View Category
Strings
Printing

Output a string to the console

Write the string "Hello World!" to STDOUT
fsharp
printfn "Hello World!"
clojure
(println "Hello World!")
groovy
println "Hello World!"

Retrieve a string containing ampersands from the variables in a url

My PHP script first does a query to obtain customer info for a form. The form has first name and last name fields among others. The customer has put entries such as "Ron & Jean" in the first name field in the database. Then the edit form script is called with variables such as

"http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=Ron & Jean&lname=Smith".

The script variable for first name $_REQUEST['firstname'] never gets beyond the "Ron" value because of the ampersand in the data.

I have tried various functions like urldecode but all to no avail. I even tried encoding the url before the view screen is painted so that the url looks like "http://myserver/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname="Ronxxnbsp;xxamp;xxnbsp;Jean"&lname=SMITH". (sorry I had to add the xx to replace the ampersand or it didn't display meaningful url contents the browser sees.)

Of course this fails for the same reasons. What is a better approach?
fsharp
//the problem arises due to the fact that you've attempted to apply HTML entities encoding rather than URL encoding to your data!
//in F#, for example, assuming you would call this function with fname and lname parameters, this would produce the desired output
let getProperUrl fname lname = sprintf "http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=%s&lname=%s" (HttpUtility.UrlEncode fname) (HttpUtility.UrlEncode lname)
// Example that shows encoding and decoding:
let queryString =
let fname = HttpUtility.UrlEncode("Ron & James")
let lname = HttpUtility.UrlEncode("Smith & Jones")
sprintf "http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=%s&lname=%s" fname lname
/// All parameters in the URL as a lookup map
let parameters =
let paramStart = queryString.IndexOf('?')
if paramStart < 0 then
Map.empty
else
let values =
queryString.Substring(paramStart + 1)
|> HttpUtility.ParseQueryString
values.AllKeys
|> Seq.map (fun key -> key, values.[key])
|> Map.ofSeq
let fname = parameters.TryFind("fname")
let lname = parameters.TryFind("lname")
clojure
(->> {"mode" "view"
"fname" "Ron & Jean"
"lname" "Smith"}
(map #(str (URLEncoder/encode (first %) "UTF-8")
"="
(URLEncoder/encode (second %) "UTF-8")))
(reduce (fn [url e] (str url "&" e))
"http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php"))
groovy
// Given the nature of the question text, I am assuming the question
// is how to produce a application/x-www-form-urlencoded compliant string

def basename = 'http://somedomain.com/somebase/'
def parameter = 'Bart & Lisa'
// equivalent to php
println basename + URLEncoder.encode(parameter)
// recommended approach is to specify encoding
println basename + URLEncoder.encode(parameter, "UTF-8")

string-wrap

Wrap the string "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. " repeated ten times to a max width of 78 chars, starting each line with "> "

Expected output:
> The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over t
> he lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox
> jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The qui
> ck brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy
> dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps o
> ver the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
clojure
(defn string-wrap [s]
(if (= 0 (count s))
nil
(lazy-seq (cons (apply str (take 78 s))
(string-wrap (drop 78 s))))))

(let [s (apply str (repeat 10 "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. "))]
(doseq [line (string-wrap s)]
(println "> " line)))
groovy
'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. '.multiply(10).split('(?<=\\G.{76})').each{println '> ' + it}
st = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. " * 10
width = 76
while(st){
(first, st) = st.length() > width? [st[0..width], st[(width+1)..-1].trim()] : [st, null]
println "> $first"
}
Declaration

Define a string containing special characters

Define the literal string "\#{'}${"}/"
fsharp
let special = "\#{'}${\"}/"
clojure
(def special "\\#{'}${\"}/")
groovy
special = "\\#{'}\${\"}/"
special = '\\#{\'}${"}/'
special = /\#{'}${'$'}{"}\//

Define a multiline string

Define the string:
"This
Is
A
Multiline
String"
fsharp
let multiline = "This\nIs\nA\nMultiline\nString"
let multiline = "This
Is
A
Multiline
String"
clojure
(def multiline "This\nIs\nA\nMultiline\nString")
groovy
def text =
"""This
Is
A
Multiline
String"""
def text = "This\nIs\nA\nMultiline\nString"

Define a string containing variables and expressions

Given variables a=3 and b=4 output "3+4=7"
fsharp
let a, b = 3, 4
let mystr = sprintf "%d+%d=%d" a b (a+b)
printfn "%s" mystr
clojure
(format "%d + %d = %d" a b (+ a b))
groovy
println "$a+$b=${a+b}"
printf "%d+%d=%d\n", a, b, a + b
Manipulation

Reverse the characters in a string

Given the string "reverse me", produce the string "em esrever"
fsharp
let reversed = new String (Array.rev ("reverse me".ToCharArray()))
let word = "reverse me"
//reverse the word
let reversedword =
word.ToCharArray()
|> Array.fold(fun acc x -> x::acc) []
clojure
(require '[clojure.contrib.str-utils2 :as str])
(str/reverse "reverse me")
(apply str (reverse "reverse me"))
groovy
reversed = "reverse me".reverse()

Reverse the words in a string

Given the string "This is a end, my only friend!", produce the string "friend! only my end, the is This"
fsharp
let reversed = String.Join(" ", Array.rev("This is the end, my only friend!".Split [|' '|]))
clojure
(require '[clojure.contrib.str-utils2 :as str])
(str/join " " (reverse (str/split "this is the end, my only friend!" #" ")))
(apply str (interpose " " (reverse (re-seq #"[^\s]+" "This is the end, my only friend!"))))
groovy
reversed = "This is the end, my only friend!".split().reverse().join(' ')
reversed = "This is the end, my only friend!".tokenize(' ').reverse().join(' ')
def revdelim(c, s) { StringUtils.reverseDelimited(s, c) }
revwords = this.&revdelim.curry(" " as char)
reversed = revwords("This is the end, my only friend!")
reversed = StringUtils.reverseDelimited("This is the end, my only friend!", " " as char)

Text wrapping

Wrap the string "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. " repeated ten times to a max width of 78 chars, starting each line with "> ", yielding this result:

> The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
> over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The
> quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
> over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The
> quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
> over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The
> quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
fsharp
let prefix = "> "
let input = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. "

(String.split ['\n'] (textwrap (copies input 10) (73 - prefix.Length))) |> List.iter (fun line -> printfn "%s%s" prefix line)
let output maxWidth (s: string) =
let rec wrap = function
| lineSoFar, ([| |]: string array)-> printfn "%s" lineSoFar
| ">" as lineSoFar, (words: string array) ->
// Handle this case separately, thus we can also deal with
// cases where a word is longer then the max width
wrap (lineSoFar + " " + words.[0], Array.sub words 1 (words.Length - 1))
| lineSoFar, words when words.[0].Length + lineSoFar.Length >= maxWidth ->
printfn "%s" lineSoFar
wrap (">", words)
| lineSoFar, words ->
wrap(lineSoFar + " " + words.[0], Array.sub words 1 (words.Length - 1))
wrap (">", s.Split([| ' ' |]))

[| for i in 1 .. 10 do yield "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." |]
|> String.concat " "
|> output 78
clojure
(doseq [line (re-seq #".{0,70} "
(apply str
(repeat 10 "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ")))]
(println ">" line))
groovy
// no built-in fill, define one using brute force approach
def fill(text, width=80, prefix='') {
width = width - prefix.size()
def out = []
List words = text.replaceAll("\n", " ").split(" ")
while (words) {
def line = ''
while (words) {
if (line.size() + words[0].size() + 1 > width) break
if (line) line += ' '
line += words[0]
words = words.tail()
}
out += prefix + line
}
out.join("\n")
}
println fill('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ' * 10, 72, '> ')
// no built-in fill, define one using lastIndexOf
def fill(text, width=80, prefix='') {
def out = ''
def remaining = text.replaceAll("\n", " ")
while (remaining) {
def next = prefix + remaining
def found = next.lastIndexOf(' ', width)
if (found == -1) remaining = ''
else {
remaining = next.substring(found + 1)
next = next[0..found]
}
out += next + '\n'
}
out
}
println fill('The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ' * 10, 72, '> ')
prefix = '> '
input = 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. '
wrap(input * 10, 72 - prefix.size()).eachLine{ println prefix + it }

Remove leading and trailing whitespace from a string

Given the string "  hello    " return the string "hello".
fsharp
let s = " hello "
let trimmed = s.Trim()
let trimmed = " hello ".Trim()
clojure
(use 'clojure.contrib.str-utils2)
(trim " hello ")
(clojure.string/trim " hello ")
(.trim " hello ")
groovy
assert "hello" == " hello ".trim()

Simple substitution cipher

Take a string and return the ROT13 and ROT47 (Check Wikipedia) version of the string.
For example:
String is: Hello World #123
ROT13 returns: Uryyb Jbeyq #123
ROT47 returns: w6==@ (@C=5 R`ab
fsharp
#light

let rotChar (s:int) (l:int) (h:int) (c:char) =
let charCode = int c
let letterCount = h - l + 1
let newCharCode = (charCode - l + s) % letterCount + l
char newCharCode

let rot13 (text:string) =
let rotChar13 = function
| (c:char) when 'A' <= c && c <= 'Z' -> rotChar 13 (int 'A') (int 'Z') c
| c when 'a' <= c && c <= 'z' -> rotChar 13 (int 'a') (int 'z') c
| c -> c
new string([| for c in text -> rotChar13 c|])

let rot47 (text:string) =
let rotChar47 = function
| ' ' as c -> c
| c -> rotChar 47 (int '!') (int '~') c
new string([| for c in text -> rotChar47 c |])
clojure
(use 'clojure.contrib.cond)

(defn rot13 [s]
(reduce str
(map #(char (let [c (bit-and (int (char %)) 0xDF)]
(+ % (cond-let [i]
(and (>= c (int \A)) (<= c (int \M))) 13
(and (>= c (int \N)) (<= c (int \Z))) -13
true 0))))
(map #(int (char %)) s))))

(defn rot47 [s]
(reduce str
(map #(char (+ % (cond-let [i]
(and (>= % (int \!)) (<= % (int \O))) 47
(and (>= % (int \P)) (<= % (int \~))) -47
true 0)))
(map #(int (char %)) s))))
groovy
char rot13(s) {
char c = s
switch(c) {
case 'A'..'M': case 'a'..'m': return c+13
case 'N'..'Z': case 'n'..'z': return c-13
default : return c
}
}
String.metaClass.rot13 = {
delegate.collect(this.&rot13).join()
}

from = '!"#$%&\'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~'
to = 'PQRSTUVWXYZ[\\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~!"#$%&\'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO'
String.metaClass.rot47 = {
delegate.collect{ int found = from.indexOf(it); found < 0 ? it : to[found] }.join()
}

assert 'Hello World #123'.rot13() == 'Uryyb Jbeyq #123'
assert 'Hello World #123'.rot47() == 'w6==@ (@C=5 R`ab'
Case

Make a string uppercase

Transform "Space Monkey" into "SPACE MONKEY"
fsharp
printfn "%s" ("Space Monkey".ToUpper())
printfn "%s" (String.uppercase "Space Monkey")
clojure
(.toUpperCase "Space Monkey")
groovy
println "Space Monkey".toUpperCase()

Make a string lowercase

Transform "Caps ARE overRated" into "caps are overrated"
fsharp
printfn "%s" ("Caps ARE overRated".ToLower())
printfn "%s" (String.lowercase "Caps ARE overRated")
clojure
(.toLowerCase "Caps ARE overRated")
groovy
println "Caps ARE overRated".toLowerCase()

Capitalise the first letter of each word

Transform "man OF stEEL" into "Man Of Steel"
fsharp
let words = String.Join(" ", Array.map (fun (s : String) -> (String.capitalize (s.ToLower()))) ("man OF stEEL".Split [|' '|]))
let wordlst = List.map (fun s -> (String.capitalize (String.lowercase s))) (String.split [' '] "man OF stEEL")
let words = new StringBuilder(List.hd wordlst)
for (s : String) in (List.tl wordlst) do (words.Append(" ").Append(s))
// Previous solutions used old library functions, here's something that works with F# 2.0
let s= "man OF stEEL"
let UpperFirst = function | "" -> "" | s -> s.Substring(0,1).ToUpper() + s.Substring(1).ToLower()
s.Split(' ') |> Array.map UpperFirst |> String.concat " "
let culture = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US")
let titleCase = culture.TextInfo.ToTitleCase "man oF sTeel"
clojure
(use 'clojure.contrib.str-utils2)
(join " " (map capitalize (split "man OF stEEL" #" ")))
groovy
def capitalize(s) { s[0].toUpperCase() + s[1..-1].toLowerCase() }
caps = "man OF stEEL".replaceAll(/\w+/) { w -> capitalize(w) }
caps = "man OF stEEL".replaceAll(/\w+/) { w -> StringUtils.capitalize(w.toLowerCase()) }
caps = WordUtils.capitalizeFully("man OF stEEL")