Removing Quote Marks

Tech Tip for Using @functions to Normalize Data

@Remove can remove any character from a field except one – the double quote. This is because the double quote is used in the function’s syntax: @Remove (String 1, “String 2”) where String 1 is the field name and where String 2, which must be encapsulated in double-quotes, is the character to be removed.

Here is an example. Suppose you have data that is similar to this and you would like to remove the double-quotes:

To remove the double quotes, you would append a new character field and use the @Remove function. However, if you use @Remove(Name,“ “ “) as the parameter for the new field, you will get a syntax error.

To overcome the syntax error, use the @Chr function to define the double quote instead of using the double quote itself. Here’s how the equation would be structured:

@Remove(Name, @Chr(34))

Explanation:

At their most basic, computers work only with numbers. ASCII and Unicode are basically translations from keyboard characters to numbers that computers can understand.

In IDEA, the @Chr function is used to identify keyboard characters as an ASCII or Unicode number. In both ASCII and Unicode tables, “34” is the number assigned to the double-quote. By using the @Chr function, you can avoid the syntax error.

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CaseWare IDEA , Tech Tip