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blogtom
Known Participant
April 24, 2015
Answered

How to find out what word doesn't start with a "#"?

  • April 24, 2015
  • 6 replies
  • 783 views

Hi,

I need to find out the position in the text for the first word that doesn't contain a leading hashtag (#) - starting from the end of the text.

This is a demo text:

var demoText:String = "hello world #dontremoveme here #1remove #2removeme #3removeüäüö

The position would be after the word here.

How do do that?

This topic is closed to new replies. Start a new post to keep the conversation going.
Correct answer

For quick and simple code, you can use String methods to get the character index of the "#". Below is an example that gets the index of the space character that is directly in front of the second "#". This code example assumes you are wanting to create a new String that has everything up to the second "#" character.

var demoText:String = "hello world #dontremoveme here #1remove #2removeme #3remove";


var index1:int = demoText.indexOf("#");// find first instance of "#" in the String


var index2:int = demoText.indexOf("#", index1 + 1) - 1;// find the index of the space character right before the second instance of "#"


var newText:String = demoText.substring(0, index2);// newText = "hello world #dontremoveme here"

To explain line 3, you are searching for the index of the "#" character starting the search from the index of the first "#" + 1. The "+ 1" is to have the search start after the first "#" character. If you don't have that, you would keep finding the same index value as "index1". The "- 1" at the end is to decrease the index2 value so it will give you index of the space character directly in front of the "#". Line 4 creates a new String starting from the beginning of the original String up to, but not including, the space character in front of the second "#".

If you needed something more complicated than just removing everything after "here" then I would need a different example.

Edit: Here is a link to the AS3 API for the String class. String - Adobe ActionScript® 3 (AS3 ) API Reference

6 replies

Colin Holgate
Colin Holgate
Inspiring
April 24, 2015

Try this, though I'm sure there will be some problem cases:

var demoText:String = "hello world #dontremoveme here #1remove #2removeme #3removeüäüö"

while (demoText.lastIndexOf(" ")==demoText.lastIndexOf(" #")){

  demoText = demoText.slice(0,demoText.lastIndexOf(" "));

}

trace(demoText);

    B
    blogtomAuthor
    Known Participant
    April 24, 2015

    Hi, Thanks it works great until the first hashtag is in a new line, e.g.;

    var demoText:String = "hello world #dontremoveme here

    #1remove #2removeme #3removeüäüö"

    Any ideas how to make it work for that too?

    Many thanks

    Colin Holgate
    Colin Holgate
    Inspiring
    April 24, 2015

    There may be more problem cases, but try this:

    var demoText:String = "hello world #dontremoveme here"

    //var demoText:String = "hello world #dontremoveme here #1remove #2removeme #3removeüäüö"

    if(demoText.split(" #").length > 1){

      while (demoText.lastIndexOf(" ")==demoText.lastIndexOf(" #")){

      demoText = demoText.slice(0,demoText.lastIndexOf(" "));

      }

    }

    trace(demoText);

    A
    Anonymous
    Correct answer
    April 24, 2015

    For quick and simple code, you can use String methods to get the character index of the "#". Below is an example that gets the index of the space character that is directly in front of the second "#". This code example assumes you are wanting to create a new String that has everything up to the second "#" character.

    var demoText:String = "hello world #dontremoveme here #1remove #2removeme #3remove";
    

    var index1:int = demoText.indexOf("#");// find first instance of "#" in the String
    

    var index2:int = demoText.indexOf("#", index1 + 1) - 1;// find the index of the space character right before the second instance of "#"
    

    var newText:String = demoText.substring(0, index2);// newText = "hello world #dontremoveme here"

    To explain line 3, you are searching for the index of the "#" character starting the search from the index of the first "#" + 1. The "+ 1" is to have the search start after the first "#" character. If you don't have that, you would keep finding the same index value as "index1". The "- 1" at the end is to decrease the index2 value so it will give you index of the space character directly in front of the "#". Line 4 creates a new String starting from the beginning of the original String up to, but not including, the space character in front of the second "#".

    If you needed something more complicated than just removing everything after "here" then I would need a different example.

    Edit: Here is a link to the AS3 API for the String class. String - Adobe ActionScript® 3 (AS3 ) API Reference

      B
      blogtomAuthor
      Known Participant
      April 24, 2015

      Many thanks! You saved my weekend!

      cheers

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