How can I remove a character from a string using Javascript?
How can I remove a character from a string using Javascript?
Question
I am so close to getting this, but it just isn't right.
All I would like to do is remove the character r from a string.
The problem is, there is more than one instance of r in the string.
However, it is always the character at index 4 (so the 5th character).
example string: crt/r2002_2
What I want: crt/2002_2
This replace function removes both r
mystring.replace(/r/g, '')
Produces: ct/2002_2
I tried this function:
String.prototype.replaceAt = function (index, char) {
return this.substr(0, index) + char + this.substr(index + char.length);
}
mystring.replaceAt(4, '')
It only works if I replace it with another character. It will not simply remove it.
Any thoughts?
Popular Answer
var mystring = "crt/r2002_2";
mystring = mystring.replace('/r','/');
will replace /r with / using String.prototype.replace.
Alternatively you could use regex with a global flag (as suggested by Erik Reppen & Sagar Gala, below) to replace all occurrences with
mystring = mystring.replace(/\/r/g, '/');
EDIT: Since everyone's having so much fun here and user1293504 doesn't seem to be coming back any time soon to answer clarifying questions, here's a method to remove the Nth character from a string:
String.prototype.removeCharAt = function (i) {
var tmp = this.split(''); // convert to an array
tmp.splice(i - 1 , 1); // remove 1 element from the array (adjusting for non-zero-indexed counts)
return tmp.join(''); // reconstruct the string
}
console.log("crt/r2002_2".removeCharAt(4));
Since user1293504 used the normal count instead of a zero-indexed count, we've got to remove 1 from the index, if you wish to use this to replicate how charAt works do not subtract 1 from the index on the 3rd line and use tmp.splice(i, 1) instead.
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A simple functional javascript way would be
mystring = mystring.split('/r').join('/')
simple, fast, it replace globally and no need for functions or prototypes
There's always the string functions, if you know you're always going to remove the fourth character:
str.slice(0, 4) + str.slice(5, str.length))
Your first func is almost right. Just remove the 'g' flag which stands for 'global' (edit) and give it some context to spot the second 'r'.
Edit: didn't see it was the second 'r' before so added the '/'. Needs \/ to escape the '/' when using a regEx arg. Thanks for the upvotes but I was wrong so I'll fix and add more detail for people interested in understanding the basics of regEx better but this would work:
mystring.replace(/\/r/, '/')
Now for the excessive explanation:
When reading/writing a regEx pattern think in terms of: <a character or set of charcters> followed by <a character or set of charcters> followed by <...
In regEx <a character or set of charcters> could be one at a time:
/each char in this pattern/
So read as e, followed by a, followed by c, etc...
Or a single <a character or set of charcters> could be characters described by a character class:
/[123!y]/
//any one of these
/[^123!y]/
//anything but one of the chars following '^' (very useful/performance enhancing btw)
Or expanded on to match a quantity of characters (but still best to think of as a single element in terms of the sequential pattern):
/a{2}/
//precisely two 'a' chars - matches identically as /aa/ would
/[aA]{1,3}/
//1-3 matches of 'a' or 'A'
/[a-zA-Z]+/
//one or more matches of any letter in the alphabet upper and lower
//'-' denotes a sequence in a character class
/[0-9]*/
//0 to any number of matches of any decimal character (/\d*/ would also work)
So smoosh a bunch together:
var rePattern = /[aA]{4,8}(Eat at Joes|Joes all you can eat)[0-5]+/g
var joesStr = 'aaaAAAaaEat at Joes123454321 or maybe aAaAJoes all you can eat098765';
joesStr.match(rePattern);
//returns ["aaaAAAaaEat at Joes123454321", "aAaAJoes all you can eat0"]
//without the 'g' after the closing '/' it would just stop at the first match and return:
//["aaaAAAaaEat at Joes123454321"]
And of course I've over-elaborated but my point was simply that this:
/cat/
is a series of 3 pattern elements (a thing followed by a thing followed by a thing).
And so is this:
/[aA]{4,8}(Eat at Joes|Joes all you can eat)[0-5]+/
As wacky as regEx starts to look, it all breaks down to series of things (potentially multi-character things) following each other sequentially. Kind of a basic point but one that took me a while to get past so I've gone overboard explaining it here as I think it's one that would help the OP and others new to regEx understand what's going on. The key to reading/writing regEx is breaking it down into those pieces.
For global replacement of '/r', this code worked for me.
mystring = mystring.replace(/\/r/g,'');
Just fix your replaceAt:
String.prototype.replaceAt = function(index, charcount) {
return this.substr(0, index) + this.substr(index + charcount);
}
mystring.replaceAt(4, 1);
I'd call it removeAt instead. :)