String.Trim Method (System)

Trim Method

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library

String..::.Trim Method

Updated: November 2007

Removes all leading and trailing white-space characters from the current String object.

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Function Trim As String

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As String
Dim returnValue As String

returnValue = instance.Trim()

public string Trim()

Visual C++

public:
String^ Trim()

public String Trim()

JScript

public function Trim() : String

Return Value

Type: System..::.String

The string that remains after all white-space characters are removed from the start and end of the current String object.

Remarks

The Trim method removes from the current string all leading and trailing white-space characters. Each leading and trailing trim operation stops when a non-white-space character is encountered. For example, if the current string is " abc xyz ", the Trim method returns "abc xyz".

Note:
This method does not modify the value of the current instance. Instead, it returns a new string in which all leading and trailing white space characters found in the current instance are removed.

The following table lists the white-space characters removed by the Trim method. (Note that even though the static Char..::.IsWhiteSpace(Char) method returns true when passed a particular character, that character is not necessarily removed by the Trim method.) The first column lists the Unicode name for the character, and the second column lists the hexadecimal notation for the Unicode code point that identifies the character.

Unicode name	Unicode code point
CHARACTER TABULATION	U+0009
LINE FEED	U+000A
LINE TABULATION	U+000B
FORM FEED	U+000C
CARRIAGE RETURN	U+000D
SPACE	U+0020
NEXT LINE	U+0085
NO-BREAK SPACE	U+00A0
OGHAM SPACE MARK	U+1680
EN QUAD	U+2000
EM QUAD	U+2001
EN SPACE	U+2002
EM SPACE	U+2003
THREE-PER-EM SPACE	U+2004
FOUR-PER-EM SPACE	U+2005
SIX-PER-EM SPACE	U+2006
FIGURE SPACE	U+2007
PUNCTUATION SPACE	U+2008
THIN SPACE	U+2009
HAIR SPACE	U+200A
ZERO WIDTH SPACE	U+200B
LINE SEPARATOR	U+2028
PARAGRAPH SEPARATOR	U+2029
IDEOGRAPHIC SPACE	U+3000
ZERO WIDTH NO-BREAK SPACE	U+FEFF

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the Trim(array<Char>[]()[]) method overload.

Visual Basic

Imports System

Public Class TrimTest

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim temp As String() = MakeArray()


        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:")
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", [String].Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine)
        Dim i As Integer

        ' trim whitespace from both ends of the elements
        For i = 0 To temp.Length - 1
            temp(i) = temp(i).Trim()

        Next i
        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:")
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", [String].Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine)

        ' reset the array
        temp = MakeArray()

        ' trim the start of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        For i = 0 To temp.Length - 1
            temp(i) = temp(i).TrimStart(" "c)
        Next i

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:")
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", [String].Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine)

        ' reset the array
        temp = MakeArray()

        ' trim the end of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        For i = 0 To temp.Length - 1
            temp(i) = temp(i).TrimEnd(" "c)
        Next i

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:")
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'", [String].Concat(temp))
    End Sub 'Main

    Private Shared Function MakeArray() As String()
        Dim arr As String() = {"  please    ", "  tell    ", "  me    ", "  about    ", "  yourself    "}
        Return arr
    End Function 'MakeArray
End Class 'TrimTest

' This code example displays the following to the console:
'
' Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:
' '  please      tell      me      about      yourself    '
'
' Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
' 'pleasetellmeaboutyourself'
'
' Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
' 'please    tell    me    about    yourself    '
'
' Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
' '  please  tell  me  about  yourself'

using System;

public class TrimTest {
    public static void Main() {

        string [] temp = MakeArray();

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine);

        // trim whitespace from both ends of the elements
        for (int i = 0; i < temp.Length; i++)
            temp[i] = temp[i].Trim();

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine);

        // reset the array
        temp = MakeArray();

        // trim the start of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        for (int i = 0; i < temp.Length; i++)
            temp[i] = temp[i].TrimStart(null);

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine);

        // reset the array
        temp = MakeArray();

        // trim the end of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        for (int i = 0; i < temp.Length; i++)
            temp[i] = temp[i].TrimEnd(null);

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'", String.Concat(temp));
    }

    private static string [] MakeArray() {
        string [] arr = {"  please    ", "  tell    ", "  me    ", "  about    ", "  yourself    "};
        return arr;
    }
}

// This code example displays the following to the console:
//
// Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please      tell      me      about      yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'pleasetellmeaboutyourself'
//
// Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'please    tell    me    about    yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please  tell  me  about  yourself'

Visual C++

using namespace System;

array<String^>^ MakeArray()
{
   array<String^>^arr = {"  please    ","  tell    ","  me    ","  about    ","  yourself    "};
   return arr;
}

int main()
{
   array<String^>^temp = MakeArray();
   Console::WriteLine( "Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:" );
   Console::WriteLine( "'{0}'\n", String::Concat( temp ) );

   // trim whitespace from both ends of the elements
   for ( int i = 0; i < temp->Length; i++ )
      temp[ i ] = temp[ i ]->Trim();
   Console::WriteLine( "Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:" );
   Console::WriteLine( "'{0}'", String::Concat( temp ) );

   // reset the array
   temp = MakeArray();

   // trim the start of the elements-> Passing 0 trims whitespace only
   for ( int i = 0; i < temp->Length; i++ )
      temp[ i ] = temp[ i ]->TrimStart( 0 );
   Console::WriteLine( "Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:" );
   Console::WriteLine( "'{0}'\n", String::Concat( temp ) );

   // reset the array
   temp = MakeArray();

   // trim the end of the elements-> Passing 0 trims whitespace only
   for ( int i = 0; i < temp->Length; i++ )
      temp[ i ] = temp[ i ]->TrimEnd( 0 );
   Console::WriteLine( "Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:" );
   Console::WriteLine( "'{0}'", String::Concat( temp ) );
}
// This code example displays the following to the console:
//
// Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please      tell      me      about      yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'pleasetellmeaboutyourself'
//
// Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'please    tell    me    about    yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please  tell  me  about  yourself'

import System.*;

public class TrimTest
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        String temp[] = MakeArray();

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the inital values in the array," 
            + " we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp),
            Environment.get_NewLine());
        // trim whitespace from both ends of the elements
        for (int i = 0; i < temp.get_Length(); i++) {
            temp.set_Item(i, temp[i].Trim());
        }
        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the trimmed values in the array," 
            + " we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), 
            Environment.get_NewLine());
        // reset the array
        temp = MakeArray();
        // trim the start of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        for (int i = 0; i < temp.get_Length(); i++) {
            temp.set_Item(i, temp[i].TrimStart(null));
        }
        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the " 
            + "array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), 
            Environment.get_NewLine());
        // reset the array
        temp = MakeArray();
        // trim the end of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        for (int i = 0; i < temp.get_Length(); i++) {
            temp.set_Item(i, temp[i].TrimEnd(null));
        }
        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array," 
            + " we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'", String.Concat(temp));
    } //main

    private static String[] MakeArray()
    {
        String arr[] =  { "  please    ", "  tell    ", "  me    ", 
            "  about    ", "  yourself    " };
        return arr;
    } //MakeArray
} //TrimTest

// This code example displays the following to the console:
//
// Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please      tell      me      about      yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'pleasetellmeaboutyourself'
//
// Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'please    tell    me    about    yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please  tell  me  about  yourself'

JScript

import System;

public class TrimTest {
    public static function Main() : void {

        var temp : String [] = MakeArray();

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine);

        // trim whitespace from both ends of the elements
        for (var i : int = 0; i < temp.Length; i++)
            temp[i] = temp[i].Trim();

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine);

        // reset the array
        temp = MakeArray();

    var c : char[] = undefined;

        // trim the start of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        for (i = 0; i < temp.Length; i++)
            temp[i] = temp[i].TrimStart(c);

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'{1}", String.Concat(temp), Environment.NewLine);

        // reset the array
        temp = MakeArray();

        // trim the end of the elements. Passing null trims whitespace only
        for (i = 0; i < temp.Length; i++)
            temp[i] = temp[i].TrimEnd(c);

        Console.WriteLine("Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:");
        Console.WriteLine("'{0}'", String.Concat(temp));
    }

    private static function MakeArray() : String [] {
        var arr : String [] = ["  please    ", "  tell    ", "  me    ", "  about    ", "  yourself    "];
        return arr;
    }
}
TrimTest.Main();

// This code example displays the following to the console:
//
// Concatenating the inital values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please      tell      me      about      yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'pleasetellmeaboutyourself'
//
// Concatenating the start-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// 'please    tell    me    about    yourself    '
//
// Concatenating the end-trimmed values in the array, we get the string:
// '  please  tell  me  about  yourself'

Platforms

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information