Determine if a string is collapsible
Determine if a character string is collapsible.
And if so, collapse the string (by removing immediately repeated characters).
If a character string has immediately repeated character(s), the repeated characters are to be deleted (removed), but not the primary (1st) character(s).
An immediately repeated character is any character that is immediately followed by an
identical character (or characters). Another word choice could've been duplicated character, but that
might have ruled out (to some readers) triplicated characters ··· or more.
(This Rosetta Code task was inspired by a newly introduced (as of November 2019) PL/I BIF: collapse).
- Examples
In the following character string:
The better the 4-wheel drive, the further you'll be from help when ya get stuck!
Only the 2nd t, e, and l are repeated characters, indicated
by underscores (above), even though they (those characters) appear elsewhere in the character string.
So, after collapsing the string, the result would be:
The beter the 4-whel drive, the further you'l be from help when ya get stuck!
Another example:
In the following character string:
headmistressship
The "collapsed" string would be:
headmistreship
- Task
Write a subroutine/function/procedure/routine··· to locate repeated characters and collapse (delete) them from the character string. The character string can be processed from either direction.
Show all output here, on this page:
- the original string and its length
- the resultant string and its length
- the above strings should be "bracketed" with <<< and >>> (to delineate blanks)
- «««Guillemets may be used instead for "bracketing" for the more artistic programmers, shown used here»»»
Use (at least) the following five strings, all strings are length seventy-two (characters, including blanks), except the 1st string:
string
number
╔╗
1 ║╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ◄■■■■■■ a null string (length zero)
2 ║"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" --- Abraham Lincoln ║
3 ║..1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111117777888║
4 ║I never give 'em hell, I just tell the truth, and they think it's hell. ║
5 ║ --- Harry S Truman ║ ◄■■■■■■ has many repeated blanks
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
- Related tasks
REXX
<lang rexx>/*REXX program "collapses" all immediately repeated characters in a string (or strings).*/ @.= /*define a default for the @. array. */ parse arg x /*obtain optional argument from the CL.*/ if x\= then @.1= x /*if user specified an arg, use that. */
else do; @.1=
@.2= '"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" --- Abraham Lincoln '
@.3= ..1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111177788
@.4= "I never give 'em hell, I just tell the truth, and they think it's hell. "
@.5= ' --- Harry S Truman '
end
do j=1; L= length(@.j) /*obtain the length of an array element*/
say copies('═', 105) /*show a separator line between outputs*/
if j>1 & L==0 then leave /*if arg is null and J>1, then leave. */
say ' length='right(L, 3) " input=«««" || @.j || '»»»'
new= collapse(@.j)
w= length(new)
say ' length='right(w, 3) " output=«««" || new || '»»»'
end /*j*/
exit /*stick a fork in it, we're all done. */ /*──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────*/ collapse: procedure; parse arg y 1 $ 2 /*get a value from arg; get 1st char. */
do k=2 to length(y) /*traipse through almost all the chars.*/
_= substr(y, k, 1) /*pick a character from Y*/
if _==right($, 1) then iterate /*Same character? Skip it.*/
$= $ || _ /*append char., it's diff.*/
end /*j*/
return $</lang>
- output when using the internal default inputs:
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
length= 0 input=«««»»»
length= 0 output=«««»»»
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
length= 72 input=«««"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" --- Abraham Lincoln »»»
length= 70 output=«««"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" - Abraham Lincoln »»»
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
length= 72 input=«««..1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111177788»»»
length= 4 output=«««.178»»»
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
length= 72 input=«««I never give 'em hell, I just tell the truth, and they think it's hell. »»»
length= 69 output=«««I never give 'em hel, I just tel the truth, and they think it's hel. »»»
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
length= 72 input=««« --- Harry S Truman »»»
length= 17 output=««« - Hary S Truman »»»
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════