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Replace

Replaces all occurrences of a substring with another string.

Common Properties​

  • Name - The custom name of the node.
  • Color - The custom color of the node.
  • Delay Before (sec) - Waits in seconds before executing the node.
  • Delay After (sec) - Waits in seconds after executing node.
  • Continue On Error - Automation will continue regardless of any error. The default value is false.
info

If the ContinueOnError property is true, no error is caught when the project is executed, even if a Catch node is used.

Inputs​

  • String - The original string.
  • Old String - The substring to replace.
  • New String - The replacement string.

Options​

This node does not have configurable options.

Output​

  • Result - The string with all replacements applied.

How It Works​

The Replace node finds all occurrences of the old string and replaces them with the new string:

  • Replaces all occurrences - not just the first one
  • Case-sensitive - "Hello" and "hello" are different
  • Exact match - must match the old string exactly
  • New string can be empty - effectively removes the old string
  • Old string can be repeated - continues until no more matches

Usage Examples​

Example 1: Replace Word​

  • String: "Hello World, Hello Universe"
  • Old String: "Hello"
  • New String: "Hi"
  • Result: "Hi World, Hi Universe"

Example 2: Remove Characters (Empty New String)​

  • String: "(555) 123-4567"
  • Old String: "("
  • New String: ""
  • Result: "555) 123-4567"

Example 3: Replace Spaces​

  • String: "Hello World Test"
  • Old String: " "
  • New String: "_"
  • Result: "Hello_World_Test"

Example 4: Fix Typo​

  • String: "The cat sat on teh mat"
  • Old String: "teh"
  • New String: "the"
  • Result: "The cat sat on the mat"

Example 5: Replace Path Separator​

  • String: "C:\\Users\\Documents"
  • Old String: "\\"
  • New String: "/"
  • Result: "C:/Users/Documents"

Tips​

  • Replaces all occurrences, not just the first one
  • Use empty New String to remove text
  • Great for cleaning data (remove unwanted characters)
  • Perfect for normalizing formats (dates, phone numbers, paths)
  • Case-sensitive - use Lowercase/Uppercase first if needed
  • Can be chained - multiple Replace nodes for complex transformations

Common Errors and Solutions​

Error: Some occurrences not replaced

  • Cause: Case sensitivity - "Hello" vs "hello"
  • Solution: Convert to same case first, then replace

Error: Need to replace only first occurrence

  • Cause: Replace works on all occurrences
  • Solution: Use Index + Cut nodes for single replacement, or use more specific old string

Practical RPA Examples​

Example: Clean Phone Number​

String: "(555) 123-4567"
Step 1: Replace "(" with ""
Step 2: Replace ")" with ""
Step 3: Replace " " with ""
Step 4: Replace "-" with ""
Result: "5551234567"

Example: Normalize Date Format​

String: "2024-01-15"
Old String: "-"
New String: "/"
Result: "2024/01/15"

Example: Remove HTML Tags (Simple)​

String: "<p>Hello World</p>"
Step 1: Replace "<p>" with ""
Step 2: Replace "</p>" with ""
Result: "Hello World"
warning

For complex HTML, use dedicated HTML parsing tools.

Example: Sanitize Filename​

String: "My Document: Version 2.0"
Step 1: Replace ":" with "-"
Step 2: Replace " " with "_"
Result: "My_Document-_Version_2.0"

Example: Fix CSV Encoding​

String: 'Name,"Address","Phone"'
Old String: '""'
New String: '"'
Result: Properly escaped quotes

Example: Convert Windows to Unix Path​

String: "C:\\Projects\\MyApp\\src"
Old String: "\\"
New String: "/"
Result: "C:/Projects/MyApp/src"

Pattern: Multi-Step Cleaning​

Clean and normalize text data:

Step 1: Replace special characters
Step 2: Replace multiple spaces with single space
Step 3: Trim whitespace
Step 4: Lowercase
Result: Clean, normalized text

Pattern: Currency Formatting​

Step 1: Replace "$" with ""
Step 2: Replace "," with ""
Step 3: ToNumber
Result: Numeric value

Example: "$1,234.56" → "1234.56" → 1234.56

Pattern: Data Masking​

Mask sensitive data:

String: "User SSN: 123-45-6789"
Old String: "123-45-6789"
New String: "XXX-XX-XXXX"
Result: "User SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX"

Pattern: URL Encoding (Simple)​

Replace special characters:

String: "Hello World"
Old String: " "
New String: "%20"
Result: "Hello%20World"

Advanced Use Cases​

Remove All Digits​

Chain multiple Replace nodes:

Replace "0" with ""
Replace "1" with ""
Replace "2" with ""
...
Replace "9" with ""

Standardize Separators​

Input variations:
- "firstName,lastName"
- "firstName;lastName"
- "firstName|lastName"

Solution:
Replace ";" with ","
Replace "|" with ","
Result: All use comma separator

Clean Whitespace​

Replace "\t" with " " (tabs to spaces)
Replace "\n" with " " (newlines to spaces)
Replace multiple spaces with single space
  • Trim - Remove characters from edges
  • Split - Split and rejoin with different separator
  • Lowercase - For case-insensitive replace
  • Uppercase - For case-insensitive replace