topic Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function in Discussions

Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

anne_sa — Mon, 02 May 2016 15:49:53 GMT

Hello everyone,

I would like to know if it is possible to use a string with several characters as a delimiter for the Words function.

Here is a dummy example:

When I type :

words("Test1eeTest2","ee")

I would like to get:

{"Test1","Test2"}

Instead of:

{"T”,”st1","T”,”st2"}

Is there a way to get that?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

Craige_Hales — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 02:33:31 GMT

You could use regex to change the ee to another single character. If you think @ does not occur in the data,

words(regex("Test1eeTest2eeTest3eeTest4","ee","@",GLOBALREPLACE),"@")

{"Test1", "Test2", "Test3", "Test4"}

If you are not sure about @ but are pretty sure the ASCII Unit Separator character does not occur, you could use

words(regex("Test1eeTest2","ee","\!U001F",GLOBALREPLACE),"\!U001F")

The Unit Separator is unlikely to be in your data:

the US is really a single character in spite of appearances. Your font may show it differently, or not at all.

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

anne_sa — Mon, 02 May 2016 17:32:30 GMT

That's work perfectly !

Thank you so much for your fast answer Craige@JMP.

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

Jeff_Perkinson — Mon, 02 May 2016 18:00:44 GMT

Craige@JMP beat me to the punch with the general technique, but I'll put a plug in for the Substitute() function which I find more readable than the regular expressions. It's up to you which you choose to use.

words(substitute("Test1eeTest2", "ee", "!"),"!")
/*:
{"Test1", "Test2"}

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

pmroz — Mon, 02 May 2016 18:09:59 GMT

One advantage of regex is you can make it case-insensitive with the IGNORECASE argument.

words(regex("Test1eeTest2eeTest3EETest4","ee","@", IGNORECASE, GLOBALREPLACE),"@");

{"Test1", "Test2", "Test3", "Test4"}

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

Craige_Hales — Mon, 02 May 2016 18:17:47 GMT

Substitute might be a lot better, depending who will maintain the JSL later!

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

anne_sa — Tue, 03 May 2016 07:00:44 GMT

Thanks to all of you for sharing your advices and points of view!

Except the fact that regex can be case-insentitive, could you please tell me what is the difference between the two functions?

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

Craige_Hales — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:06:18 GMT

The two functions barely overlap. Regex only works with text, and can use very complicated patterns. Substitute only works with very simple patterns, and can operate on text, lists, and expressions.

Regular Expressions

Character Functions

JSL Character String Functions

Re: Using several characters as delimiter for the Words function

anne_sa — Tue, 03 May 2016 09:54:41 GMT

Alright thank you for these details Craige@JMP!