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Removing a space from a field concatenation

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    Removing a space from a field concatenation

    I have a "full name" field which is a concatenation using a calculated field. The calculated field is as follows:
    Code:
    iif(Company_Name = "", First_name + " " + Last_name, Company_Name + " " + First_name + " " + Last_name)
    The problem is if you enter lets say "John " for the first name (note the extra space after his name there!) and "Smith" for the last name you will get "John Smith" with an extra space in between the joined field - however the first name field does NOT include it when submitting so if you resave it you get "John Smith" without the extra space in it now.
    This is causing an issue later on when trying to find duplicates and or matching by name because the first time it is saved it includes that extra space, subsequent saves remove it since the single field FIRST NAME doesn't include the extra space at the end.

    So does anyone have any ideas on how I could best approach this problem? Ideally I would like to remove the trailing space, also I notice if you have a space prior to the data entry THAT does save in the database but trailing spaces do not. Again this is an issue because the concatenation saves the trailing space (and leading spaces) but the submittal to the database does not save the trailing space - but it does save leading space entry.

    I never thought about this as an issue but now it is...when I am creating a view in my DB the extra space in the name makes finding the match to group by and or sort impossible
    NWCOPRO: Nuisance Wildlife Control Software My Application: http://www.nwcopro.com "Without forgetting, we would have no memory at all...now what was I saying?"

    #2
    Hi Charles,
    how about an extra line
    of code
    Code:
    Company_Name=strtran(Company_Name,”  “,” “)
    Gregg
    https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

    Comment


      #3
      If I understand your question and if you're creating a calculated field in, say, a report:

      Code:
      iif(alltrim(Company_Name) = "", alltrim(First_name) + " " + Last_name, Company_Name + " " + alltrim(First_name) + " " + Last_name)
      If you're doing this as a SQL database view, it'll be a little different but I don't know what database you're using.

      -Steve
      sigpic

      Comment


        #4
        Hi Charles,

        How about this?

        Code:
        iif(alltrim(Company_Name)<>"",alltrim(Company_Name)+" ","") + alltrim(iif(alltrim(First_name)<>"",alltrim(First_name) + " ","") + alltrim(Last_name)+" ")
        I put an alltrim around the first/last name concatenation, to handle a blank last name.
        Earl Allin
        REAInc.net

        We can help you with mentoring and custom programming services in Alpha, .NET, React, PHP, ColdFusion, and more..

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks guys - I actually implemented the alltrim function shortly after posting and that is what worked for me. Glad to see I was on the right (suggested) track here - I am concerned though about the fact that all trim will take ALL spaces rather than just trailing or preceding spaces as I noted a preceding space gets inserted while a trailing space does not when submitting data to the table. Still not sure how to properly handle that other than trim em all. So far it's been the habit of users (me included) to enter a space trailing the first name data entry and seems to be the current source of the issue solved by the alltrim function.
          NWCOPRO: Nuisance Wildlife Control Software My Application: http://www.nwcopro.com "Without forgetting, we would have no memory at all...now what was I saying?"

          Comment


            #6
            ltrim() and rtrim() remove spaces from the left or right of the string.
            alltrim() removes spaces from the left and right of the string.
            remspecial() removes all non-alphanumeric characters from the string.
            Gregg
            https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

            Comment


              #7
              So this script helps show the effects of each expression given the variations of the variables in the first 3 lines.

              The "|" and "|eon" (end of name) are included to help delineate the exact beginning and ending of the string.
              Change the spaces before and after in the variables to see the differences.

              The subtract sign used in a concatenation is similar to a rtrim()

              Code:
              Company_Name = " Company_Name "
              First_name = " First_name "
              Last_name = " Last_name "
              
              myname1="|"+iif(alltrim(Company_Name)<>"",alltrim(Company_Name)+" ","") + alltrim(iif(alltrim(First_name)<>"",alltrim(First_name) + " ","") + alltrim(Last_name)+" ")+"|eon"
              
              myname2="|"+alltrim(alltrim(alltrim(Company_Name)+" "+alltrim(First_name)) + " "+ alltrim(Last_name)+" ")+"|eon"
              
              myname3="|"+Company_Name-" "+First_name - " "+ Last_name-" "-"|eon"
              
              msgbox(myname1+crlf()+myname2+crlf()+myname3+crlf())
              Al Buchholz
              Bookwood Systems, LTD
              Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

              Occam's Razor - KISS
              Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
              Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
              When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
              "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
              Albert Einstein

              http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

              Comment


                #8
                Why bother with if statements?
                Code:
                alltrim(alltrim(company_name)+" "+alltrim(first_name)+" "+alltrim(lastname))
                removes all leading, trailing & double spaces.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Hi Jon,
                  In this case, the final value changes depending on the value of Company.
                  Gregg
                  https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Jon,
                    On further review, I see I missed one of the alltrims.
                    Gregg
                    https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

                    Comment

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