RemoveExtraSpace ( field )

Changes multiple spaces into a single space

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Michael Alexander - Show more from this author
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Sample input:

The quick brown fox

Sample output:

The quick brown fox

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

If (PatternCount(field; "  ") = 0; field; RemoveSpaceSpace(Substitute(field; "  "; " ")))

Clean up input from users, making sure words in a string are separated by exactly one space.

Comments

		Henry Iriawan, HYBAN Feb 9, 2010
Thank you for the custom function. However, to make this running, the content of CF would be: If (PatternCount(field; " ") = 0; field; RemoveExtraSpace(Substitute(field; " "; " "))) your CF content can work well if you have rename CF to be "RemoveSpaceSpace (field)"

		CouchCoder, Germany May 30, 2014
Sorry to say this is complete mess, even with Henry's correction. Given that this CF is called RemoveExtraSpace, the code should be: If ( PatternCount ( field ; " " ) = 0 ; field ; RemoveExtraSpace ( Substitute ( field ; " " ; " " ) ; " " ) ) I would also recommend to replace the parameter 'field' with 'text' which is more clear: RemoveExtraSpace ( text ) If ( PatternCount ( text ; " " ) = 0 ; text ; RemoveExtraSpace ( Substitute ( text ; " " ; " " ) ; " " ) )

		CouchCoder, Germany May 30, 2014
The mess continues, because double spaces are stripped in discussion posts. Replace [Space] by spaces to get it right: RemoveExtraSpace ( text ) If ( PatternCount ( text ; "[Space][Space]" ) = 0 ; text ; RemoveExtraSpace ( Substitute ( text ; "[Space][Space]" ; "[Space]" ) ; "[Space]" ) )

		Jens Rasmussen, Greve, Denmark Jan 21, 2016
This one worked for me, using _ as the space char. -- Case ( PatternCount ( text ; "__" ) ; RemoveExtraSpace ( Substitute ( text ; "__" ; "_" ) ) ; text ) -- I prefer Case over If, and I like the defaultResult to be the case when there are no counts of the pattern of double space. Positive logic, in other words. If the text is faulty, fix it, otherwise let it be.

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