how to eliminate more spaces by using trim() in C#?

Question

I need to get same matching name records.so that i am using the contains linq expression. ex : a.User.DisplayName.Contains(strDisplayName.Trim())

But if strDisplayname == "Andrew Wodd", there are more spaces in between Andrew and Woddd, in which case it's getting the result.

How do I get that result if there is more than one space in the name?

Where are the extra spaces, in `strDsiplayName` or in the records? — Panagiotis Kanavos, Dec 20 '13 at 09:25
When a user types "and wod" in the search box, should "Andrew Wodd" be found? — Kris Vandermotten, Dec 20 '13 at 09:27
you got nice answers to your problem, but i want to tell one thing also the real cause of problem i.e. the trim function only remove space from start and end, hope you will find why this occurs to you — zeeshan mughal, Dec 20 '13 at 09:27

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:24

4

Use Regex.Replace and replace all multiple spaces with single space

var replaced = Regex.Replace(strDisplayName, @"\s+", " ");    
a.User.DisplayName.Contains(replaced);

answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:24

Kamil Budziewski

Database only having spaces a.user.displayname --having spaces. – user3106578 Dec 20 '13 at 10:26

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:24

2

You could do a Regular Expression to normalize whitespace:

Regex.Replace(input, "\s+", " ");

answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:24

jessehouwing

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:28

1

Use the following:

strDisplayName = string.Join( " ", strDisplayName.Split( (char[])null, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries ) );

This will trim the same characters (not only space) as the Trim you already use

answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:28

Panos Theof

+1 for avoiding regex. – David Martin Dec 20 '13 at 09:32
@DavidMartin why is that a good thing? This code isn't going to be faster or easier to understand. In fact, it will create multiple temporary strings for each search – Panagiotis Kanavos Dec 20 '13 at 09:38
Regex will create Match objects for each match, plus a List, plus a temporary string for each match, plus a StringBuilder (to join the results). So the intermediate objects created are at least doubled in the case of Regex. OTOH string.Join will calculate the length of the resulted string and it will use the FastAllocateString to create it – Panos Theof Dec 20 '13 at 09:47
1

@PanagiotisKanavos there are 3 answers all using regex, its always good to see alternative ways of achieving the same goal. I didn't/don't want to get into the regex good/bad debate, that wasn't my intention. There are plenty of discussions on that subject, but providing alternatives give developers more tools in their toolbag. – David Martin Dec 20 '13 at 10:03

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:27

0

To remove extra blanks in your displayname you could use a regex:

a => Regex.Replace(a.User.DisplayName, @"\s\s+", " ").Trim() == Regex.Replace(strDisplayName, @"\s\s+", " ").Trim()

Good luck with your quest.

answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:27

Casperah

LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'System.String Replace(System.String, System.String, System.String)' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression. – user3106578 Dec 20 '13 at 10:34
_usersinapplicationroles.All().Where(a => a.ApplicationRoleId == iAppRoleId && (Regex.Replace(a.User.DisplayName, @"\s\s+", " ").Trim() == Regex.Replace(strDisplayName, @"\s\s+", " ").Trim())).AsQueryable(); getting error .can you please correct my expression – user3106578 Dec 20 '13 at 10:36

4 Answers4