Removing multiple characters from string field using Field Calculator Python Parser?

Question

Is it possible to remove more than 1 character from a string in a field using the field calculator?

I know

!file!.replace(" ","")

removes spaces in a string, but is it possible to remove spaces and other characters such as "!", "?", "," all at once?

I have also tried:

Pre Logic Script:

def replChars(Name):
    replaceChars = ["!","?",","]
    for char in replaceChars:
        Name.replace(char,"")

Field =

replChars(!NH_NAME!)

Answer 1

Even though this question can be considered off topic I though I would make a suggestion.

Try using the Python re module in the Field Calculator. Here is a simple example used in the ArcMap field calculator.

Pre-Logic Script Code

 import re
 def repChar(strg)
     regexChars = '[!@$*#]'
     line = re.sub(regexChars,'',x)
     return line

Field

repChar(strg)

I know this isn't a very detailed excample but it's all I have time for at the moment.

Answer 2

Your single line

!file!.replace(" ","")

can be added to by including more .replace()

!file!.replace(" ","").replace("?","").replace(",","").replace(chr(33),"")

and so on. You may need to escape some of the characters, or use their chr() code if the field calculator doesn't like them. chr(33) in my example replaces the !.

Chr codes can be retrieved from: http://www.ascii-code.com/ or by opening the python window in ArcMap and typing ord("!"), for example, or whatever character you want to find into ord().

Answer 3

It's not pretty, but

''.join([x for x in list(!file!) if x not in ["!","@","$"]])

should remove any single character you specify in the list, and return the resulting characters as a string (the "etc" in your example wouldn't work, however).