eraseBetween

Delete substrings between start and end points

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Syntax

newStr = eraseBetween(str,startStr,endStr)
newStr = eraseBetween(str,startPos,endPos)
newStr = eraseBetween(___,'Boundaries',bounds)

Description

example

newStr = eraseBetween(str,startStr,endStr) deletes all characters from str that occur between the substrings startStr and endStr, but does not delete startStr and endStr themselves. eraseBetween returns the remaining text as newStr.

If str is a string array or a cell array of character vectors, then eraseBetween deletes characters from each element of str. The output argument newStr has the same data type as str.

example

newStr = eraseBetween(str,startPos,endPos) deletes all characters from str that occur between the positions startPos and endPos, including the characters at those positions.

example

newStr = eraseBetween(___,'Boundaries',bounds) forces the starts and ends specified in any of the previous syntaxes to be either inclusive or exclusive. They are inclusive when bounds is 'inclusive', and exclusive when bounds is 'exclusive'. For example, eraseBetween(str,startStr,endStr,'Boundaries','inclusive') deletes startStr, endStr, and all the text between them.

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create string arrays. Then delete text that occurs between substrings.

Create a string. Starting in R2017a, you can create strings using double quotes.

str = "The quick brown fox"
str = 
"The quick brown fox"

Delete the text that occurs between the substrings "quick" and " fox". The eraseBetween function deletes the text but does not delete "quick" or " fox".

newStr = eraseBetween(str,"quick"," fox")
newStr = 
"The quick fox"

Delete substrings from each element of a string array. When you specify different substrings as start and end indicators, they must be contained in a string array or a cell array of character vectors that is the same size as str.

str = ["The quick brown fox jumps";"over the lazy dog"]
str = 2x1 string
    "The quick brown fox jumps"
    "over the lazy dog"


startPos = ["quick";"the"];
endPos = [" fox";" dog"];
newStr = eraseBetween(str,startPos,endPos)
newStr = 2x1 string
    "The quick fox jumps"
    "over the dog"
Open Live Script

Create string arrays and delete substrings between start and end positions that are specified as numbers.

Create a string that contains a name. Starting in R2017a, you can create strings using double quotes.

str = "Edgar Allen Poe"
str = 
"Edgar Allen Poe"

Delete a substring. To delete the middle name and one of the space characters, specify the sixth and 11th positions in the string. The deleted substring includes the sixth and 11th characters.

newStr = eraseBetween(str,6,11)
newStr = 
"Edgar Poe"

Delete substrings from each element of a string array. When you specify different start and end positions with numeric arrays, they must be the same size as the input string array. 

str = ["Edgar Allen Poe";"Louisa May Alcott"]
str = 2x1 string
    "Edgar Allen Poe"
    "Louisa May Alcott"


startsPos = [6;7];
endPos = [11;10];
newStr = eraseBetween(str,startsPos,endPos)
newStr = 2x1 string
    "Edgar Poe"
    "Louisa Alcott"
Open Live Script

Delete text from string arrays with boundaries that are forced to be inclusive or exclusive. eraseBetween deletes the boundaries when they are inclusive. eraseBetween returns the boundaries as part of the output string array when they are exclusive.

Create a string array. Starting in R2017a, you can create strings using double quotes.

str = "small|medium|large"
str = 
"small|medium|large"

Delete the text between sixth and 13th positions, but do not delete the characters at those positions.

newStr = eraseBetween(str,6,13,'Boundaries','exclusive')
newStr = 
"small||large"

Delete the text between two substrings, and also the substrings themselves.

str = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
str = 
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"

newStr = eraseBetween(str," brown","lazy",'Boundaries','inclusive')
newStr = 
"The quick dog"
Open Live Script

Create a character vector and delete text between start and end positions.

chr = 'mushrooms, peppers, and onions'
chr = 
'mushrooms, peppers, and onions'

newChr = eraseBetween(chr,10,19)
newChr = 
'mushrooms and onions'

Delete text between substrings.

newChr = eraseBetween(chr,'mushrooms',' and')
newChr = 
'mushrooms and onions'

Input Arguments

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Input text, specified as a string array, a character vector, or a cell array of character vectors.

Data Types: string | char | cell

String that indicates the start of the substring to delete, specified as a string array, a character vector, or a cell array of character vectors.

If str is a string array or a cell array of character vectors, then startStr can be a character vector, a string scalar, or a string array or a cell array of the same size as str.

Example: eraseBetween(str,"AB","YZ") deletes all characters between AB and YZ in each element of str.

Example: If str is a 2-by-1 string array, then eraseBetween(str,["AB";"FG"],["YZ";"ST"]) deletes all characters between AB and YZ in str(1), and between FG and ST in str(2).

Data Types: string | char | cell

String that indicates the end of the substring to delete, specified as a string array, a character vector, or a cell array of character vectors.

If str is a string array or a cell array of character vectors, then endStr can be a character vector, a string scalar, or a string array or a cell array of the same size as str.

Example: eraseBetween(str,"AB","YZ") deletes all characters between AB and YZ in each element of str.

Example: If str is a 2-by-1 string array, then eraseBetween(str,["AB";"FG"],["YZ";"ST"]) deletes all characters between AB and YZ in str(1), and between FG and ST in str(2).

Data Types: string | char | cell

Start position of substring to delete, specified as a numeric array.

If str is a string array or a cell array of character vectors, then startPos can be a numeric scalar or a numeric array of the same size as str.

Example: eraseBetween(str,5,9) deletes all characters from the fifth through the ninth positions in each element of str.

Example: If str is a 2-by-1 string array, then eraseBetween(str,[5;10],[9;21]) deletes all characters from the fifth through the ninth positions in str(1), and from the 10th through the 21st positions in str(2).

Data Types: double | single | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

End position of substring to delete, specified as a numeric array.

If str is a string array or a cell array of character vectors, then endPos can be a numeric scalar or a numeric array of the same size as str.

Example: eraseBetween(str,5,9) deletes all characters from the fifth through the ninth positions in each element of str.

Example: If str is a 2-by-1 string array, then eraseBetween(str,[5;10],[9;21]) deletes all characters from the fifth through the ninth positions in str(1), and from the 10th through the 21st positions in str(2).

Data Types: double | single | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Output Arguments

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Output text, returned as a string array, a character vector, or a cell array of character vectors. str and newStr have the same data type.

Data Types: string | char | cell

Extended Capabilities

See Also

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Topics

Introduced in R2016b

MATLAB Documentation
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