What's the best way to trim std::string?

Question

I\'m currently using the following code to right-trim all the std::strings in my programs:

std::string s;
s.erase(s.find_last_not_of(\" \\n\\r\\         


        

Answer 1

I like tzaman's solution, the only problem with it is that it doesn't trim a string containing only spaces.

To correct that 1 flaw, add a str.clear() in between the 2 trimmer lines

std::stringstream trimmer;
trimmer << str;
str.clear();
trimmer >> str;

Answer 2

I guess if you start asking for the "best way" to trim a string, I'd say a good implementation would be one that:

1. Doesn't allocate temporary strings
2. Has overloads for in-place trim and copy trim
3. Can be easily customized to accept different validation sequences / logic

Obviously there are too many different ways to approach this and it definitely depends on what you actually need. However, the C standard library still has some very useful functions in <string.h>, like memchr. There's a reason why C is still regarded as the best language for IO - its stdlib is pure efficiency.

inline const char* trim_start(const char* str)
{
    while (memchr(" \t\n\r", *str, 4))  ++str;
    return str;
}
inline const char* trim_end(const char* end)
{
    while (memchr(" \t\n\r", end[-1], 4)) --end;
    return end;
}
inline std::string trim(const char* buffer, int len) // trim a buffer (input?)
{
    return std::string(trim_start(buffer), trim_end(buffer + len));
}
inline void trim_inplace(std::string& str)
{
    str.assign(trim_start(str.c_str()),
        trim_end(str.c_str() + str.length()));
}

int main()
{
    char str [] = "\t \nhello\r \t \n";

    string trimmed = trim(str, strlen(str));
    cout << "'" << trimmed << "'" << endl;

    system("pause");
    return 0;
}

Answer 3

EDIT Since c++17, some parts of the standard library were removed. Fortunately, starting with c++11, we have lambdas which are a superior solution.

#include <algorithm> 
#include <cctype>
#include <locale>

// trim from start (in place)
static inline void ltrim(std::string &s) {
    s.erase(s.begin(), std::find_if(s.begin(), s.end(), [](unsigned char ch) {
        return !std::isspace(ch);
    }));
}

// trim from end (in place)
static inline void rtrim(std::string &s) {
    s.erase(std::find_if(s.rbegin(), s.rend(), [](unsigned char ch) {
        return !std::isspace(ch);
    }).base(), s.end());
}

// trim from both ends (in place)
static inline void trim(std::string &s) {
    ltrim(s);
    rtrim(s);
}

// trim from start (copying)
static inline std::string ltrim_copy(std::string s) {
    ltrim(s);
    return s;
}

// trim from end (copying)
static inline std::string rtrim_copy(std::string s) {
    rtrim(s);
    return s;
}

// trim from both ends (copying)
static inline std::string trim_copy(std::string s) {
    trim(s);
    return s;
}

Thanks to https://stackoverflow.com/a/44973498/524503 for bringing up the modern solution.

Original answer:

I tend to use one of these 3 for my trimming needs:

#include <algorithm> 
#include <functional> 
#include <cctype>
#include <locale>

// trim from start
static inline std::string &ltrim(std::string &s) {
    s.erase(s.begin(), std::find_if(s.begin(), s.end(),
            std::not1(std::ptr_fun<int, int>(std::isspace))));
    return s;
}

// trim from end
static inline std::string &rtrim(std::string &s) {
    s.erase(std::find_if(s.rbegin(), s.rend(),
            std::not1(std::ptr_fun<int, int>(std::isspace))).base(), s.end());
    return s;
}

// trim from both ends
static inline std::string &trim(std::string &s) {
    return ltrim(rtrim(s));
}

They are fairly self-explanatory and work very well.

EDIT: BTW, I have std::ptr_fun in there to help disambiguate std::isspace because there is actually a second definition which supports locales. This could have been a cast just the same, but I tend to like this better.

EDIT: To address some comments about accepting a parameter by reference, modifying and returning it. I Agree. An implementation that I would likely prefer would be two sets of functions, one for in place and one which makes a copy. A better set of examples would be:

#include <algorithm> 
#include <functional> 
#include <cctype>
#include <locale>

// trim from start (in place)
static inline void ltrim(std::string &s) {
    s.erase(s.begin(), std::find_if(s.begin(), s.end(),
            std::not1(std::ptr_fun<int, int>(std::isspace))));
}

// trim from end (in place)
static inline void rtrim(std::string &s) {
    s.erase(std::find_if(s.rbegin(), s.rend(),
            std::not1(std::ptr_fun<int, int>(std::isspace))).base(), s.end());
}

// trim from both ends (in place)
static inline void trim(std::string &s) {
    ltrim(s);
    rtrim(s);
}

// trim from start (copying)
static inline std::string ltrim_copy(std::string s) {
    ltrim(s);
    return s;
}

// trim from end (copying)
static inline std::string rtrim_copy(std::string s) {
    rtrim(s);
    return s;
}

// trim from both ends (copying)
static inline std::string trim_copy(std::string s) {
    trim(s);
    return s;
}

I am keeping the original answer above though for context and in the interest of keeping the high voted answer still available.

Answer 4

This is what I use. Just keep removing space from the front, and then, if there's anything left, do the same from the back.

void trim(string& s) {
    while(s.compare(0,1," ")==0)
        s.erase(s.begin()); // remove leading whitespaces
    while(s.size()>0 && s.compare(s.size()-1,1," ")==0)
        s.erase(s.end()-1); // remove trailing whitespaces
}

Answer 5

Use the following code to right trim (trailing) spaces and tab characters from std::strings (ideone):

// trim trailing spaces
size_t endpos = str.find_last_not_of(" \t");
size_t startpos = str.find_first_not_of(" \t");
if( std::string::npos != endpos )
{
    str = str.substr( 0, endpos+1 );
    str = str.substr( startpos );
}
else {
    str.erase(std::remove(std::begin(str), std::end(str), ' '), std::end(str));
}

And just to balance things out, I'll include the left trim code too (ideone):

// trim leading spaces
size_t startpos = str.find_first_not_of(" \t");
if( string::npos != startpos )
{
    str = str.substr( startpos );
}

Answer 6

Trim C++11 implementation:

static void trim(std::string &s) {
     s.erase(s.begin(), std::find_if_not(s.begin(), s.end(), [](char c){ return std::isspace(c); }));
     s.erase(std::find_if_not(s.rbegin(), s.rend(), [](char c){ return std::isspace(c); }).base(), s.end());
}