topic Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)? in ArcGIS Online Questions

How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

AmyEverett1 — Tue, 19 May 2020 10:45:56 GMT

I have users who populate a field that is used to label features on a map that is used by many other users. I have no control over what/how they populate this field. For whatever reason, several users insist on proceeding the actual value with arbitrary special characters such as !!**, !***, ^^**, *** (presumably for sorting purposes). The end users of the data do not wish to see these characters when used as labels in commonly used maps and apps. The leading characters differ all the time and I am having a hard time grasping how to replace multiple characters if/when needed.

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

XanderBakker — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 07:55:46 GMT

Hi Amy Everett ,

I those characters always have to be removed no matter the position of these characters, you could use Replace. See the example below:

var txt = "!!**!***hello world^^*****";
txt = Replace(Replace(Replace(txt, "!", ""), "*", ""), "^", "");
return txt;‍‍‍

This will return "hello world".

If your use case is different, could you provide some examples to see what needs to be done?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

JoeBorgione — Tue, 19 May 2020 14:02:08 GMT

There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems.... Ed Crowely

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

AmyEverett1 — Tue, 19 May 2020 14:08:44 GMT

Thank you, Xander! That was exactly what I was looking for! I didn't think about nesting them that way. I appreciate your assistance!

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

XanderBakker — Tue, 19 May 2020 16:09:04 GMT

Hi Amy Everett ,

Glad it works, but I want to emphasize what jborgion mentioned. Why do you have these characters in your data? Is there some part of the process you can change to avoid having these characters in your data?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

JoeBorgione — Tue, 19 May 2020 16:22:14 GMT

That's exactly what I've been wondering as well. Sounds like a quick database tutorial for the users might be time well spent.

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

AmyEverett1 — Tue, 19 May 2020 18:37:14 GMT

If I had any authority over the data structure, many things would be different! Unfortunately I am just the recipient who has to make it come together in the end.

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

XanderBakker — Tue, 19 May 2020 19:12:11 GMT

Hi amy.b.everett ,

Thanks for clarifying. Sometimes we just have to work with the data that is provided to us.

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

AlexRudowski — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 17:00:40 GMT

I stumbled upon this thread when I was looking to remove part of a label from a feature field in a webmap. Here's what I ended up with:

//All labels are in Brighton with the same zip code. Expression removes town and zip code

var txt = $feature.Location
txt = Replace(txt, ", BRIGHTON, 84121", "");
return txt

Thanks!

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

StevePlettenberg — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 19:25:48 GMT

Dusted this off today. Still relevant. Super helpful!

Thank you!

topic Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)? in ArcGIS Online Questions

How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!**, ^^, ***)?

topic Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)? in ArcGIS Online Questions

How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?

Re: How do I write an Arcade label expression to remove multiple (and inconsistent) leading characters from a field (e.g. !!, ^^, *)?