How can I determine if a string only contains spaces, using javascript?

Question

How can I determine if an input string only contains spaces, using javascript?

stackoverflow.com/questions/3532053/… Just use search.

ayk
– ayk

2012-05-10 05:52:01 +00:00
Commented May 10, 2012 at 5:52 — ayk
– ayk, Commented May 10, 2012 at 5:52

Daniel · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-25 20:29:33Z

22

Another good post for : Faster JavaScript Trim

You just need to apply trim function and check the length of the string. If the length after trimming is 0 - then the string contains only spaces.

var str = "data abc";
if((jQuery.trim( str )).length==0)
  alert("only spaces");
else 
  alert("contains other characters");

edited Jul 25, 2016 at 20:29

Daniel

6,5517 gold badges38 silver badges64 bronze badges

answered May 10, 2012 at 5:52

Pranay Rana

177k37 gold badges244 silver badges267 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Oriol Over a year ago

Or just !str.trim()

Chuck Norris · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-10 05:52:30Z

9

if (!input.match(/^\s*$/)) {
    //your turn...
}

answered May 10, 2012 at 5:52

Chuck Norris

15.2k15 gold badges96 silver badges128 bronze badges

3 Comments

Joseph Over a year ago

This assumes that input is the value, not the input element.

Chuck Norris Over a year ago

Yeah, like var input="dfdfd", I guess, getting input value from real input not a big problem.

Chris Over a year ago

I prefer this solution to .trim(), because you're looking for a specific pattern of characters, and that's precisely and explicitly what a regex describes. It would take a reader a little longer to understand your clever trick with trim.

Joseph · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-10 05:59:40Z

2

Alternatively, you can do a test() which returns a boolean instead of an array

//assuming input is the string to test
if(/^\s*$/.test(input)){
    //has spaces
}

answered May 10, 2012 at 5:59

Joseph

120k31 gold badges186 silver badges238 bronze badges

Comments

Derek 朕會功夫 · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-10 05:54:36Z

0

if(!input.match(/^([\s\t\r\n]*)$/)) {
    blah.blah();
}

answered May 10, 2012 at 5:54

Derek 朕會功夫

94.8k45 gold badges199 silver badges255 bronze badges

Comments

pmrotule · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-04 18:48:21Z

0

The fastest solution is using the regex prototype function test() and looking for any character that is not a space or a line break \S :

if (/\S/.test(str))
{
    // found something other than a space or a line break
}

In case that you have a super long string, it can make a significant difference.

answered Mar 4, 2016 at 18:48

pmrotule

9,7804 gold badges54 silver badges59 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How can I determine if a string only contains spaces, using javascript?

5 Answers 5

1 Comment

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

5 Answers 5

1 Comment

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related