Removing non printable characters from an excel file using powershell

Hello,
anyone know how to remove non printable characters from an excel file using powershell?
thanks,
jose.

To add - Excel is a binary file. It cannot be managed via external methods easily. You can write a macro that can do this. Post in the Excel forum and explain what you are seeing and get the MVPs there to show you how to use the macro facility
to edit cells. Outside of cell text "unprintable" characters are a normal part of Excel.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Similar Messages

Need help in removing non printable characters

hi
I am having an issue with non printable characters in webservice. This webservice dishes out xml in B2B communication to my clients programs. Due to data corruption in oracle (dont know who is creating bad data ) I am having non printable characters in the xml file which is generated from database. I am dishing out this to our customers. since the data in updated every day it is imposible to fix the data every time. I need to write a very very effficient method to strip non printable characters from strings from the xml. Can some one Please help on this one. I want to make sure this method is very efficient because this method could be potentially be called lots of times. I am using JDK 1.3.1 and oracle 8i
Any help will be appreciated
Thanks
Ashok Pappu

At some point you existing program is probably converting from String data to the XML bytes through a CharsetEncoder, probably inside a java.io.Writer.
Perhaps your best approach might be to write your own java.nio.charset.CharsetEncoder which deals with the bad characters as you see fit.
You can register a new java.nio.charset.CharSet as a private character set type. Because this should result in simply replacing a standard CharsetEncoder with a non-standard one hopefully the overheads would be low.

Removing non-printable characters

Hi All,
I was suppose to remove all non-printable characters, hence created below function. But in trouble for some rows in table.
function ar1(i_value in varchar2)
return varchar2
as
       pattern varchar2(1000) := '][';
       l_strVal varchar2(1000);
begin
       for i in 32 .. 126 loop
          pattern := pattern || case when chr(i) = '''' then ''''''
                                     when chr(i) in ('[', ']') then null
                                     else chr(i)
                                end;
       end loop;
          l_strVal := regexp_replace(i_value, '([' || pattern || '])|.', '\1', 1, 0, 'n');
return l_strVal;
end;
/Could anyone please help me, is this right way to do it.
Problem is occurring for one row as shown below.
SQL> select num, ar1(author) author1, author from doc where doc_num =37;
   NUM
AUTHOR1
AUTHOR
15098137
OM LESRAVI{|~
OM LES
RAVIIts removing non-printable characters but not sure how these {|~ are included in the resultant.
Would be great if anyone can help me.
Edited by: YasserRACDBA on Nov 9, 2010 3:53 PM

Thanks....but even your method is giving worng result as shown below.
SQL> select regexp_replace(author,'[[:cntrl:]]')
2 from doc where doc_num =15098137;
REGEXP_REPLACE(AUTHOR,'[[:CNTRL:]]')
OM LESRAVI{|~Is there any clue please...how come those {|~ are there??

Removing the Control Characters from a text file

Hi,
I am using the java.util.regex.* package to removing the control characters from a text file. I got below programming from the java.sun site.
I am able to successfully compile the file and the when I try to run the file I got the error as
------------------------------------------------------------------------D:\Debi\datamigration>java Control
Exception in thread "main" java.util.regex.PatternSyntaxException: Illegal repet
ition
{cntrl}
at java.util.regex.Pattern.error(Pattern.java:1472)
at java.util.regex.Pattern.closure(Pattern.java:2473)
at java.util.regex.Pattern.sequence(Pattern.java:1597)
at java.util.regex.Pattern.expr(Pattern.java:1489)
at java.util.regex.Pattern.compile(Pattern.java:1257)
at java.util.regex.Pattern.<init>(Pattern.java:1013)
at java.util.regex.Pattern.compile(Pattern.java:760)
at Control.main(Control.java:24)
Please help me on this issue.
Thanks&Regards
Debi
import java.util.regex.*;
import java.io.*;
public class Control {
public static void main(String[] args)
throws Exception {
//Create a file object with the file name
//in the argument:
File fin = new File("fileName1");
File fout = new File("fileName2");
//Open and input and output stream
FileInputStream fis =
new FileInputStream(fin);
FileOutputStream fos =
new FileOutputStream(fout);
BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(
new InputStreamReader(fis));
BufferedWriter out = new BufferedWriter(
new OutputStreamWriter(fos));
// The pattern matches control characters
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("{cntrl}");
Matcher m = p.matcher("");
String aLine = null;
while((aLine = in.readLine()) != null) {
m.reset(aLine);
//Replaces control characters with an empty
//string.
String result = m.replaceAll("");
out.write(result);
out.newLine();
in.close();
out.close();

Hi,
I used the code below with the \p, but I didn't able to complie the file. It gave me an
D:\Debi\datamigration>javac Control.java
Control.java:24: illegal escape character
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("\p{cntrl}");
^
1 error
Please help me on this issue.
Thanks&Regards
Debi
// The pattern matches control characters
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("\p{cntrl}");
Matcher m = p.matcher("");
String aLine = null;

Removing Non-numeric characters from Alpha-numeric string

Hi,
I have one column in which i have Alpha-numeric data like
COLUMN X
+91 (876) 098 6789
1-567-987-7655
so on.
I want to remove Non-numeric characters from above (space,'(',')',+,........)
i want to write something generic (suppose some function to which i pass the column)
thanks in advance,
Mandip

This variation uses the like operators pattern recognition to remove non alphanumeric characters. It also
keeps decimals.
Code Snippet
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RemoveChars(@Str varchar(1000))
RETURNS VARCHAR(1000)
BEGIN
declare @NewStr varchar(1000),
@i int
set @i = 1
set @NewStr = ''
while @i <= len(@str)
begin
--grab digits or (| in regex) decimal
if substring(@str,@i,1) like '%[0-9|.]%'
begin
set @NewStr = @NewStr + substring(@str,@i,1)
end
else
begin
set @NewStr = @NewStr
end
set @i = @i + 1
end
RETURN Rtrim(Ltrim(@NewStr))
END
GO
Code to validate:
Code Snippet
declare @t table(
TestStr varchar(100)
insert into @t values ('+91 (8.76) \098 6789');
insert into @t values ('1-567-987-7655');
select dbo.RemoveChars(TestStr)
from @t

Removing non-numeric characters from string

Hi there,
I need to have the ability to remove non-numeric characters from a string and I do not know how to do this.
Does any one know a way?
Example:
Present String: (02)-2345-4607
Required String: 0223454607
Thanks in advance

Dear NickM
Try this this will work...........
create or replace function char2num(mstring in varchar2) return integer
is
-- Function to remove Special characters and alphebets from phone no. string field
-- Author - Valid Bharde.(India-Mumbai)
-- Date :- 20 Sept 2006.
-- This Function will return numeric representation.
-- The Folowing program is gifted to NickM with respect to his post on oracle site regarding Removing non-numeric characters from string on the said date
mstatus number :=0;
mnum number:=0;
mrefstring varchar2(50);
begin
mnum := length(mstring);
for x in 1..mnum loop
if (ASCII(substr(upper(mstring),x,1)) >= 48 and ASCII(substr(upper(mstring),x,1)) <= 57) then
mrefstring := mrefstring || substr(mstring,x,1);
end if;
end loop;
return mrefstring;
end;
copy the above program and use it at function for example
SQL> select char2num('(022)-453452781') from dual;
CHAR2NUM('(022)-453452781')
22453452781
Chao!!!

Non printable characters in a text file..

hi,
How to get blank lines and non-printable characters
and remove those characters from the text file being uploaded from application server .
thanks,
Anil.

Take a look at the constants in cl_abap_char_utilities. A simpler solution would be to ask for a file without such characters...

Removing non-English characters from data.

Ours is global system with some data with non-English characters. We want to download file by removing this non-English characters.
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The FM u said
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Thanks & Regards
vinsee

Detecting non printables characters in a text file

Hi,
I need to remove some non printable characters like tabs, carriage returns, line feeds,.... and so!
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str = str.replaceAll("\\P{Print}+", "");From http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html, \p{print} is printable characters and \P is the negative of \p.

Removing Non-Ascii Characters from a String

Hi Everyone,
I would like to remove all NON-ASCII characters from a large string. For example, I am taking text from websites and would like to remove all the strange arabic and asian characters. How can I accomplish this?
Thank you in advance.

I would like to remove all NON-ASCII characters from a large string. I don't know if its a good method but try this:
str="\u6789gj";
output="";
for(char c:str.toCharArray()){
if((c&(char)0xff00)==0){
output=output+c;
System.out.println(output);
all the strange arabic and asian characters.Don't call them so.... I am an Indian Muslim ;-) ....
Thanks!

Can't read special characters in an excel file using JDBC

Hi! I 've a code to read an excel file using JDBC-ODBC bridge. I can read the values, but any special characters is readed wrong, just symbols. The special characters are of spanish language. This is my code:
                Locale currentLocale;
          currentLocale = new Locale("es", "MX");
          Locale.setDefault(currentLocale);
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               ResultSet rs = stmnt.executeQuery( query );
               while( rs.next() ){
                    String valor = rs.getString(2) ;
                    if(valor != null && !"null".equalsIgnoreCase(valor)){
                         if(!comisiones.contains(valor)){
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                              comisiones.add( valor );
               rs.close();
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I'm using Excel 2003, Java Version 1.4.2_07 and Windows XP Professional (in latin american spanish).
Hope someone can help me!

FYI: Apache's POI can read/write Excel files in Java:
http://jakarta.apache.org/poi/index.html

How to read data from the excel file using java code.

Hi to all,
I am using below code to getting the data from the excel file but I can't get the corresponding data from the specific file. can anyone give me the correct code to do that... I will waiting for your usefull reply......
advance thanks....
import java.io.*;
import java.sql.*;
    public class sample{
             public static void main(String[] args){
                  Connection connection = null;
                      try{
                           Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
                           Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection( "jdbc:odbc:Mydsn","","" );
                           Statement st = con.createStatement();
                           ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery( "Select * from [Sheet1$]" );
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                              ResultSetMetaData rsmd = rs.getMetaData();
                              System.out.println("samplersd:"+rsmd);
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1: What is the name of the excel sheet?
2: What is printed in this program? null ? anything?
error?Excel file name is "sample.xls" I set excel file connectivity in my JDBC driver(DSN). Here in my program I am not giving that excel file name. I am giving only that excel sheet name. that is followed
ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery( "Select * from [Sheet1$]" );The output of this program is given bellow.
sample:sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcResultSet@1b67f74
samplersd:sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcResultSetMetaData@530daa
numberOfColumns:2

Remove of non-printable characters from string

Hi Gurus,
How can I achive that? I have a string in which sign "end of line" occurss. How can I delete them?
BR
Marcin Cholewczuk

Hi Marcin,
Just use a [REPLACE|http://help.sap.com/abapdocu_70/en/ABAPREPLACE.htm] with a regular expression (Assuming variable STRING holds your data):
replace all occurrences of regex '[\n\r]+' in STRING with ''.
Note that I replaced newline ('\n') - also called end of line - and carriage return ('\r') with nothing (matching your delete request). This might not be wanted if you have a true multiline string. If you're more paranoid and want to cover more cases, you might want to replace any non-displayable characters using '\[\[:print:\]\]+' as your search pattern. So if you want to replace non-displayable characters with a space and just kill it at the end of the string you could use something like this:
replace all occurrences of regex '[^[:print:]]+(?!$)' in STRING with ` `.
replace all occurrences of regex '[^[:print:]]+$' in STRING with ''.
Cheers, harald

Removing non english characters from my string input source

Guys,
I have problem where I need to remove all non english (Latin) characters from a string, what should be the right API to do this?
One I'm using right now is:
s.replaceAll("[^\\x00-\\x7F]", "");//s is a string having chinese characters.
I'm looking for a standard Solution for such problems, where we deal with multiple lingual characters.
TIA
Nitin

Nitin_tiwari wrote:
I have a string which has Chinese as well as Japanese characters, and I only want to remove only Chinese characters.
What's the best way to go about it?Oh, I see!
Well, the problem here is that Strings don't have any information on the language. What you can get out of a String (provided you have the necessary data from the Unicode standard) is the script that is used.
A script can be used for multiple languages (for example English and German use mostly the same script, even if there are a few characters that are only used in German).
A language can use multiple scripts (for example Japanese uses Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana).
And if I remember correctly, then Japanese and Chinese texts share some characters on the Unicode plane (I might be wrong, 'though, since I speak/write neither of those languages).
These two facts make these kinds of detections hard to do. In some cases they are easy (separating latin-script texts from anything else) in others it may be much tougher or even impossible (Chinese/Japanese).

How can I remove non-numeric characters from a cell?

I have a file an rtf file that I can open in Numbers. It puts each line in a separate cell. Each cell contains non-numeric and numeric characters. I'd like to delete the non-numeric characters so that I can add the numbers together. Is there a way to do this easily in Numbers that doesn't require doing it manually?
Thanks,
David

Ok, David,
This solution will work for vlaues up to 99,000 and if there is a space in front of your amount. There are two parts for clarity but you could wrap them up into one formula if you wanted to.
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C2 =MID(A2,B2,10)
If there is a return before your amount (certain cells in your screenshot got me wondering) then the formula in column B
=FIND("
",A2,1)
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Let me know if this works for you.
quinn

Removing non printable characters from an excel file using powershell

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