simplify

Written by Balazs Halasy, 02/05/2004 Updated 05/04/2005 by Balazs Halasy

Summary

Returns a simplified version of the input string.

Usage

input|simplify( [char] )

Parameters

Name	Type	Description	Required
char	character	The character that should be simplified.	No.

Returns

A simplified version of the input string.

Description

This operator takes a string as the input parameter. It transforms multiple consecutive characters into one. The operator can be used to remove the duplicates as it leaves only a single copy of each character. It is possible to specify only one character that should be simplified, this can be done using the optional "char" parameter. By default, the operator removes multiple spaces. Special characters must be specified using regular expression style, please refer to the table below.

Character	Description
\t	Tab (HT, TAB)
\n	Newline (LF, NL)
\r	Return (CR)
\f	Form feed (FF)
\a	Alarm / bell (BEL)
\e	Escape / think troff (ESC)

Examples

Example 1

{'We    don't    need   no whitespaces!'|simplify()}

The following output will be produced: "We don't need no whitespaces!".

Example 2

{'This____string__is___annoying.'|simplify( '_' )}