Objective-C: Find and Replace in String

Question

I have a string, dynamically generated from a website, that I would like to change.

I already know you need to change the string to a NSMutableString, but the part I want to remove is almost never the same. (e.g. [XXXXX] or [XABXX] ... there are thousands of combos).

The only static parts are the square brackets on either end and that there are 5 characters in between.

How would I recognise and remove this string of seven characters ([*****], with the *'s representing a random letter)?

Answer 1

Look at using the NSRegularExpression class to find each substring you need to operate on.

Answer 2

A simple search and you can find it here:

with a simple change:

- (NSString *)stringCleaner:(NSString *)yourString {
    NSScanner *theScanner;
    NSString *text = nil;

    theScanner = [NSScanner scannerWithString:yourString];

    while ([theScanner isAtEnd] == NO) {
        [theScanner scanUpToString:@"[" intoString:NULL] ;
        [theScanner scanUpToString:@"]" intoString:&text] ;
        yourString = [yourString stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@]", text] withString:@""];
    }

    return yourString;
}