Adding Dashes between Letters

@Frederick
The macro AddDashes1 I presented in my comment of 17 Nov 2019 is shorter than your version because I use of the Count argument of Replace instead of the Left function.

Sub AddDashes1()
Dim cell As Range
For Each cell In Selection
cell = Replace(StrConv(cell, vbUnicode), Chr$(0), "-", 1, Len(cell) - 1)
Next cell
End Sub

Although your version of the function AddDashes2 is shorter than the one I presented in my comment of 16 Nov 2019, I managed now to make it even shorter than yours:

Function AddDashes2(S As String) As String
AddDashes2 = Replace(StrConv(S, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-", 1, Len(S) - 1)
End Function

AddDashes3 can also be shorter:

Function AddDashes3(S As String) As String
AddDashes3 = Replace(Replace(StrConv(S, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-", 1, Len(S) - 1), "- -", " ")
End Function

Here are what I consider simpler procedures to replace those you included in your article (I kept the same names you used for them)...


Sub AddDashes1()
Dim Cell As Range
For Each Cell In Selection
Cell.Value = Left(Replace(StrConv(Cell.Value, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-"), 2 * Len(Cell.Value) - 1)
Next
End Sub


Function AddDashes2(S As String) As String
AddDashes2 = Left(Replace(StrConv(S, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-"), 2 * Len(S) - 1)
End Function


Function AddDashes3(S As String) As String
AddDashes3 = Replace(Left(Replace(StrConv(S, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-"), 2 * Len(S) - 1), "- -", " ")
End Function

Here are what I consider simpler procedures to replace those you included in your article (I kept the same names you used for them)...


Sub AddDashes1()
Dim Cell As Range
For Each Cell In Selection
Cell.Value = Left(Replace(StrConv(Cell.Value, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-"), 2 * Len(Cell.Value) - 1)
Next
End Sub


Function AddDashes2(S As String) As String
AddDashes2 = Left(Replace(StrConv(S, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-"), 2 * Len(S) - 1)
End Function


Function AddDashes3(S As String) As String
AddDashes3 = Replace(Left(Replace(StrConv(S, vbUnicode), Chr(0), "-"), 2 * Len(S) - 1), "- -", " ")
End Function

@Willy
Aren't you an APL programmer :-) ?
The APL programmer's theorem states that "for each working program written in APL, there is a shorter one with exactly the same functionalities"
Of course, it's a joke (albeit...), but I agree with you, and quoting A. Pope : "There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit" !

Correection
Result: m y   t i t l e

Usage: =SeparateText("my title"," ")
Result: m y t i t l e

Peter,

Excellent idea. If you use a space as separator you can even use this macro as a title widener with the advantage that between words you get 3 spaces wich is more clear.

Willy
I do like your short function. I woulf add a variable for the separator and this would address JC's concerns about maintaining it.

Function SeparateText(ByVal ref, Separator As String) As String
SeparateText = Replace(StrConv(ref, vbUnicode), Chr$(0), Separator, 1, Len(ref) - 1)
End Function

=SeparateText(A1,"-")
=SeparateText(A1," ")

@JC
For me it feels like simpler because it's shorter and more concise. But you are right, Allen's code is the traditional way to do it and easier to understand. In a way it is the "teacher's" approach.

But it is always interesting to show that a problem can mostly be solved in several ways. And generally, with Leonardo da Vinci's saying "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" in mind, I prefer the shorter and more concise ones :-)

I find the "shorter" code interesting, but wouldn't call it "simpler". Wyatt's code is IMO easier to maintain.

Here is an even shorter and simpler one-line UDF:

Function AddDashes2(Src As String) As String
AddDashes2 = Replace(StrConv(Src, vbUnicode), Chr$(0), "-", 1, Len(Src) - 1)
End Function

Here is how it works, the variable Src (cell referred to) is TEST as an example:

StrConv(Src, vbUnicode) -> StrConv("TEST", vbUnicode)
Converts TEST to unicode so each letter takes 2 bytes instead of one.
The first byte is the ascii code of the letter, the second byte is Null or Chr$(0).
The result in the example is T_E_S_T_ (the underscores represent null or Chr$(0)
This last character is used as find argument for the Replace function:

Replace(StrConv(Src, vbUnicode), Chr$(0), "-", 1, Len(Src) - 1)
-> Replace("T_E_S_T_", Chr$(0), "-", 1, Len(Src) - 1)
The count argument in Replace is Len(Src) - 1 to eliminate the unwanted last dash.

Finaly T-E-S-T is returned as result.

This tip's first macro can also be simplified a lot:

Sub AddDashes1()
Dim cell As Range
For Each cell In Selection
cell = Replace(StrConv(cell, vbUnicode), Chr$(0), "-", 1, Len(cell) - 1)
Next cell
End Sub

Here is a one-liner for the AddDashes2 UDF:

Function AddDashes2(S As String) As String
AddDashes2=Left(Join(Split(StrConv(S,vbUnicode),Chr$(0)),"-"),Len(S)*2-1)
End Function