#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <cctype>
#include <iomanip>
// Detect & Remove ASCII Control Characters
std::string removeNonPrintable(const std::string& input) {
std::string output;
for (unsigned char ch : input) {
if (std::isprint(ch)) {
output += ch;
}
}
return output;
}
// Remove control characters but Keep spaces, tabs, and newlines
std::string removeControlChars(const std::string& input) {
std::string output;
for (unsigned char ch : input) {
if (!std::iscntrl(ch)) {
output += ch;
}
}
return output;
}
// If you want to see what’s hiding
void debugPrint(const std::string& s) {
for (unsigned char ch : s) {
if (std::isprint(ch))
std::cout << ch;
else
std::cout << "\\x" << std::hex << std::setw(2)
<< std::setfill('0') << (int)ch;
}
std::cout << "\n";
}
int main() {
// Contains ASCII control chars + Unicode zero-width space
std::string raw = "Hello\x01\x02 Milky Way Galaxy\u200B!";
std::cout << "Original (debug): ";
debugPrint(raw);
std::string asciiClean = removeNonPrintable(raw);
std::cout << "After ASCII clean: ";
debugPrint(asciiClean);
std::cout << "After removeControlChars(): ";
std::cout << removeControlChars("Hello\x01\x02 Milky Way Galaxy\u200B!");
}
/*
run:
Original (debug): Hello\x01\x02 Milky Way Galaxy\xe2\x80\x8b!
After ASCII clean: Hello Milky Way Galaxy!
After removeControlChars(): Hello Milky Way Galaxy!
*/
