Elixir - Split a string so it doesn't return empty strings in the list?

Question

I'm splitting a string on a regex. The resulting array contains empty strings where the regex matched. I don't want those. E.g.,

iex(1)> String.split("Hello world. How are you?", ~r/\W/)
["Hello", "world", "", "How", "are", "you", ""]

How can I split a string so it doesn't return empty strings in the list?

Rodney Folz · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-11 07:50:18Z

20

Empty strings are only removed from the result if the trim option is set to true (default is false).

So you'll want to add that as an option in your call to String.split:

String.split("Hello world. How are you?", ~r/\W/, trim: true)
["Hello", "world", "How", "are", "you"]

answered May 11, 2016 at 7:50

Rodney Folz

6,8572 gold badges33 silver badges39 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Answer 1