JavaScript: Remove non-word characters

JavaScript String : Exercise-33 with Solution

Remove Non-Word Characters

Write a JavaScript function to remove non-word characters.

Test Data :
console.log(remove_non_word('PHP ~!@#$%^&*()+`-={}[]|\\:";\'/?><., MySQL'));
"PHP - MySQL"

Visual Presentation:

Sample Solution:

JavaScript Code :

// Define a function named remove_non_word which takes a string parameter str
function remove_non_word (str) {
    // Check if the input string is null or empty
    if ((str===null) || (str===''))
       // If the input string is null or empty, return false
       return false;
    else
       // If the input string is not null or empty, convert it to a string type
       str = str.toString();
  
    // Define a regular expression pattern to match non-word characters
    var PATTERN = /[^\x20\x2D0-9A-Z\x5Fa-z\xC0-\xD6\xD8-\xF6\xF8-\xFF]/g;
  
    // Use the replace method with the defined pattern to remove non-word characters from the string
    return str.replace(PATTERN, '');
}

// Call the remove_non_word function with a test string and log the result to the console
console.log(remove_non_word('PHP ~!@#$%^&*()+`-={}[]|\\:";\'/?><., MySQL'));

Output:

PHP - MySQL

Explanation:

In the exercise above,

• The function "remove_non_word()" takes a string 'str' as input.
• It checks if the input string is null or empty. If so, it returns false.
• If the input string is not null or empty, it converts it to a string type.
• A regular expression pattern "PATTERN" is defined to match non-word characters.
• The "replace()" method is used to remove non-word characters from the string using the defined pattern.
• Finally, the function returns the modified string with non-word characters removed.

Flowchart :

Live Demo :

See the Pen JavaScript Remove non-word characters-string-ex-33 by w3resource (@w3resource) on CodePen.

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a JavaScript function that removes all non-word characters (anything other than letters, digits, and underscores) from a string.
• Write a JavaScript function that uses a regular expression to filter out special characters while preserving spaces.
• Write a JavaScript function that validates the input string and returns only alphanumeric characters and spaces.
• Write a JavaScript function that strips punctuation and symbols from a string to leave only words.

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