I read files from customers and I need to process the read data and remove some unneeded characters. My function works, but I'm trying to improve the FixData function to improve speed/performance and maintainability.
Is it possible to replace multiple StringReplace calls with something that will only loop through data once and replace with whatever it needs to?
I can't find MultipleStringReplace or similar function.
MCVE:
function FixData(const vStr:string):string;
var i:integer;
begin
Result:=vStr;
// empty string
if Result = #0 then Result := '';
// fix just New line indicator
if Result = #13#10 then Result := #8;
// remove 'end'/#0 characters
if Pos(#0, Result) > 0 then
for i := 1 to Length(Result) do
if Result[i] = #0 then
Result[i] := ' ';
// #$D#$A -> #8
if Pos(#$D#$A, Result) > 0 then
Result := StringReplace(Result, #$D#$A, #8, [rfReplaceAll]);
// remove 
if Pos('
', Result) > 0 then
Result := StringReplace(Result, '
', '', [rfReplaceAll]);
// #$A -> #8
if Pos(#$A, Result) > 0 then
Result := StringReplace(Result, #$A, #8, [rfReplaceAll]);
// replace " with temp_replacement value
if Pos(chr(34), Result) > 0 then
Result := StringReplace(Result, chr(34), '\_/', [rfReplaceAll]);
end;
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var vStr,vFixedStr:string;
begin
vStr:='testingmystr:"quotest" - '+#0+' substr 
 new line '#$A' 2nd line '#$D#$A' end of data';
vFixedStr:=FixData(vStr);
end;
I guess, you have to split your string into a set of strings ( non-delimiters and delimiters(patterns) ) and then replace items in the array and then combine them back yet again. You would start with longer patterns and go to shorter ones (safety check against pattern-inside-pattern), then an extra run would be to make one-char-to-one-char substitutions (as they can be done in-place and would not require memory copying).
Double copy, and search scaling as O(Length(input)*Count(Delimiters)).
Something like this pseudocode draft (not implemented to the last dot, just for you to have the idea):
Since your patterns are short I think linear search would be okay, otherwise more optimized but complex algorithms would be needed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_searching_algorithm#Algorithms_using_a_finite_set_of_patterns
Hash it to smaller functions as you see fit for ease of understanding/maintenance.
Type TReplaceItem = record (match, subst: string; position: integer);
var matches: array of TReplaceItem;
SetLength(matches, 3);
matches[0].match := '
'; // most long first;
matches[0].subst := '';
matches[1].match := #$D#$A; // most long first;
matches[1].subst := #8;
matches[2].match := #34; // most long first;
matches[2].subst := '\_/';
sb := TStringBuilder.Create( 2*Length(InputString) );
// or TList<String>, or iJclStringList of Jedi CodeLib, or TStringList... depending on performance and preferences
// Capacity parameter is for - warming up, pre-allocating memory that is "usually enough"
try
NextLetterToParse := 1;
for I := Low(matches) to high(matches) do
matches[I].position := PosEx(matches[I].match, InputString, NextLetterToParse );
While True do begin
ClosestMatchIdx := -1;
ClosestMatchPos := { minimal match[???].Position that is >= NextLetterToParse };
ClosestMatchIdx := {index - that very [???] above - of the minimum, IF ANY, or remains -1}
if ClosestMatchIdx < 0 {we have no more matches} then begin
//dump ALL the remaining not-yet-parsed rest
SB.Append( Copy( InputString, NextLetterToParse , Length(InputString));
// exit stage1: splitting loop
break;
end;
// dumping the before-any-next-delimiter part of not-parsed-yet tail of the input
// there may be none - delimiters could go one after another
if ClosestMatchPos > NextLetterToParse then
SB.Append( Copy( InputString, NextLetterToParse, ClosestMatchPos-NextLetterToParse);
// dumping the instead-of-delimiter pattern
SB.Append( matches[ ClosestMatchIdx ].Subst );
ShiftLength := (ClosestMatchPos - NextLetterToParse) + Length(matches[ ClosestMatchIdx ].Match);
// that extra part got already dumped now
Inc( NextLetterToParse, ShiftLength);
for I := Low(matches) to high(matches) do
if matches[I].position < NextLetterToParse then
matches[I].position := PosEx(matches[I].match, InputString, NextLetterToParse );
// updating next closest positions for every affected delimiter,
// those that were a bit too far to be affected ( usually all
// but the one being dumped) need not to be re-scanned
end; // next stage 1 loop iteration
Now we have a container/array/list/anything comprised of non-matched chunks and replaced patterns. Except for in-place one-char replacement. Time to merge and do one last scan.
Stage2String := SB.ToString();
finally
SB.Destroy;
end;
for I := 1 to Length( Stage2String ) do
case Stage2String[I] of
#0: Stage2String[I] := #32;
#10, #13: Stage2String[I] := #8;
// BTW - ^M=#13=#$D sometimes can be met without trailing ^J=#10=#$A
// that was the end-of-line char used in old Macintosh text files
else ; // do nothing, let it stay as is
end;
Result := Stage2String;