How to remove empty array values ("") from an array?

Question

I have an two dimensional array, generated from a html table with jQuery, but some values are empty so "" is displayed.

How can I remove the empty values?

  <table>    
    <tr>
      <th>1A</th>
      <th>1B</th>
      <th>1C</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>2A</td>
      <td>2B</td>
      <td>2C</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td></td>
      <td>3B</td>
      <td>3C</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td></td>
      <td></td>
      <td>4C</td>
    </tr>
  </table>
<script>
    var columns = $('tr').first().children().map(function(i) {
        return [
            $('tr').map(function(){
                return $(this).children().eq(i).text()
            }).get()
        ]
    }).get();
<script>

I already tried following code:

for( var i = 0; i < columns[0].length; i++){ 
   if ( columns[0][i] === "") {
    columns[0].splice(i, 1); 
   }
}

It worked for some empty values, but not all of them got removed for some reason.

Output: https://i.stack.imgur.com/LvMSt.jpg

Some demo code would be nice. Use jsfiddle or something please. As the blanks may be coming from many different things. — Deckerz, Apr 15 '19 at 08:20
right after the for loop add `columns = columns.filter(a => a!="")` — alt255, Apr 15 '19 at 08:20
Possible duplicate of [Remove empty elements from an array in Javascript](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/281264/remove-empty-elements-from-an-array-in-javascript) — jeprubio, Apr 15 '19 at 08:24
Possible duplicate of [Remove empty strings from array while keeping record Without Loop?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19888689/remove-empty-strings-from-array-while-keeping-record-without-loop) — adiga, Apr 15 '19 at 08:57

Domske · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-19T12:01:17.393

100

You could use the filter like:

arr = arr.filter(item => item);

Example:

let arr = ['One', 'Two', '', 'Four', '', ''];
arr = arr.filter(item => item);
console.log(arr);

// Result
// ['One', 'Two', 'Four']

Because an empty string evaluates to boolean false. It works with all falsy values like 0, false, null, undefined, '', etc.

DEMO

If you want to keep some values like number 0 (zero) you could use item !== undefined. This filters only undefined values. Keep in mind to trim your string or check with regex to ensure empty strings without whitespaces.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 12:01

answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:21

Domske

4,795
2
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35

Worked in Google Apps Script too. – DavChana May 08 '21 at 17:02

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:22

17

Try filtering with the Boolean function:

columns.filter(Boolean)

This will filter out all falsy values

answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:22

thedude

9,388
1
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30

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:24

4

It's because when you columns[0].splice(i, 1); you are changing the same array you are iterating over so you might want to use an array filter like

columns[0] = columns[0].filter((val) => val != "");

instead of the for loop

answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:24

sassy_rog

1,077
12
30

you shouldn't be using `!=`, this is bad practice. – bugkiller Oct 12 '22 at 11:26

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:21

3

after creating the columns array,

filter the empty values like that

columns = columns.filter((v) => v != '')

answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:21

shushu304

1,506
1
7
15

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:25

2

Just use filter function:-

columns = columns.filter(col => col);

It will remove empty values.

answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:25

S K

442
3
5

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:27

2

If some values might be 0, filter by checking against "" (because 0 evaluates to false as well, so Boolean checks will fail for 0):

columns[0].filter(col => col != "");

answered Apr 15 '19 at 08:27

Jack Bashford

43,180
11
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codedbychavez · Answer 7 · 2021-10-23T14:31:52.457

1

In ES6, Lets say you have the following array:

arr = [1, 2, 3, '', false, '4'];

And you want to remove '' (Which is an empty value) from the array. You can do:

const filter = (...args) => args.filter(el => el !== '');
console.log(filter(...arr));
[1, 2, 3, false, "4"] // Output

Or Using Map (Regular JS)

const myArr = [1, 2, '', '4'];

noEmptyStringInThisArray = [];

myArr.map((elem) => {
    if (elem !== '') {
    noEmptyStringInThisArray.push(elem);
    }
})

console.log(noEmptyStringInThisArray);
// [1, 2, "4"]

edited Oct 23 '21 at 14:31

answered Oct 23 '21 at 13:46

codedbychavez

193
4
6

1

For es6, that is quite a clunky way to remove empty strings. You can also: `arr.filter(val => val);` – vizon Apr 13 '22 at 15:05

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 22 '22 at 10:45

1

i'm pretty surprised nobody gave the right accurate answer here.

in all of the Boolean based expressions here, you'd filter the results that you'd want to keep. for instance - "0", etc.

array.filter(item => item !== '')

answered Sep 22 '22 at 10:45

bugkiller

124
3

MTK · Answer 9 · 2022-11-21T00:17:21.193

1

Supposing an array like this ['ABC123', '', 0, '0', ' ', null, undefined, empty]

and you consider "empty" '' or ' ' or null or undefined or empty but not 0

my_array = my_array.filter(item => item && (item.toString().replace(/\s+/,'') || item === 0));

the result is ['ABC123', 0, '0']

edited Nov 21 '22 at 00:17

answered Oct 31 '22 at 22:11

MTK

3,300
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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Jan 19 '21 at 06:25

0

Easily you can remove empty , null , undefined values from an array.

let my_array = ['One', undefined, 'Two', '', null, 'Four', '', '', 'Five'];

my_array = my_array.filter((item) => item);

console.log(my_array);

answered Jan 19 '21 at 06:25

Rohit Tagadiya

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How to remove empty array values ("") from an array?

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