ' ' };
string ename = Utilities.RemoveUnwantedChars(this.txtTableName.Text, blank, string.Empty);
char[] unwanted = { '(', ')', '.', '%', '/', '&', '+' };
string fname = Utilities.RemoveUnwantedChars(ename, unwanted, "£");
If I enter a string that contains at least one space, all of the characters above and some other letters (for example, " (GH) F16.5% M X/Y&1+1"), I get the following results:
ename = "(GH)F16.5%MX/Y&1+1" - this is correct in that it has removed the blanks.
fname = "GH£F16£5£MX£Y£1£1" - this hasn't worked correctly in that it has not replaced the first character but removed it.
The rest of the characters have been correctly replaced. It only occurs when one of the 'illegal' characters is at the start of the string - if my string was "G(H) F16.5% M X/Y&1+1", I would correctly get "G£H£F16£5£MX£Y£1£1". It also replaces multiple 'illegal' characters with one '£', so "M()GX+.1" would become "M£GX£1" but should be "M££GX££1".
I think the problem is in your Replace extension. You are splitting in this line
var temp = s.Split(separators, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
You are removing empty entries causing the unexpected result. Use this instead:
var temp = s.Split(separators, StringSplitOptions.None);
The problem is occuring because string.Join() only puts separators between substrings - it will never put one at the start.
One possible solution is to avoid using string.Join() and write Replace() like this instead:
public static class ExtensionMethods
{
public static string Replace(this string s, char[] separators, string newVal)
{
var sb = new StringBuilder(s);
foreach (char ch in separators)
{
string target = new string(ch, 1);
sb.Replace(target, newVal);
}
return sb.ToString();
}
}
When you use split method in your Replace function you get following strings:
GH, F16, 5, MX, Y, 1, 1.
When you join them with your newVal you get:
GH + newVal + F16 + newVal + ... thus omitting first replaced character.
You would probably need some special case to check if first char is "illegal" and put newVal at start of your string.
Quick little question...
I need to count the length of a string, but WITHOUT the spaces inside of it.
E.g. for a string like "I am Bob", string.Length would return 8 (6 letters + 2 spaces).
I need a method, or something, to give me the length (or number of) just the letters (6 in the case of "I am Bob")
I have tried the following
s.Replace (" ", "");
s.Replace (" ", null);
s.Replace (" ", string.empty);
to try and get "IamBob", which I did, but it didn't solve my problem because it still counted "" as a character.
Any help?
This returns the number of non-whitespace characters:
"I am Bob".Count(c => !Char.IsWhiteSpace(c));
Demo
Char.IsWhiteSpace:
White space characters are the following Unicode characters:
Members of the SpaceSeparator category, which includes the characters SPACE (U+0020), OGHAM SPACE MARK (U+1680), MONGOLIAN VOWEL SEPARATOR (U+180E), EN QUAD (U+2000), EM QUAD (U+2001), EN SPACE (U+2002), EM SPACE (U+2003), THREE-PER-EM SPACE (U+2004), FOUR-PER-EM SPACE (U+2005), SIX-PER-EM SPACE (U+2006), FIGURE SPACE (U+2007), PUNCTUATION SPACE (U+2008), THIN SPACE (U+2009), HAIR SPACE (U+200A), NARROW NO-BREAK SPACE (U+202F), MEDIUM MATHEMATICAL SPACE (U+205F), and IDEOGRAPHIC SPACE (U+3000).
Members of the LineSeparator category, which consists solely of the LINE SEPARATOR character (U+2028).
Members of the ParagraphSeparator category, which consists solely of the PARAGRAPH SEPARATOR character (U+2029).
The characters CHARACTER TABULATION (U+0009), LINE FEED (U+000A), LINE TABULATION (U+000B), FORM FEED (U+000C), CARRIAGE RETURN (U+000D), NEXT LINE (U+0085), and NO-BREAK SPACE (U+00A0).
No. It doesn't.
string s = "I am Bob";
Console.WriteLine(s.Replace(" ", "").Length); // 6
Console.WriteLine(s.Replace(" ", null).Length); //6
Console.WriteLine(s.Replace(" ", string.Empty).Length); //6
Here is a DEMO.
But what are whitespace characters?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitespace_character
You probably forgot to reassign the result of Replace. Try this:
string s = "I am bob";
Console.WriteLine(s.Length); // 8
s = s.Replace(" ", "");
Console.WriteLine(s.Length); // 6
A pretty simple way is to write an extension method that will do just that- count the characters without the white spaces. Here's the code:
public static class MyExtension
{
public static int CharCountWithoutSpaces(this string str)
{
string[] arr = str.Split(' ');
string allChars = "";
foreach (string s in arr)
{
allChars += s;
}
int length = allChars.Length;
return length;
}
}
To execute, simply call the method on the string:
string yourString = "I am Bob";
int count = yourString.CharCountWithoutSpaces();
Console.WriteLine(count); //=6
Alternatively, you can split the string an way you want if you don't want to include say, periods or commas:
string[] arr = str.Split('.');
or:
string[] arr = str.Split(',');
this is fastest way:
var spaceCount = 0;
for (var i 0; i < #string.Lenght; i++)
{
if (#string[i]==" ") spaceCount++;
}
var res = #string.Lenght-spaceCount;
Your problem is probably related to Replace() method not actually changing the string, rather returning the replaced value;
string withSpaces = "I am Bob";
string withoutSpaces = withSpaces.Replace(" ","");
Console.WriteLine(withSpaces);
Console.WriteLine(withoutSpaces);
Console.WriteLine(withSpaces.Length);
Console.WriteLine(withoutSpaces.Length);
//output
//I am Bob
//IamBob
//8
//6
You can use a combination of Length and Count functions on the string object. Here is a simple example.
string sText = "This is great text";
int nSpaces = sText.Length - sText.Count(Char.IsWhiteSpace);
This will count single or multiple (consistent) spaces accurately.
Hope it helps.
How do I replace \n with empty space?
I get an empty literal error if I do this:
string temp = mystring.Replace('\n', '');
String.Replace('\n', '') doesn't work because '' is not a valid character literal.
If you use the String.Replace(string, string) override, it should work.
string temp = mystring.Replace("\n", "");
As replacing "\n" with "" doesn't give you the result that you want, that means that what you should replace is actually not "\n", but some other character combination.
One possibility is that what you should replace is the "\r\n" character combination, which is the newline code in a Windows system. If you replace only the "\n" (line feed) character it will leave the "\r" (carriage return) character, which still may be interpreted as a line break, depending on how you display the string.
If the source of the string is system specific you should use that specific string, otherwise you should use Environment.NewLine to get the newline character combination for the current system.
string temp = mystring.Replace("\r\n", string.Empty);
or:
string temp = mystring.Replace(Environment.NewLine, string.Empty);
This should work.
string temp = mystring.Replace("\n", "");
Are you sure there are actual \n new lines in your original string?
string temp = mystring.Replace("\n", string.Empty).Replace("\r", string.Empty);
Obviously, this removes both '\n' and '\r' and is as simple as I know how to do it.
If you use
string temp = mystring.Replace("\r\n", "").Replace("\n", "");
then you won't have to worry about where your string is coming from.
One caveat: in .NET the linefeed is "\r\n". So if you're loading your text from a file, you might have to use that instead of just "\n"
edit> as samuel pointed out in the comments, "\r\n" is not .NET specific, but is windows specific.
What about creating an Extension Method like this....
public static string ReplaceTHAT(this string s)
{
return s.Replace("\n\r", "");
}
And then when you want to replace that wherever you want you can do this.
s.ReplaceTHAT();
Best Regards!
Here is your exact answer...
const char LineFeed = '\n'; // #10
string temp = new System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex(
LineFeed
).Replace(mystring, string.Empty);
But this one is much better... Specially if you are trying to split the lines (you may also use it with Split)
const char CarriageReturn = '\r'; // #13
const char LineFeed = '\n'; // #10
string temp = new System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex(
string.Format("{0}?{1}", CarriageReturn, LineFeed)
).Replace(mystring, string.Empty);
string temp = mystring.Replace("\n", " ");
#gnomixa - What do you mean in your comment about not achieving anything? The following works for me in VS2005.
If your goal is to remove the newline characters, thereby shortening the string, look at this:
string originalStringWithNewline = "12\n345"; // length is 6
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(originalStringWithNewline.Length == 6);
string newStringWithoutNewline = originalStringWithNewline.Replace("\n", ""); // new length is 5
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(newStringWithoutNewline.Length == 5);
If your goal is to replace the newline characters with a space character, leaving the string length the same, look at this example:
string originalStringWithNewline = "12\n345"; // length is 6
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(originalStringWithNewline.Length == 6);
string newStringWithoutNewline = originalStringWithNewline.Replace("\n", " "); // new length is still 6
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(newStringWithoutNewline.Length == 6);
And you have to replace single-character strings instead of characters because '' is not a valid character to be passed to Replace(string,char)
I know this is an old post but I'd like to add my method.
public static string Replace(string text, string[] toReplace, string replaceWith)
{
foreach (string str in toReplace)
text = text.Replace(str, replaceWith);
return text;
}
Example usage:
string newText = Replace("This is an \r\n \n an example.", new string[] { "\r\n", "\n" }, "");
Found on Bytes.com:
string temp = mystring.Replace('\n', '\0');// '\0' represents an empty char