VBA - Replace only a single whitespace (" ") in a string with a character

Question

I have a string with the following text:

16/2730 99 16/2730 97 16/2730 81 16/2730 76 16/2730 103 16/2730 102 16/2730 101

I would like to replace the single whitespaces (" ") with another character "-". My desired result would be:

16/2730-99 16/2730-97 16/2730-81 16/2730-76 16/2730-103 16/2730-102 16/2730-101

Any suggestions on how to replace the single whitespaces with another character, while leaving the multiple whitespaces alone?

Answer 1

A further approach in addition to Tim Williams' valid tips in comments might be the following one (assuming search sequences of digits, slashes and single blanks " " which can be identified as numeric) :

• Split the string by blanks into a variant array,
• add a hyphen to elements with a numeric right neighbour only,
• fill ""-elements with a blank again and
• join the array setting the delimiter to "" .

Example

Sub Example()
    Dim s As String
    s = "16/2730 99    16/2730 97    16/2730 81    16/2730 76    16/2730 103    16/2730 102    16/2730 101"

    Dim tmp As Variant
    tmp = Split(s)
    'Debug.Print Join(tmp, "|")                  ' optional display in immediate window
    'Loop through splitted array elements
    Dim i As Long
    For i = 0 To UBound(tmp) - 1
        If IsNumeric(tmp(i + 1)) Then            ' if immediate right neighbour is numeric
            tmp(i) = tmp(i) & "-"                ' .. add a hyphen to the current element
        ElseIf tmp(i) = "" Then                  ' if current element was a blank
            tmp(i) = " "                         ' .. give it back its former value
        End If
    Next i
    Debug.Print Join(tmp, "")                    ' put completed elements together again

End Sub

Results in VB Editor's immediate window

16/2730-99 16/2730-97 16/2730-81 16/2730-76 16/2730-103 16/2730-102 16/2730-101