Eliminating commas from text except when they are enclosed within quotation marks, without employing

Question

Eliminating commas from text except when they are enclosed within quotation marks, without employing

Trying to eliminate commas from a string, except when they are enclosed in quotes.

var mystring = "this, is, a, test, example, \"i, dont know\", jumps" ;
var newchar = '';

mystring = mystring.split(',').join(newchar);// working correctly


document.write(mystring);

The output I currently have is:

this is a test example "i dont know" jumps

The expected output should be:

this is a test example "i, dont know" jumps

I have a few questions. How do I determine the index of a string so that commas are included inside quotation marks but not outside of them? I believe I need to use indexOf and substring, but I am unsure about the formatting. (Please avoid using regex as I am new to JavaScript and focusing on the fundamentals.)

javascript

Answer 1

Answer №1

To solve this problem, iterate through the given string while keeping track of whether you are currently inside a pair of quotation marks. As you loop through, create a new string where commas within quotes are not included:

let withinQuotation = false;              // Are we currently inside quotes?
let resultString = '';                     // Initialize the new string.

for (let index = 0; index < input.length; index++) {      // Iterate through the string.
  let character = input[index];            // Get the current character.
  let isComma = character === ',';         // Check if it's a comma.
  let isQuote = character === '"';         // Check if it's a quote.

  if (withinQuotation || !isComma) {       // Should we include this character?
    if (isQuote) withinQuotation = !withinQuotation;     // Toggle quotation status if it's a quote.
    resultString += character;             // Add the character to the result string.
  }
}

This alternative solution excels in handling cases with multiple quoted strings within the input compared to the original technique.

Answer 2

To solve this problem, iterate through the given string while keeping track of whether you are currently inside a pair of quotation marks. As you loop through, create a new string where commas within quotes are not included:

let withinQuotation = false;              // Are we currently inside quotes?
let resultString = '';                     // Initialize the new string.

for (let index = 0; index < input.length; index++) {      // Iterate through the string.
  let character = input[index];            // Get the current character.
  let isComma = character === ',';         // Check if it's a comma.
  let isQuote = character === '"';         // Check if it's a quote.

  if (withinQuotation || !isComma) {       // Should we include this character?
    if (isQuote) withinQuotation = !withinQuotation;     // Toggle quotation status if it's a quote.
    resultString += character;             // Add the character to the result string.
  }
}

This alternative solution excels in handling cases with multiple quoted strings within the input compared to the original technique.

Answer 3

Answer №2

While this code may be effective in certain situations, it may not be suitable for all scenarios. For instance, it cannot handle strings containing more than two quotation marks.

var mystring = "this, is, a, test, example, \"i, dont know\", jumps" ;
var newchar = '';
var firstIndex = mystring.indexOf("\"");
var lastIndex = mystring.lastIndexOf("\"");
var substring1 = mystring.substring(0,firstIndex).split(',').join(newchar);
var substring2 = mystring.substring(lastIndex).split(',').join(newchar);
mystring = substring1 + mystring.substring(firstIndex, lastIndex) + substring2;

document.write(mystring);

Answer 4

While this code may be effective in certain situations, it may not be suitable for all scenarios. For instance, it cannot handle strings containing more than two quotation marks.

var mystring = "this, is, a, test, example, \"i, dont know\", jumps" ;
var newchar = '';
var firstIndex = mystring.indexOf("\"");
var lastIndex = mystring.lastIndexOf("\"");
var substring1 = mystring.substring(0,firstIndex).split(',').join(newchar);
var substring2 = mystring.substring(lastIndex).split(',').join(newchar);
mystring = substring1 + mystring.substring(firstIndex, lastIndex) + substring2;

document.write(mystring);

Answer 5

Answer №3

One day you'll discover the power of using regular expressions, and that's when regexr.com will become your best friend. The solution with regular expressions is quite straightforward:

var mystring = "this, is, a, test, example, \"i, dont know\", jumps" ;
var newchar = '_';

mystring = mystring.match(/(".*?"|[^",\s]+)(?=\s*,|\s*$)/g).join(newchar);// working correctly

document.write(mystring);

Answer 6

One day you'll discover the power of using regular expressions, and that's when regexr.com will become your best friend. The solution with regular expressions is quite straightforward:

var mystring = "this, is, a, test, example, \"i, dont know\", jumps" ;
var newchar = '_';

mystring = mystring.match(/(".*?"|[^",\s]+)(?=\s*,|\s*$)/g).join(newchar);// working correctly

document.write(mystring);

Eliminating commas from text except when they are enclosed within quotation marks, without employing

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

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