Apple Script String Helpers

applescript_string_helper

on replace(sourcetext, search, replacement)
	set oldDelim to AppleScript's text item delimiters
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the search
	set the textItemList to every text item of the sourcetext
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the replacement
	set the output to the textItemList as string
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldDelim
	return output
end replace

on strip_spaces(aLine)
	--strip  lead spaces
	set ods to AppleScript's text item delimiters
	repeat until first character of aLine is not " "
		
		set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {""}
		set aLine to (characters 2 thru -1 of aLine as string)
		set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ods
	end repeat
	
	--strip tail spaces
	set ods to AppleScript's text item delimiters
	repeat until last character of aLine is not " "
		log aLine
		set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {""}
		set aLine to (characters 1 thru -2 of aLine as string)
		set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ods
	end repeat
	return aLine
end strip_spaces