replace() Operation

Syntax	`set changed = aString.replace(regExpPattern, replacement)` `set changed = replace(LITERAL, regExpPattern, replacement)`
Semantics	All strings that correspond to the regular expression pattern will be replaced with the string `replacement`. If the pattern does not match, the unchanged string will be returned. Returns a new string. The state of the current string is not changed.
Substitutables	`aString`	Can be any variable or object attribute having type String.
	`replacement`	Can be any variable or object attribute having type String. In case of capturing groups with the regular expression, `replacement` may also contain special syntax. This is why `replacement` will also be interpreted by the Runtime and must not contain unescaped `$` and `\` signs (see also Replacement Text). If you are not sure of the contents of your replacement, you can use the `replace` function itself on the replacement, like CODE `set changed = aString.replace(regExpPattern, replacement.replace('\$', '\\\\\$'));`
	`regExpPattern`	Regular expression (see Regular Expressions for a list of valid regular expressions). An introduction into regular expressions can be found at regular-expressions.info.
	`LITERAL`	String literal.
Error Codes	Find the related error codes on System Errors.
	`FUSSM/11`	Cannot execute replace operations on empty strings.
	`FUSSM/12`	Cannot construct replace matcher finding occurrences of <string> in <string>.
	`FUSSM/13`	Cannot execute replace operations using an empty replace string.
	`FUSSM/14`	Cannot compile the regular expression <string> in replace(). Error on line <number>, column <number>.
	`FUSSM/15`	Cannot construct replace matcher finding occurrences of <string> in <string>.
	`FUSSM/16`	Cannot replace all occurences of <string> in string <string> by <string>.
Examples	NONE `set changed = stringSet.s1.replace("X.+", "A");`

Trimming Spaces and Whitespaces

If you want to trim leading or trailing spaces or whitespaces of a string, you can use regular expressions in order to remove them.

Task	Action Script
Trimming leading spaces	NONE `set trimmedString = stringSet.s1.replace("^[ ]+", "");`
Trimming trailing spaces	NONE `set trimmedString = stringSet.s1.replace("[ ]+$", "");`
Trimming leading and trailing spaces	NONE `set trimmedString = stringSet.s1.replace("^[ ]+\|[ ]+$", "");`
Trimming leading spaces and whitespaces (\t)	NONE `set trimmedString = stringSet.s1.replace("^[ \t]+", "");`

Replacing Parts of a Regular Expression

If you want to replace parts of a string that contains a regular expression, you may run into the problem that the Runtime will interpret the matching part.
In this case, adorn the matching part expression with \Q and \E to mark it as a literal string, so the Runtime will simply take it as it is for comparison (see also Meta Characters).

CODE

set pdfFilenamePattern = "invoice_\d{8}\d{6}\d{5}((\.pdf)|(\.PDF))";
set matchingPart       = "\d{8}\d{6}\d{5}";
set replacement        = "12345678_123456_12345";

set changed = replace(pdfFilenamePattern, concat('\Q', matchingPart, '\E'), replacement);

The same applies if the replacement contains a regular expression.

Related Pages: