javascript remove line breaks from string

Javascript: Remove Line Breaks from String

Introduction

Line breaks or new line characters are used to separate lines in a text. However, sometimes we want to remove these line breaks from a string for different purposes. In Javascript, there are several ways to remove line breaks from a string. In this post, I will explain a few ways to do it.

Method 1: Using Regular Expression

The easiest way to remove line breaks from a string is by using regular expressions. We can use the replace() method of the string object in Javascript and provide a regular expression to find and replace all occurrences of line breaks.

const textWithLineBreaks = "This is a text with\nline breaks";
const textWithoutLineBreaks = textWithLineBreaks.replace(/(\r\n|\n|\r)/gm, "");
console.log(textWithoutLineBreaks); // "This is a text with line breaks"

In the above example, we have used the regular expression /(\r\n|\n|\r)/gm to find all occurrences of line breaks in the string. The /g flag is used to find all occurrences, and the /m flag is used to match line breaks.

Method 2: Using Array Methods

We can also remove line breaks from a string by converting it into an array and then joining it into a single string without line breaks. We can use the split() method of the string object to split the string at each line break and get an array of lines. Then, we can use the join() method to join the lines into a single string without line breaks.

const textWithLineBreaks = "This is a text with\nline breaks";
const textArray = textWithLineBreaks.split(/(\r\n|\n|\r)/gm);
const textWithoutLineBreaks = textArray.join("");
console.log(textWithoutLineBreaks); // "This is a text with line breaks"

In the above example, we have used the regular expression /(\r\n|\n|\r)/gm to split the string at each line break and get an array of lines. Then, we have used the join() method to join the lines into a single string without line breaks.

Method 3: Using Iteration

We can also remove line breaks from a string by iterating over each character of the string and adding only those characters to a new string that are not line breaks. We can use a loop or the forEach() method of the array object to iterate over each character of the string.

const textWithLineBreaks = "This is a text with\nline breaks";
let textWithoutLineBreaks = "";
textWithLineBreaks.split("").forEach(char => {
  if (char !== "\n" && char !== "\r") {
    textWithoutLineBreaks += char;
  }
});
console.log(textWithoutLineBreaks); // "This is a text with line breaks"

In the above example, we have used the split() method of the string object to convert the string into an array of characters. Then, we have used the forEach() method to iterate over each character of the string and added only those characters to a new string that are not line breaks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have learned different ways to remove line breaks from a string in Javascript. We can use regular expressions, array methods, or iteration to achieve this. Depending on the situation, we can choose the most suitable method.