Unspace (String function)
Remove whitespace characters from the string (String class)
The Unspace intrinsic function removes the whitespace characters from the method object string and it returns the resulting string. Options are available to:
- Define which character or characters are to be interpreted as whitespace
- Remove leading whitespace, trailing whitespace, both or neither;
- Collapse to a single whitespace character any sequences of non-leading, non-trailing whitespace
Syntax
%outString = string:Unspace[( [Spaces= string], [Leading= boolean], - [Trailing= boolean], [Compress= boolean])]
Syntax terms
| %outString | A variable to receive the string result of the Unspace method. |
|---|---|
| string | The input method object string |
| Spaces | Spaces is an optional, but name required, parameter, which is a string that specifies the set of characters considered to be whitespace. The default set is the blank space (' ') character. If you specify multiple Spaces characters:
|
| Leading | Leading is an optional, but Name-Required, parameter, which is a "Boolean Enumeration" value that specifies whether to strip all leading whitespace characters. The default is True, strip leading whitespace. |
| Trailing | Trailing is an optional, but Name-Required, parameter, which is a "Boolean Enumeration" value that specifies whether to strip all trailing whitespace characters. The default is True, strip trailing whitespace. |
| Compress | Compress is an optional, but Name-Required, parameter, which is a "Boolean Enumeration" value that specifies whether to collapse sequences of spaces to single spaces. The default is True, collapse such sequences. |
Usage notes
- Duplicate Spaces characters are tolerated and do not affect the result.
- Prior to Sirius Mods Version 7.8, Unspace compressed a string consisting entirely of whitespace characters to a single whitespace character. As of Version 7.8 (and also in Version 7.7 maintenance), Unspace converts a string of whitespace characters to a null string. The Version 7.8 result of
printText {~} = X{' ':unspace}X
is:
' ':unspace = XX
- Unspace is available as of Sirius Mods Version 7.3.
Examples
- The following are example Unspace statements:
%ls is longstring %ls = ' so me chars ' printText {~} = {%ls:unspace()} printText {~} = {%ls:unspace(Spaces='X ')} printText {~} = {%ls:unspace(leading=false)} printText {~} = {%ls:unspace(trailing=false)} printText {~} = {%ls:unspace(compress=false)}
The results are respectively:
%ls:unspace() = so me chars %ls:unspace(Spaces='X ') = soXmeXchars %ls:unspace(leading=false) = so me chars %ls:unspace(trailing=false) = so me chars %ls:unspace(compress=false) = so me chars