Any suggestions on how I can quickly alltrim all non-alpha chars from a

string via either a clever VFP technique, FoxTools FLL function, or

Win32 API call?

My current approach below. But certainly there must be a more efficient

way?

NOTE: I want to preserve embedded non-alpha chars. I just want to remove

leading and trailing non-alpha chars.

<code>

function fulltrim( pcStr )

for lnChar = 1 to len( pcStr )

if isalpha( substr( pcStr, lnChar, 1 ) )

exit

endif

endfor

pcStr = substr( pcStr, lnChar )

for lnChar = len( pcStr ) to 1 step -1

if isalpha( substr( pcStr, lnChar, 1 ) )

exit

endif

endfor

pcStr = left( pcStr, lnChar )

return pcStr

endfunc

</code>

Thanks,

Malcolm

I can't think of anything better than that. However,

? fulltrim(",@#$a&&bc$%^") causes an error

--- Malcolm Greene <profox@bdurham.com> wrote:

> Any suggestions on how I can quickly alltrim all

> non-alpha chars from a

> string via either a clever VFP technique, FoxTools

> FLL function, or

> Win32 API call?

>

> My current approach below. But certainly there must

> be a more efficient

> way?

>

> NOTE: I want to preserve embedded non-alpha chars. I

> just want to remove

> leading and trailing non-alpha chars.

>

> <code>

>

> function fulltrim( pcStr )

> for lnChar = 1 to len( pcStr )

> if isalpha( substr( pcStr, lnChar, 1 ) )

> exit

> endif

> endfor

> pcStr = substr( pcStr, lnChar )

>

> for lnChar = len( pcStr ) to 1 step -1

> if isalpha( substr( pcStr, lnChar, 1 ) )

> exit

> endif

> endfor

> pcStr = left( pcStr, lnChar )

>

> return pcStr

> endfunc

>

> </code>

>

> Thanks,

> Malcolm

>

>

> _______________________________________________

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> ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise,

> are the opinions of the author, and do not

> constitute legal or medical advice. This statement

> is added to the messages for those lawyers who are

> too stupid to see the obvious.

>

On 8/1/05, Malcolm Greene <profox@bdurham.com> wrote:

> Any suggestions on how I can quickly alltrim all non-alpha chars from a

> string via either a clever VFP technique, FoxTools FLL function, or

> Win32 API call?

>

Something like

CHRTRAN(cvar,CHRTRAN(cvar,'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789',""),"")

A+

jml

Michael,

> fulltrim(",@#$a&&bc$%^") causes an error

That's because VFP treats the && as comment char and truncates the

function at that point.

BTW: Sorry to hear the bad news about your job. I'm hoping for the best

for you. Now get cracking on your own software products before that

paycheck dries up!

Malcolm

On Monday 01 August 2005 15:30, Malcolm Greene wrote:

> Any suggestions on how I can quickly alltrim all non-alpha chars from a

> string via either a clever VFP technique, FoxTools FLL function, or

> Win32 API call?

FUNCTION JustAlpha(txt)

goodChars = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" + ;

goodChars = goodChars + LOWER(goodChars)

badChars = CHRTRAN(txt, goodChars, "")

RETURN CHRTRAN(txt, badChars, "")

--

-- Ed Leafe

-- http://leafe.com

-- http://dabodev.com

Jean,

Thanks for the chrtran() idea but I need to preserve embedded non-alpha

chars. In other words I want to remove leading and trailing non-alphas

but keep any non-alphas that are in the middle of the string.

Any other ideas?

Malcolm

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the code but I need to alltrim leading/trailing non-alpha

chars BUT keep any embedded non-alphas in place.

Any other ideas?

Malcolm

Maybe I can market fulltrim() :)

--- Malcolm Greene <profox@bdurham.com> wrote:

> Michael,

>

> > fulltrim(",@#$a&&bc$%^") causes an error

>

> That's because VFP treats the && as comment char and

> truncates the

> function at that point.

>

> BTW: Sorry to hear the bad news about your job. I'm

> hoping for the best

> for you. Now get cracking on your own software

> products before that

> paycheck dries up!

>

> Malcolm

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com

> Subscription Maintenance:

> http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox

> OT-free version of this list:

> http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech

> ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise,

> are the opinions of the author, and do not

> constitute legal or medical advice. This statement

> is added to the messages for those lawyers who are

> too stupid to see the obvious.

>

Malcolm,

If there is a valid number in the mix, ie:

Sfafalea69.6785aervcaer

And all you want is 69.678, then you only need to remove the leading

characters.

Val("69.678adfkjhajkdhf") will return 69.678

No need to remove trailing chars. On the other hand, if you need the

numbers but they are not "valid" numbers, then it's a little trickier.

Also, I would think that your code would need some "Not" statements in

front of the IsAlpha() functions. Or you may want to change those to

IsDigit(). Otherwise, it appears you will exit the loop on the first

characater you find.

The following might do what you want for values that are not true

numbers:

lParamater tcVar

Local lnctr, lcVal

lcVal = ""

For lnCtr = 1 to len( tcVar)

if substr( tcVar, lnCtr) $ "0123456.-+"

lcVal = lcVal + substr( tcVar, lnCtr)

endif

Next

Return lcVal

-----Original Message-----

From: profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com [mailto:profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com]

On Behalf Of Malcolm Greene

Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 12:30 PM

To: profoxtech@leafe.com

Subject: Quickly alltrim non-alpha chars from string

Any suggestions on how I can quickly alltrim all non-alpha chars from a

string via either a clever VFP technique, FoxTools FLL function, or

Win32 API call?

My current approach below. But certainly there must be a more efficient

way?

NOTE: I want to preserve embedded non-alpha chars. I just want to remove

leading and trailing non-alpha chars.

<code>

function fulltrim( pcStr )

for lnChar = 1 to len( pcStr )

if isalpha( substr( pcStr, lnChar, 1 ) )

exit

endif

endfor

pcStr = substr( pcStr, lnChar )

for lnChar = len( pcStr ) to 1 step -1

if isalpha( substr( pcStr, lnChar, 1 ) )

exit

endif

endfor

pcStr = left( pcStr, lnChar )

return pcStr

endfunc

</code>

Thanks,

Malcolm

[excessive quoting removed by server]

> Maybe I can market fulltrim() :)

I drank a lot of Ultratrim ? diet drinks a few years back. If your

fulltrim(tm) tastes better than horse crap then you have a big advantage

over all the other diet drinks I've "enjoyed" ;)

Malcolm