AbbreviateText ( text )

Returns the first letter of each word in a text in upper case, each separated by a period and a space.

Average rating: 4.1 (32 votes) Log in to vote

François Goulet

Sample input:

Ex.1: AbbreviateText ( "Jean-Paul Sartre" )
Ex.2: AbbreviateText ( "Mary Jane Andrews" )

Sample output:

Ex.1: J.-P. S.
Ex.2: M. J. A.

Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/* 

NOTE: This custom function should be used in conjunction with the "AbbreviateTextCustom" c.f. The latter c.f. adds functionality to this c.f.

This recursive custom function (Inspired by Ray Cologon's "Acronym" c.f.) will return the first letter of each word in a text (in upper case), seperated by a period and a space. Please note that hyphonated words such as the name "Jean-Paul Sartre" will return" J.-P. S.". Examples:

AbbrereviateText ( "Paul Wakes" ) will return: P. W.
AbbrereviateText ( "Mary Jane Andrews" ) will return:  M. J. A.
AbbrereviateText ( "Jean" ) will return:  J.
AbbrereviateText ( "Jean-Paul" ) will return:  J.-P.
AbbrereviateText ( "Jean-Paul Sartre" ) will return:  J.-P. S.
AbbrereviateText ( "as soon as possible" ) will return:  A. S. A. P.

*/
Let([

Result=

Let ( [ 


var = Substitute( Trim (text); "-"; " 0 ")

] ; 

If (
WordCount ( var ) > 1;
Upper ( Left ( var; 1)) & ". " & 
AbbreviateText ( RightWords ( var; WordCount( var ) - 1))  ;


Upper ( Left ( var ; 1))  & "."
) 

)

];

Substitute(Result; " 0. " ; "-" )



)

This custom function (Inspired by Ray Cologon's "Acronym" c.f.) will return the first letter of each word in a text (in upper case), seperated by a period and a space. Please note that hyphonated words such as the name "Jean-Paul Sartre" will return" J.-P. S.". Examples:

AbbrereviateText ( "Paul Wakes" ) will return: P. W.
AbbrereviateText ( "Mary Jane Andrews" ) will return: M. J. A.
AbbrereviateText ( "Jean" ) will return: J.
AbbrereviateText ( "Jean-Paul" ) will return: J.-P.
AbbrereviateText ( "Jean-Paul Sartre" ) will return: J.-P. S.
AbbrereviateText ( "as soon as possible" ) will return: A. S. A. P.

Comments

		Bart Bartholomay, Florida Jan 27, 2013
i believe that in this country the hyphen is not used. In most cases a spaceis used, but I've also seen no space, too. You might want to think about a type parameter that could let the user choose.

		FranÃ§ois Goulet, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Jan 28, 2013
Thanks for your comment Bart... When quoting a French author in a paper written either in French or English, I believe one needs to leave hyphens where required (as well as spaces) when using the APA sources reference style (e.g. "Jean-Paul Sartre" would need to be referenced as "SARTRE, J.-P."). Your comment did however prompt me to write a new cf. (that references the AbbreviateFirstName cf.) which will allow the suppression of spaces and/or hyphens that would otherwise be present when using the AbbreviateFirstName cf. alone.

		FranÃ§ois Goulet, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Jan 28, 2013
By the way, the new custom function referred to in my previous post is named "AbbreviateFirstNameCustom"

Note: these functions are not guaranteed or supported by BrianDunning.com. Please contact the individual developer with any questions or problems.

AbbreviateText ( text )

Comments

Support this website.

Support this website.