remove extra spaces in a string

[manasa_1]

Hello,

i want to remove extra spaces in my string in unix. which command i need to use.

Ex: i am rahul. this is the string now i want the result to be as : i am rahul

[Yogeeraj_1]

hi,

it seems that you already have a similar thread at:
http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1210930

please check and let us know if the solutions provided are helpful.

Otherwise, clarify your question further.

kind regards
yogeeraj

[Hein van den Heuvel]

manasa,

Where is the string coming from / going to?
Is it in a file? a shell variable? what shell?

What problem are you really trying to solve?
The answer to that question will help define the optimal answer to the part question you asked.

If you choose to explain the problem better be sure to click 'Retain format(spacing). URLs will not be clickable' because as you see, the itrc forum mangled your entrie to loose teh cirtical example. In addition you may want to attach a .txt file with EXACT input examples and EXACT desired output.


Anyway...
If it is in a shell variable then just a simple print will 'clean it up' and we can use that:

$ x='aap noot mies'
$ print "$x"
aap noot mies
$ print $x
aap noot mies
$ y=$(print $x)
$ print "x:$x.y:$y"
x:aap noot mies.y:aap noot mies
$

Or you can feed it to 'sed'
For example:
$ y=$(print "$x" | sed 's/ */*/g')
$ print "$y"
aap*noot*mies

So the RE (regular expression) is to match a space, followed by zero or more spaces.
To be replaced in the example by *, but a space for you.

spaces or white-space (tabs also)?

Good luck,
Hein.

[Arturo Galbiati]

Hi,
tr -d " "
will remove all spaces in the string.
The use depends where you have your string: var, file, etc.

HTH,
Art