CleanString Method

Applies To

Application object, Global object.

Description

Removes nonprinting characters (character codes 1 – 29) and special Word characters from the specified string or changes them to spaces (character code 32), as described in the "Remarks" section. Returns the result as a string.

Syntax

expression.CleanString(String)

expression Optional. An expression that returns an Application object.

String Required String. The source string.

Remarks

In Windows, the following characters are converted as described in this table.

Character code	Description

7 (beep)	Removed unless preceded by character 13 (paragraph), then converted to character 9 (tab).
10 (line feed)	Converted to character 13 (paragraph) unless preceded by character 13, then removed.
13 (paragraph)	Unchanged.
31 (optional hyphen)	Removed.
160 (nonbreaking space)	Converted to character 32 (space).
172 (optional hyphen)	Removed.
176 (nonbreaking space)	Converted to character 32 (space).
182 (paragraph mark)	Removed.
183 (bullet)	Converted to character 32 (space).

On the Macintosh, the following characters are converted as described in this table.

Character code	Description

7 (beep)	Removed unless preceded by character 13 (paragraph), then converted to character 9 (tab).
10 (line feed)	Converted to character 13 (paragraph) unless preceded by character 13, then removed.
13 (paragraph)	Unchanged.
31 (optional hyphen)	Removed.
194 (optional hyphen)	Removed.
202 (nonbreaking space)	Converted to character 32 (space).

Example

This example removes nonprinting characters from the selected text and inserts the result into a new document.

cleanUp = Application.CleanString(Selection.Text)
Set myDoc = Documents.Add
myDoc.Content.InsertAfter cleanUp

This example removes nonprinting characters from the selected field code and then displays the result.

ActiveWindow.View.ShowFieldCodes = True
ActiveDocument.Fields(1).Select
MsgBox Application.CleanString(Selection.Text)