Remove Extra Spaces Using JavaScript

This simple script uses regular expressions to remove unwanted extra spaces from a block of text. The following example illustrates the script (you can paste your own text here if you like):

To use this script, place the following code in the document head:

function trimSpaces(){
	s = document.getElementById("textString").value;
	s = s.replace(/(^\s*)|(\s*$)/gi,"");
	s = s.replace(/[ ]{2,}/gi," ");
	s = s.replace(/\n /,"\n");
	document.getElementById("textString").value = s;
}

Place the following code in the document body (modify to suit your needs):

<textarea name="textString" id="textString" cols="50" rows="4">
 This is a block of text with some  extra    spaces in it.   Click the button to remove them. 
</textarea>