Built-in Mathematica Symbol

StringSplit

StringSplit["string"]
splits "string" into a list of substrings separated by whitespace.

StringSplit["string", patt]
splits into substrings separated by delimiters matching the string expression patt.

StringSplit["string", {p₁, p₂, ...}]
splits at any of the p_i.

StringSplit["string", patt->val]
inserts val at the position of each delimiter.

StringSplit["string", {p₁->v₁, ...}]
inserts v_i at the position of each delimiter p_i.

StringSplit["string", patt, n]
splits into at most n substrings.

StringSplit[{s₁, s₂, ...}, p]
gives the list of results for each of the s_i.

MORE INFORMATION

StringSplit[s] does not return the whitespace characters that delimit the substrings it returns.

Whitespace includes any number of spaces, tabs and newlines.

The string expression patt can contain any of the objects specified in the notes for StringExpression.

StringSplit[s] is equivalent to StringSplit[s, Whitespace].

If s contains two adjacent delimiters, StringSplit considers there to be a zero-length substring "" between them.

StringSplit[s, patt] by default gives the list of substrings of s that occur between delimiters defined by patt; it does not include the delimiters themselves.

StringSplit[s, patt->val] includes val at the position of each delimiter.

StringSplit[s, patt:>val] evaluates val only when the pattern is found.

StringSplit["string", {p₁->v₁, ..., p_a, ...}] includes v₁ at the position of delimiters matching p₁, but omits delimiters matching p_a.

By default, StringSplit[s, patt] drops zero-length substrings associated with delimiters that appear at the beginning or end of s.

StringSplit[s, patt, All] returns all substrings, including zero-length ones at the beginning or end.

Setting the option IgnoreCase->True makes StringSplit treat lowercase and uppercase letters as equivalent.

StringSplit["string", RegularExpression["regex"]] splits at delimiters matching the specified regular expression.

EXAMPLES

CLOSE ALL

Basic Examples (2)

Pick out substrings delimited by whitespace:

Show the substrings with quotes:

Split a string at every --:

Pick out substrings delimited by whitespace:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

Show the substrings with quotes:

In[2]:=

Out[2]//InputForm=

Split a string at every --:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

Scope (8)

Split at every run of spaces:

Use string patterns:

Regular expressions:

Mixed regular expressions and string patterns:

Split into substrings separated by either delimiter:

Insert a value at the position of a delimiter:

Include the delimiters in the output:

StringSplit automatically threads over lists of strings:

Generalizations & Extensions (1)

All substrings, including zero-length ones at the beginning or end:

Options (1)

Split a string at every "c", including uppercase letters:

Applications (3)

A base random DNA string:

Sequences with adenine symmetrically placed:

Text analysis with some right and left context:

Use StringSplit to find all occurrences of the word "power":

Compute part of the left and right contexts in which each word occurs:

List extensions of files in a directory and its subdirectories:

Properties & Relations (4)

Splitting at whitespace is equivalent to cases of non-whitespace sequences:

StringSplit with a rule is equivalent to StringReplace:

A null delimiter splits at every character:

Using StringSplit on a comma-separated values string:

In many cases Import and ImportString provide direct functionality:

Possible Issues (1)

StringSplit by default splits only at whitespace:

This splits into words:

Another way to split into words: