CSharp Common String Operations Part-II

Common String Operation Part II

We explored 15 common string operations during working with the string class in the previous article 30 Common String Operations in C # and VB.NET, Part I. We will continue to cover the series in Part II of the article and 15 others.

The two previously declared string variables are the basis for all examples.

C#

string strOriginal = "These are string Examples";
string strModified = string.Empty;

VB.Net

Dim strOriginal As String = "These are string Examples"
Dim strModified As String = string.Empty

 

Count Words and Characters In a String

To count words and characters in string, we can use the following regular expression:

C#

    // Count words
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.MatchCollection wordCount =   System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches(strOriginal, @"[\S]+");
    MessageBox.Show(wordCount.Count.ToString());

    // Count characters. White space is treated as a character
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.MatchCollection charCount = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches(strOriginal, @".");
    MessageBox.Show(charCount.Count.ToString());

VB.Net

VB.NET
      ' Count words
      Dim wordCount As System.Text.RegularExpressions.MatchCollection = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches(strOriginal, "[\S]+")
      MessageBox.Show(wordCount.Count.ToString())
      ' Count characters. White space is treated as a character
      Dim charCount As System.Text.RegularExpressions.MatchCollection = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Matches(strOriginal, ".")
      MessageBox.Show(charCount.Count.ToString())

 

 

 

Remove characters from a String

The Remove() function can delete a number of characters that start at a certain place in a string...

C#

// Removes everything beginning at index 25
    strModified = strOriginal.Remove(25);
    MessageBox.Show(strModified);
or
    // Removes specified number of characters(five) starting at index 20
    strModified = strOriginal.Remove(20,5);
    MessageBox.Show(strModified);

VB.Net

' Removes everything beginning at index 09
      strModified = strOriginal.Remove(05)
      MessageBox.Show(strModified)
 
Or
      ' Removes specified number of characters(five) starting at index 09
      strModified = strOriginal.Remove(9,5)
      MessageBox.Show(strModified)

 

Create Date and Time from String

Use DateTime.Parse() to convert a datetime string to its equivalent DateTime. DateTime.Parse() offers flexibility in adapting strings in different formats.

C#

    strOriginal = "25/05/2019";
    DateTime dt = DateTime.Parse(strOriginal);

VB.Net

      strOriginal = "25/05/2019"
      Dim dt As DateTime = DateTime.Parse(strOriginal)

 

Convert String to Base64

In System.Text.Encoding we must use methods to transform string into Base64. Two processes involve the conversion:

• Convert string to a byte array
• To convert the byte array to a Base64 string, use the Convert. ToBase64String() method

 

C#

byte[] byt = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(strOriginal);
    // convert the byte array to a Base64 string
    strModified = Convert.ToBase64String(byt);

VB.Net

Dim byt As Byte() = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(strOriginal)
      ' convert the byte array to a Base64 string
      strModified = Convert.ToBase64String(byt)

 

Convert Base64 string to Original String

We converted the "strOriginal" string to the "strModified" string in the previous example. Use FromBase64String() to convert a Base64 string back to the original string.

There are two processes involved in conversion:

• In Base64String(), the string is converted into a byte array.
• To convert the byte array to a string use the corresponding encoding method, in our case UTF8.GetString();

 

C#

    byte[] b = Convert.FromBase64String(strModified);
    strOriginal = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(b);

VB.Net

      Dim b As Byte() = Convert.FromBase64String(strModified)
      strOriginal = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(b)

 

How to Copy a String

The Copy() method is a simple way to copy a string to another. It works the same way as the = operator assigns a string to another.

C#

strModified = String.Copy(strOriginal);

VB.Net

strModified = String.Copy(strOriginal)

 

Trimming a String

The .Trim() provides two overload for removing lead and trailing spaces and for removing any undesirable characters. A sample of the two overloads is presented here. It also deletes the "#" character except for trimming the string.

C#

    strOriginal = "Some new string we test ##";
    strModified = strOriginal.Trim().Trim(char.Parse("#"));

VB.Net

      strOriginal = " Some new string we test ##"
      strModified = strOriginal.Trim().Trim(Char.Parse("#"))

 

 

 

Padding a String

The .PadLeft() or .PadRight() string is padded for a given length by a character. The next example pads with 3 * (stars) the string on the left. It adds spaces if nothing is specified.

C#

strModified = strOriginal.PadLeft(34,'*');

VB.Net

strModified = strOriginal.PadLeft(34,'*');

 

Create a Delimited String

Use .Join() to create a delimited string from a string array.

C#

    string[] strArr = new string[3] { "str1", "str2", "str3"};
    string strModified = string.Join(";", strArr);

VB.Net

      Dim strArr As String() = New String(2) { "str1", "str2", "str3"}
      Dim strModified As String = String.Join(";", strArr)

 

Convert String To Integer

Use the Int32.Parse() to convert string to integer. The Parse method converts a number string to its 32-bit integer equivalent. When non-numeric values are contained in the string, it throws an error.

Likewise, with Boolean.Parse(), Double.Parse(), char.Parse(), and so on, you can also convert the string to other kinds.

C#

    strOriginal = "12345";
    int temp = Int32.Parse(strOriginal);

VB.Net

      strOriginal = "12345"
      Dim temp As Integer = Int32.Parse(strOriginal)

 

Search a String

We can search for a string with IndexOf, LastIndexOf, StartsWith, and EndsWith.

 

Concatenate multiple Strings

We can use + or + = operators for combining string variables. The .Concat() or the .Format() can also be used.

C#

    strModified = strOriginal + "12345";
    strModified = String.Concat(strOriginal, "abcd");
    strModified = String.Format("{0}{1}", strOriginal, "xyz");

VB.Net

      strModified = strOriginal & "12345"
      strModified = String.Concat(strOriginal, "abcd")
      strModified = String.Format("{0}{1}", strOriginal, "xyz")

 

Note: When performance is important, we should always use the StringBuilder class to concatenate strings

 

Format a String

The .Format() method allows a dynamic determination of the content of the string.

It supports placeholders in braces { } whose contents are dynamically replaced during operation as shown below:

C#

strModified = String.Format("{0} - is the original string",strOriginal);

VB.Net

strModified = String.Format("{0} - is the original string",strOriginal)

The .Format() contains 5 overload, that you can study here. 

 

 

 

Determine String Contains Numeric value or Not

Use the Int32.TryParse() method to determine if the string has a numerical value or not.

C#

    int i = 0;
    strOriginal = "234abc";
    bool b = Int32.TryParse(strOriginal, out i);

VB.Net

      Dim i As Integer = 0
      strOriginal = "234abc"
      Dim b As Boolean = Int32.TryParse(strOriginal, i)

Remember: TryParse returns also false when the numeric value for the type receiving the result is too large.

 

Determine whether a String is started with a specific String

To determine if the beginning of a string matches a certain specified string, use StartsWith(). The procedure contains three overloads, which also include case ignore options during string checking.

C#

        if (strOriginal.StartsWith("THese",StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
        MessageBox.Show("true");

VB.Net

          If strOriginal.StartsWith("THese",StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase) Then
            MessageBox.Show("true")
      End If

Since these articles only contained a brief introduction to each method, We suggest you use the MSDN documentation to explore each method detailedly. String mastering can save us time in projects and enhance application performance too.

 

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Common String Operation Part II