[RESOLVED] quick string question

[dr_dj]

hi guys, quick question...

if i read the line of a file into a string and then want to extract values from it, is there a string handling command that can skip over white space? so if say my string was as follows

1        4        8

with say 5 or 6 spaces between each character (although not always so i can't just search for the group of spaces), whats the easiest way to read them into 3 variables or an array of variables.

Oh, and i'm coding in VB 6!

thanks in advance and to gavio for answering a similar question earlier!

Ta.
Dave

[timeshifter]

use the Mid$ function to go through the string and pick out the characters that are not spaces, then use a counter variable to store them into the next member of a control array.

[RhinoBull]

There numerous ways to accomplish what you need so here is just one of them:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim sFile$, sLine$, i%, arValues() As String
 
    sFile = "c:\test.txt"
    Open sFile For Input As #1
        Do While Not EOF(1)
            Line Input #1, sLine
            arValues() = Split(sLine, Space(1))
            For i = 0 To UBound(arValues)
                If Not Trim(arValues(i)) = "" Then
                    Debug.Print arValues(i)
                End If
            Next i
        Loop
    Close #1
 
End Sub

[timeshifter]

Assuming the numbers are only single digits, this code will do what you want:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
 
    Dim myArray() As Integer
    Dim ArrayCount As Integer
    Dim counter As Integer
    Dim tempstr As String
    
    ArrayCount = 0
    
    For counter = 1 To Len(Text1.Text)
        If Mid$(Text1.Text, counter, 1) <> " " Then
            ReDim Preserve myArray(ArrayCount)
            myArray(ArrayCount) = Val(Mid$(Text1.Text, counter, 1))
            ArrayCount = ArrayCount + 1
        End If
    Next counter
    
    tempstr = "Values:" & vbNewLine
    
    For counter = 0 To ArrayCount - 1
        tempstr = tempstr & myArray(counter) & vbNewLine
    Next counter
    
    MsgBox tempstr
    
End Sub

Text1 is where your string is inputted, and Command1 picks it apart and returns a message box telling you what the numbers in your string are

[BrendanDavis]

use the Mid$ function to go through the string and pick out the characters that are not spaces, then use a counter variable to store them into the next member of a control array.

Too much work. Just eliminate the spaces all together, first and then count them up.

Try this:

Dim numVals As Integer
    Dim numSum As Integer
    Dim strStrng As String
    Dim i As Integer
    
    strStrng = TextBox1.Text
    
    numVals = Val(strStrng)
    numSum = 0
    
        For i = 1 To Len(numVals) + 1
            numSum = Val(numSum) + (Val(Mid$(numVals, i, 1)))
        Next i
 
    MsgBox numSum

This will work fine if all you're using is numbers and spaces. Otherwise, you'd have to trim out everything that isn't a number using either Mid$ or Replace$

[timeshifter]

whats the easiest way to read them into 3 variables or an array of variables.

We're not looking to add them up, but to put them in an array, which my code does.

[dr_dj]

cheers for the quick reply guys..

i just posted that table as an example.. proabbly best to give an extract from the real file...

 some desctiption of what the file is
 0            1.3472        -1.
 1            1.2956        -0.9221
 2            1.2479        -0.848
 3            1.2039        -0.7777
 4            1.1628        -0.7109

and goes from 1 - 100 so not always single characters.. will the above methods work equally well for this? i'll use a IsNumeric or whatnot to ignore the first line then go for the data

thanks again
dave

[timeshifter]

This method may be a little more complicated, but it would work equally well. Replace any two-space strings with a single space, and run that loop a few times to reduce all the white space into one space. Then split the resulting string at the space character, and it will store just the numbers into an array. You will need to add a few lines to convert from the string values to Double's, but it's not very difficult to do.

EDIT

Better yet, for that loop, just use a Do loop..

Do While InStr(myText, "  ") >0 'looks for two-space characters
   myText = Replace( myText, "  ", " ") 'repaces any two-space characters with one space
Loop
'when this loop exits, there will only be one space in place of all that white space

[BrendanDavis]

We're not looking to add them up, but to put them in an array, which my code does.

I see, I overlooked that. However, your code does not fit his needs as his numbers are more than single-digit.

[timeshifter]

Keep looking... my last post has a method to get all of the numbers...

[BrendanDavis]

This method may be a little more complicated, but it would work equally well. Replace any two-space strings with a single space, and run that loop a few times to reduce all the white space into one space. Then split the resulting string at the space character, and it will store just the numbers into an array. You will need to add a few lines to convert from the string values to Double's, but it's not very difficult to do.

EDIT

Better yet, for that loop, just use a Do loop..

Do While InStr(myText, "  ") >0 'looks for two-space characters
   myText = Replace( myText, "  ", " ") 'repaces any two-space characters with one space
Loop
'when this loop exits, there will only be one space in place of all that white space

Now THAT will work. With a little extra code, anway.

[RhinoBull]

@dr_dj:

have you tried my sample yet? (post #3)

[timeshifter]

Here's the rest of it...

Private Sub Command1_Click()
 
    Dim myArray() As String
    Dim ArrayCount As Integer
    Dim counter As Integer
    Dim tempstr As String
    Dim myText As String
    
    myText = Text1.Text
    
    Do While InStr(myText, "  ") > 0 'looks for two-space characters
       myText = Replace(myText, "  ", " ")  'repaces any two-space characters with one space
    Loop
    'when this loop exits, there will only be one space in place of all that white space
    
    myArray = Split(myText, " ")
    
    tempstr = "Numbers:" & vbNewLine
    
    For counter = 0 To UBound(myArray)
        tempstr = tempstr & myArray(counter) & vbNewLine
    Next counter
    
    MsgBox tempstr
    
End Sub

Needs a little bit of cleaning up to get rid of the empty value every fourth entry, but that's easy. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

[dr_dj]

Rhino, thanks,

you're code works a treat...


I'm trying to use:

If IsNumeric(sline) Then
  '.. extract data using above code
End If

to skip over the first line(s) of text (string sline) but the If statement won't validate when it has the line i want to analyse!... does IsNumeric require that all characters be numeric? if this is the case, would it be sensible to make a copy of the original string, then remove all the white space from the copy and then use IsNumeric? I'm sure there must be a better way!

thanks for all your helpful suggestions, i'm converting myself from C/C++ to VB so does anyone know of any good online resources?

Thanks again for your replies, i'm sure they'll all be useful soon if not now.
Regards.
Dave

--> timeshifter

Thanks too, thats quite a neat trick replacing the double spaces with single ones... cheers

[dr_dj]

Ok,

Just done some reading and have discovered why IsNumeric won't work.. becasue the string can't be evaluated to a single number.. so, is there a text equivalent so i can test when the line is Not Alphabetic?

thanks.

[BrendanDavis]

Ok,

Just done some reading and have discovered why IsNumeric won't work.. becasue the string can't be evaluated to a single number.. so, is there a text equivalent so i can test when the line is Not Alphabetic?

thanks.

try checking it with Val() of it. If it is numeric, it'll return a numeric value. If it's just spaces, it'll return "0".

[RhinoBull]

Val is one of THE WORST functions available in VB. Not that it only returns numeric characters until first non-numeric found it also (and this one is even more rediculous) recognizes only "." (dot or point) as decimal separator character. So, if you can avoid it then do yourself a favor...