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I have the following dataset

data = {{"one", "two", "three", "a", "b", "c"}, {"four", "five", "d"}}

I want to delete all the strings with length < 2. The desired output is:

{{"one", "two", "three"}, {"four", "five"}}

I found several solutions on this site like:

DeleteCases[#, x_ /; Length[x] < 2] & /@ data

But none of them resulted in my desired output. Any suggestion?

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Cases[#, x_ /; StringLength[x] >= 2] & /@ data $\endgroup$
    – garej
    Jun 1, 2017 at 5:32
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    $\begingroup$ Tangentially related: (8945). $\endgroup$
    – Alexey Popkov
    Jun 1, 2017 at 18:23

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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many ways to do that..

DeleteCases[#, s_String /; StringLength[s] < 2] & /@ data
DeleteCases[data, s_String /; StringLength[s] < 2, {2}]
Select[#, StringLength[#] > 1 &] & /@ data
data /. s_String /; StringLength[s] < 2 :> Sequence @@ {}
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  • $\begingroup$ OP asked for <2 or if you use select >=2. Please correct your answer $\endgroup$
    – ZaMoC
    May 31, 2017 at 20:33
  • $\begingroup$ @Jenny_mathy length must be an integer so >1 and >=2 are equivalent. $\endgroup$
    – george2079
    May 31, 2017 at 20:40
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    $\begingroup$ yes of course. any of those two. >2 was wrong $\endgroup$
    – ZaMoC
    May 31, 2017 at 20:43
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    $\begingroup$ RuleDelayed has the SequenceHold attribute, so your last version could have been just data /. s_String /; StringLength[s] < 2 -> Sequence[]. In M10.2+ you could also use Nothing instead of Sequence[]. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Woll
    Jun 1, 2017 at 0:57
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    $\begingroup$ Also, you could use a level spec of {-1} instead of {2} in your second DeleteCases example, in case the input is more deeply nested. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Woll
    Jun 1, 2017 at 0:58
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Table[Select[data[[i]], StringLength@# >= 2 &], {i, Length@data}]
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Pick[#, UnitStep[StringLength@# - #2], 1] &[data, 2] (*thanks: @AlexeyPopkov*)

{{"one", "two", "three"}, {"four", "five"}}

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    $\begingroup$ Note that StringLength is Listable, so your solution can be simplified to Pick[#, UnitStep[StringLength@# - #2], 1] &[data, 2]. $\endgroup$
    – Alexey Popkov
    Jun 1, 2017 at 4:31
  • $\begingroup$ Great point, thank you @Alexey. $\endgroup$
    – kglr
    Jun 1, 2017 at 11:10
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data = {{"one", "two", "three", "a", "b", "c"}, {"four", "five", "d"}}
data // Map[StringLength@# >= 2 &, #, {-1}] & // Pick[data, #] & (*{2}->{-1}*)
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    $\begingroup$ With third argument of Map being {-1} instead of {2} your solution generalizes to arbitrary deeply nested lists of strings. $\endgroup$
    – Alexey Popkov
    Jun 1, 2017 at 17:54
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Map[Cases[__?(StringLength[#] >= 2 &)]][data]
Map[Cases[x__/;StringLength[x] >= 2]][data]
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2
  • $\begingroup$ The OP asked for removing <2, so you should use >=2. $\endgroup$
    – Alexey Popkov
    Jun 1, 2017 at 17:49
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexeyPopkov thanks. forgot to double check it $\endgroup$
    – Ali Hashmi
    Jun 1, 2017 at 17:53

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