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I have a string of text and want to ensure that it contains at most one single occurrence of a specific character (,). Therefore I want to keep the first one, but simply remove all further occurrences of that character.
How could I do this the most elegant way using C#?
This works, but not the most elegant for sure :-)
string a = "12,34,56,789";
int pos = 1 + a.IndexOf(',');
return a.Substring(0, pos) + a.Substring(pos).Replace(",", string.Empty);
You could use a counter variable and a StringBuilder to create the new string efficiently:
var sb = new StringBuilder(text.Length);
int maxCount = 1;
int currentCount = 0;
char specialChar = ',';
foreach(char c in text)
if(c != specialChar || ++currentCount <= maxCount)
sb.Append(c);
text = sb.ToString();
This approach is not the shortest but it's efficient and you can specify the char-count to keep.
Here's a more "elegant" way using LINQ:
int commasFound = 0; int maxCommas = 1;
text = new string(text.Where(c => c != ',' || ++commasFound <= maxCommas).ToArray());
I don't like it because it requires to modify a variable from a query, so it's causing a side-effect.
Regular expressions are elegant, right?
Regex.Replace("Eats, shoots, and leaves.", #"(?<=,.*),", "");
This replaces every comma, as long as there is a comma before it, with nothing.
(Actually, it's probably not elegant - it may only be one line of code, but it may also be O(n^2)...)
If you don't deal with large strings and you reaaaaaaly like Linq oneliners:
public static string KeepFirstOccurence (this string #string, char #char)
{
var index = #string.IndexOf(#char);
return String.Concat(String.Concat(#string.TakeWhile(x => #string.IndexOf(x) < index + 1)), String.Concat(#string.SkipWhile(x=>#string.IndexOf(x) < index)).Replace(#char.ToString(), ""));
}
You could write a function like the following one that would split the string into two sections based on the location of what you were searching (via the String.Split() method) for and it would only remove matches from the second section (using String.Replace()) :
public static string RemoveAllButFirst(string s, string stuffToRemove)
{
// Check if the stuff to replace exists and if not, return the original string
var locationOfStuff = s.IndexOf(stuffToRemove);
if (locationOfStuff < 0)
{
return s;
}
// Calculate where to pull the first string from and then replace the rest of the string
var splitLocation = locationOfStuff + stuffToRemove.Length;
return s.Substring(0, splitLocation) + (s.Substring(splitLocation)).Replace(stuffToRemove,"");
}
You could simply call it by using :
var output = RemoveAllButFirst(input,",");
A prettier approach might actually involve building an extension method that handled this a bit more cleanly :
public static class StringExtensions
{
public static string RemoveAllButFirst(this string s, string stuffToRemove)
{
// Check if the stuff to replace exists and if not, return the
// original string
var locationOfStuff = s.IndexOf(stuffToRemove);
if (locationOfStuff < 0)
{
return s;
}
// Calculate where to pull the first string from and then replace the rest of the string
var splitLocation = locationOfStuff + stuffToRemove.Length;
return s.Substring(0, splitLocation) + (s.Substring(splitLocation)).Replace(stuffToRemove,"");
}
}
which would be called via :
var output = input.RemoveAllButFirst(",");
You can see a working example of it here.
static string KeepFirstOccurance(this string str, char c)
{
int charposition = str.IndexOf(c);
return str.Substring(0, charposition + 1) +
str.Substring(charposition, str.Length - charposition)
.Replace(c, ' ').Trim();
}
Pretty short with Linq; split string into chars, keep distinct set and join back to a string.
text = string.Join("", text.Select(c => c).Distinct());
string word = "hello";
So what I want to do is slice the string so that I can print, for example, elloh to the console window. In python it's so simple but I'm not sure if there's a specific method for slicing in c#.
A string can be indexed to get characters:
string word = "hello";
char h = word[0];
or strings have methods for "slicing":
int start = 0;
int length = 1;
string h = word.Substring(start, length);
Why not read the docs and find out for yourself?
There's no exact translation from the concept of a slicing, but a Substring is generally what you want.
It is unclear to me what your exact criteria is to slice it up, but this would do what you want:
void Main()
{
var input = "hello";
var output = input.Substring(1, input.Length - 1) + input.Substring(0, 1);
Console.WriteLine (output);
}
To "slice" a string, you use the Substring method:
string word = "hello";
string ordw = word.Substring(1) + word.Substring(0, 1);
However, a different answer would be to check out NSlice, a library built to handle python-like slicing of arrays.
Will it make it easier to do what you asked? No. Will it make it easier to "slice" different kinds of collections? Possibly.
you should use the substring function of string:
word.Substring(1);
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.string.substring(v=vs.110).aspx
Maybe you want an extension method like this:
public static string Rotate(this string s, int numberOfChars)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(s))
return s;
numberOfChars %= s.Length;
if (numberOfChars == 0)
return s;
if (numberOfChars < 0)
numberOfChars += s.Length;
return s.Substring(numberOfChars) + s.Remove(numberOfChars);
}
I need to take a sentence in that is all on one line with no spaces and each new word has a captial letter EX. "StopAndSmellTheRoses" and then convert it to "Stop and smell the roses" This is my function that I have but I keep getting an argument out of range error on the insert method. Thanks for any help in advance.
private void FixSentence()
{
// String to hold our sentence in trim at same time
string sentence = txtSentence.Text.Trim();
// loop through the string
for (int i = 0; i < sentence.Length; i++)
{
if (char.IsUpper(sentence, i) & sentence[i] != 0)
{
// Change to lowercase
char.ToLower(sentence[i]);
// Insert space behind the character
// This is where I get my error
sentence = sentence.Insert(i-1, " ");
}
}
// Show our Fixed Sentence
lblFixed.Text = "";
lblFixed.Text = "Fixed: " + sentence;
}
The best way to build up a String in this manner is to use a StringBuilder instance.
var sentence = txtSentence.Text.Trim();
var builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var cur in sentence) {
if (Char.IsUpper(cur) && builder.Length != 0) {
builder.Append(' ');
}
builder.Append(cur);
}
// Show our Fixed Sentence
lblFixed.Text = "";
lblFixed.Text = "Fixed: " + builder.ToString();
Using the Insert method creates a new string instance every time resulting in a lot of needlessly allocated values. The StringBuilder though won't actually allocate a String until you call the ToString method.
You can't modify the sentence variable in the loop that is going through it.
Instead, you need to have a second string variable that you append all of the found words.
Here is the answer
var finalstr = Regex.Replace(
"StopAndSmellTheRoses",
"(?<=[a-z])(?<x>[A-Z])|(?<=.)(?<x>[A-Z])(?=[a-z])|(?<=[^0-9])(?<x>[0-9])(?=.)",
me => " " + me.Value.ToLower()
);
will output
Stop and smell the roses
Another version:
public static class StringExtensions
{
public static string FixSentence(this string instance)
{
char[] capitals = Enumerable.Range(65, 26).Select(x => (char)x).ToArray();
string[] words = instance.Split(capitals);
string result = string.Join(' ', words);
return char.ToUpper(result[0]) + result.Substring(1).ToLower();
}
}
What's the cleanest way of editing the characters in a string in C#?
What's the C# equivalent of this in C++:
std::string myString = "boom";
myString[0] = "d";
Use a StringBuilder instead.
string is immutable as described by MSDN:
Strings are immutable--the contents of
a string object cannot be changed
after the object is created, although
the syntax makes it appear as if you
can do this.
So you want something like:
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("Bello World!");
sb[0] = 'H';
string str = sb.ToString();
Decided to time what I felt where the two most canonical approaches, plus one I threw in as unrepresented; here's what I found (Release build):
ReplaceAtChars: 86ms
ReplaceAtSubstring: 258ms
ReplaceAtStringBuilder: 161ms
Clearly the Char array approach is by far best optimized by the runtime. Which actually suggests that the current leading answer (StringBuilder) is likely not the best answer.
And here was the test I used:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("ReplaceAtChars: " + new Stopwatch().Time(() => "test".ReplaceAtChars(1, 'E').ReplaceAtChars(3, 'T'), 1000000) + "ms");
Console.WriteLine("ReplaceAtSubstring: " + new Stopwatch().Time(() => "test".ReplaceAtSubstring(1, 'E').ReplaceAtSubstring(3, 'T'), 1000000) + "ms");
Console.WriteLine("ReplaceAtStringBuilder: " + new Stopwatch().Time(() => "test".ReplaceAtStringBuilder(1, 'E').ReplaceAtStringBuilder(3, 'T'), 1000000) + "ms");
}
}
public static class ReplaceAtExtensions
{
public static string ReplaceAtChars(this string source, int index, char replacement)
{
var temp = source.ToCharArray();
temp[index] = replacement;
return new String(temp);
}
public static string ReplaceAtStringBuilder(this string source, int index, char replacement)
{
var sb = new StringBuilder(source);
sb[index] = replacement;
return sb.ToString();
}
public static string ReplaceAtSubstring(this string source, int index, char replacement)
{
return source.Substring(0, index) + replacement + source.Substring(index + 1);
}
}
public static class StopwatchExtensions
{
public static long Time(this Stopwatch sw, Action action, int iterations)
{
sw.Reset();
sw.Start();
for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++)
{
action();
}
sw.Stop();
return sw.ElapsedMilliseconds;
}
}
Strings in .Net are immutable. That means you can't edit them. All you can do is make new ones. You have to do something like this:
string myString = "boom";
myString = "d" + myString.Substring(1);
Strings are immutable, so you can't just change it.
You could get a char[] from the string, make your changes, and make a new string from the altered array.
You could use things like replace, although they don't give you control over the per-char basis as C like. They also will make a new string with every change, where the char[] style allows you to make all changes and then make a new string from it.
You can't since strings are immutable.
You could always roll your own extension method to do something similar:
public static string ReplaceAtIndex(this string original,
int index, char character)
{
char[] temp = original.ToCharArray();
temp[index] = character;
return new String(temp);
}
And call it like:
string newString = myString.ReplaceAtIndex(0, 'd');
As Brian said, use a StringBuilder, instead:
string myString = "boom";
StringBuilder myStringBuilder = new StringBuilder(myString);
myStringBuilder[0] = 'd';
// Whatever else you're going to do to it
Whenever you need the string again, call myStringBuilder.ToString()
string myString = "boom";
char[] arr = myString.ToCharArray();
arr[0] = 'd';
myString = new String(arr);
string myString = "boom";
char[] myChars = myString.ToCharArray();
myChars[0] = 'd';
myString = new String(myChars);
Strings are immutable in C#. Use the StringBuilder class or a character array.
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("boom");
sb[0] = 'd';
IIRC, .NET uses what is called String Pooling. Every time a new string literal is created, it is stored in memory as part of the string pool. If you create a second string that matches a string in the string pool, both variables will reference the same memory.
When you try to do an operation like you did to replace the 'b' character with a 'd' character using strings in .NET, your program is actually creating a second string in the string pool with the value "doom", although from your perspective it does not appear as if this is happening at all. By reading the code, one would assume that the character is being replaced.
I brought this up because I encounter this question all the time, and people often ask why they should be using the StringBuilder when a string can do the same thing. Well technically it can't, but it's designed in a way to appear as if it can.
Here's a fun one I put together. Now, please bear in mind this is not very efficient, especially for simple replacements. However, it was fun to write and lends itself to a fairly readable usage pattern. It also highlights the little known fact that String implements IEnumerable.
public static class LinqToStrings
{
public static IQueryable<char> LinqReplace(this string source, int startIndex, int length, string replacement)
{
var querySource = source.AsQueryable();
return querySource.LinqReplace(startIndex, length, replacement);
}
public static IQueryable<char> LinqReplace(this IQueryable<char> source, int startIndex, int length, string replacement)
{
var querySource = source.AsQueryable();
return querySource.Take(startIndex).Concat(replacement).Concat(querySource.Skip(startIndex + length));
}
public static string AsString(this IQueryable<char> source)
{
return new string(source.ToArray());
}
}
And here's some example usage:
public void test()
{
var test = "test";
Console.WriteLine("Old: " + test);
Console.WriteLine("New: " + test.LinqReplace(0, 4, "SOMEPIG")
.LinqReplace(4, 0, "terrific")
.AsString());
}
Outputs:
Old: test
New: SOMEterrificPIG
Another version of that same approach, which is not so horrifically slow is straightforward using Substring:
public static string ReplaceAt(this string source, int startIndex, int length, string replacement)
{
return source.Substring(0, startIndex) + replacement + source.Substring(startIndex + length);
}
And in a wonderful example of why you should profile your code, and why you probably should not use my LinqToStrings implementation in production code, here's a timing test:
Console.WriteLine("Using LinqToStrings: " + new Stopwatch().Time(() => "test".LinqReplace(0, 4, "SOMEPIG").LinqReplace(4, 0, "terrific").AsString(), 1000));
Console.WriteLine("Using Substrings: " + new Stopwatch().Time(() => "test".ReplaceAt(0, 4, "SOMEPIG").ReplaceAt(4, 0, "terrific"), 1000));
Which measures timer ticks in 1,000 iterations, producing this output:
Using LinqToStrings: 3,818,953
Using Substrings: 1,157
Try using string.replace
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fk49wtc1.aspx
Probably your cleanest, easiest way.
I want to replace the first occurrence in a given string.
How can I accomplish this in .NET?
string ReplaceFirst(string text, string search, string replace)
{
int pos = text.IndexOf(search);
if (pos < 0)
{
return text;
}
return text.Substring(0, pos) + replace + text.Substring(pos + search.Length);
}
Example:
string str = "The brown brown fox jumps over the lazy dog";
str = ReplaceFirst(str, "brown", "quick");
EDIT: As #itsmatt mentioned, there's also Regex.Replace(String, String, Int32), which can do the same, but is probably more expensive at runtime, since it's utilizing a full featured parser where my method does one find and three string concatenations.
EDIT2: If this is a common task, you might want to make the method an extension method:
public static class StringExtension
{
public static string ReplaceFirst(this string text, string search, string replace)
{
// ...same as above...
}
}
Using the above example it's now possible to write:
str = str.ReplaceFirst("brown", "quick");
As itsmatt said Regex.Replace is a good choice for this however to make his answer more complete I will fill it in with a code sample:
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
...
Regex regex = new Regex("foo");
string result = regex.Replace("foo1 foo2 foo3 foo4", "bar", 1);
// result = "bar1 foo2 foo3 foo4"
The third parameter, set to 1 in this case, is the number of occurrences of the regex pattern that you want to replace in the input string from the beginning of the string.
I was hoping this could be done with a static Regex.Replace overload but unfortunately it appears you need a Regex instance to accomplish it.
Take a look at Regex.Replace.
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
RegEx MyRegEx = new RegEx("F");
string result = MyRegex.Replace(InputString, "R", 1);
will find first F in InputString and replace it with R.
Taking the "first only" into account, perhaps:
int index = input.IndexOf("AA");
if (index >= 0) output = input.Substring(0, index) + "XQ" +
input.Substring(index + 2);
?
Or more generally:
public static string ReplaceFirstInstance(this string source,
string find, string replace)
{
int index = source.IndexOf(find);
return index < 0 ? source : source.Substring(0, index) + replace +
source.Substring(index + find.Length);
}
Then:
string output = input.ReplaceFirstInstance("AA", "XQ");
C# extension method that will do this:
public static class StringExt
{
public static string ReplaceFirstOccurrence(this string s, string oldValue, string newValue)
{
int i = s.IndexOf(oldValue);
return s.Remove(i, oldValue.Length).Insert(i, newValue);
}
}
In C# syntax:
int loc = original.IndexOf(oldValue);
if( loc < 0 ) {
return original;
}
return original.Remove(loc, oldValue.Length).Insert(loc, newValue);
Assumes that AA only needs to be replaced if it is at the very start of the string:
var newString;
if(myString.StartsWith("AA"))
{
newString ="XQ" + myString.Substring(2);
}
If you need to replace the first occurrence of AA, whether the string starts with it or not, go with the solution from Marc.
And because there is also VB.NET to consider, I would like to offer up:
Private Function ReplaceFirst(ByVal text As String, ByVal search As String, ByVal replace As String) As String
Dim pos As Integer = text.IndexOf(search)
If pos >= 0 Then
Return text.Substring(0, pos) + replace + text.Substring(pos + search.Length)
End If
Return text
End Function
One of the overloads of Regex.Replace takes an int for "The maximum number of times the replacement can occur". Obviously, using Regex.Replace for plain text replacement may seem like overkill, but it's certainly concise:
string output = (new Regex("AA")).Replace(input, "XQ", 1);
For anyone that doesn't mind a reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic, there is the Replace Method:
string result = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Strings.Replace("111", "1", "0", 2, 1); // "101"
This example abstracts away the substrings (but is slower), but is probably much fast than a RegEx:
var parts = contents.ToString().Split(new string[] { "needle" }, 2, StringSplitOptions.None);
return parts[0] + "replacement" + parts[1];
Updated extension method utilizing Span to minimize new string creation
public static string ReplaceFirstOccurrence(this string source, string search, string replace) {
int index = source.IndexOf(search);
if (index < 0) return source;
var sourceSpan = source.AsSpan();
return string.Concat(sourceSpan.Slice(0, index), replace, sourceSpan.Slice(index + search.Length));
}
With ranges and C# 10 we can do:
public static string ReplaceFirst(this string text, string search, string replace)
{
int pos = text.IndexOf(search, StringComparison.Ordinal);
return pos < 0 ? text : string.Concat(text[..pos], replace, text.AsSpan(pos + search.Length));
}
string abc = "AAAAX1";
if(abc.IndexOf("AA") == 0)
{
abc.Remove(0, 2);
abc = "XQ" + abc;
}