Code snippet - 0008

       Filter out unwanted characters in the string

      
        Dim a, b As String
        a = "123 % Hello $ 456 world 789 $"

        ' b = "123 Hello 456 world 789"
        b = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(a, "[^\w\s]", "").Trim
        b = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(b, "\s+", " ")

The expression \w includes all letters and numbers, the \s all spaces. The ^ negates the expression, so all invalid characters get replaced with an empty string.

The expression  \d  includes all decimal digit. The ^ negates the expression, so all invalid decimal digit get replaced with an empty string.

The expression  \s+  includes one or more spaces, so regardless one or more spaces get replaced with a space