Javascript Regex - Remove single spaces NOT double spaces

Question

I need to remove singles spaces from a string but not double spaces.

Using regex I've tried this, however it is invalid and I'm not sure how to fix it:

\s+{1,1}

This is what I want to achieve:

Raw string:

"Okay,  let ’s  get  star ted,  Bret t "

After regex replace (keeping the double spacing):

"Okay,  let’s  get  started,  Brett"

Felix Kling · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-10 08:42:29Z

3

Since JavaScript doesn't support lookbehinds, I believe you ~~have to~~ can resort to a callback function:

str = str.replace(/\s+/g, function(m) {
    return m.length === 1 ? '' : m;
});

edited Mar 10, 2014 at 8:42

answered Mar 10, 2014 at 8:32

Felix Kling

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2 Comments

xdazz Over a year ago

+1 for callback solution, i think you missed the g modifier :)

Felix Kling Over a year ago

Indeed I did. Thanks!

xdazz · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-10 08:34:49Z

2

You could use this:

"Okay,  let ’s  get  star ted,  Bret t ".replace(/(\S)\s(\S)/g, '$1$2')

But this will not remove the space at the end of string, you could trim it by:

"Okay,  let ’s  get  star ted,  Bret t ".replace(/(\S)\s(\S)|\s$/g, '$1$2')

answered Mar 10, 2014 at 8:34

xdazz

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2 Comments

Felix Kling Over a year ago

I just wanted to add that :D

PatAtCP Over a year ago

Alternately, check that a space is either the first character, or preceded by a non-whitespace, and isn't followed by a space. " Okay, let ’s get star ted, Bret t ".replace(/(^|\S)\s(?!\s)/g,'$1');

Ja͢ck · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-10 08:47:35Z

1

Based on expression greediness this is a viable solution:

"Okay,  let ’s  get  star ted,  Bret t ".replace(/(\s{2,})|\s/g, '$1')

It matches two or more spaces if possible, for which the replacement is $1, effectively falling back to replacing a single space with nothing.

edited Mar 10, 2014 at 8:47

answered Mar 10, 2014 at 8:42

Ja͢ck

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1 Comment

Felix Kling Over a year ago

That's cool too. You don't even need the second capture group. \s{2} might have to be changed to \s{2,} if the OP truly wants to replace single spaces only.

aelor · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-10 08:55:56Z

0

/([^\s]\s{1}[^\s])|\s$/g

will solve your problem

\s is for one space

^\s is for NOT space

{1} is a quatifier which tells the number to be one

http://regex101.com/r/uO3iJ4

edited Mar 10, 2014 at 8:55

answered Mar 10, 2014 at 8:49

aelor

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3 Comments

Ja͢ck Over a year ago

[^\s] is also \S, and with that replacement it's basically the first version of xdazz's answer.

aelor Over a year ago

ohh i thought this is just one way of saying it. People are there who dont know everything.

Ja͢ck Over a year ago

What I meant to say is that this has the problem of not removing space from the end of a string :)

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