topic Re: Replace a string with a string in Mathcad

Replace a string with a string

Snowshoeman — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 14:28:40 GMT

I have a character replace function. I would like to use it to replace a string with a string. If the user inputted duplicate "OR's" then I want the function to thin out "OR OR" to just "OR".

Thanks in advance

Re: Replace a string with a string

Werner_E — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:28:28 GMT

You may try this string replace function.

Re: Replace a string with a string

Snowshoeman — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:08:50 GMT

Thank You! I learn so much from this forum! Your suggestion works!

Re: Replace a string with a string

SPaulis — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:37:12 GMT

@Snowshoeman just do an initial search for "s1" inside "s2". If it is, then return the original text so that you do not have an infinite recursion. Or, like typical replace functions, keep track of the position of the last search and so that the replacement text does not itself get searched. Here are both examples.

If you want the flexibility an exhaustive search while having the protection from recursion, then combine both function so that you keep track of the position only if there can be a recursion:

"check" remembers if "s1" is inside "s2", then in the 'if' function, "pos" is advanced if "check" is true, or it is reset to zero if not.

Re: Replace a string with a string

Snowshoeman — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:26:16 GMT

Thanks!

Re: Replace a string with a string

Werner_E — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:51:05 GMT

@SPaulis wrote:

@Snowshoeman just do an initial search for "s1" inside "s2". If it is, then return the original text so that you do not have an infinite recursion.

Actually my suggestion did not use recursion but rather an iteration loop.

But I like the idea of intercepting the infinite loop that could occur in some cases.

And since we were just talking about recursion, here is a recursive variant of the string replacement that solves the problem in a similar way.

Re: Replace a string with a string

Snowshoeman — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:57:33 GMT

Thanks! I will chew on this too.