Trying to remove extra spaces from clipboard using bash from applescript - bash

Question

I am trying to remove all the formating from the data in the clipboard.
The input is like this:
Name: William R Wells
Date of Birth: 8 Dec 1942
Birth Place: Fayette, Kentucky, USA
Mother's name: Suda Hatton
Volume Number: 179
Certificate Number: 89145
Volume Year: 1942
I want it to look like this:
Name: William R Wells, Date of Birth: 8 Dec 1942, Birth Place: Fayette, Kentucky, USA, Mother's name: Suda Hatton, Volume Number: 179, Certificate, Number: 89145, Volume Year: 1942
This script works but does not delete the extra spaces and place a comma after the data.
try
do shell script "export LC_CTYPE=UTF-8; pbpaste | fmt -w 99999 | pbcopy"
end try
end
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Roger

Answer 1

Here's an AppleScript that will do the job. Not sure it's the most efficient way, but it works.
use framework "Foundation"
use scripting additions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
get the clipboard as text
re_match from the result against "\t+" given replacement:" "
re_match from the result against "[\r\n]" given replacement:", "
re_match from the result against " +" given replacement:" "
set the clipboard to the result
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
###HANDLERS
on re_match against pattern from str given replacement:fmt
set regex to current application's NSRegularExpression's ¬
regularExpressionWithPattern:pattern ¬
options:(current application's ¬
NSRegularExpressionCaseInsensitive) ¬
|error|:(missing value)
(regex's stringByReplacingMatchesInString:str ¬
options:0 range:{0, length of str} ¬
withTemplate:fmt) ¬
as text
end re_match
This next AppleScript is much simpler and shorter but less versatile. However, if your clipboard contents is largely the same in format, it should be as effective as the above script.
set str to the clipboard as text
set text item delimiters to {null, tab}
set str to text items of str as text
set the text item delimiters to {", ", linefeed, return}
set str to text items of str as text
set the text item delimiters to {": ", ":"}
set str to text items of str as text
set the clipboard to str