Is there a way to trim all white spaces in a web search query?

[LukasM]

Dear all,

 

I would like to create some custom web searches with part numbers, which I am copying out of parts diagrams. Unfortunately these diagrams sometimes contain white spaces, so that the websites then don't recognize the part numbers.

 

Is there a way to have the query trim all white space, even within the query? 

 

Alternatively, does anybody have a workflow that will trim all white space within the clipboard? That would add an extra step but still better than manually having to go through the numbers...

 

Thank you for your help!

 

Lukas

[deanishe]

You can't trim whitespace in a Custom Web Search, no. Sorry.

 

33 minutes ago, LukasM said:

Alternatively, does anybody have a workflow that will trim all white space within the clipboard?

 

This is very easy to do. Hotkey with Argument set to "macOS Clipboard Contents" (or "macOS Selection") -> Transform utility set to "Trim Whitespace" -> Copy to Clipboard output.

 

Now, what you could do instead is use a List Filter instead of Custom Web Searches. You could grab the part no. from the clipboard or selection and trim it as above, then use a List Filter to show a list of sites to pass the part no. to. That's fairly complex to do in parts, so I could build you an example workflow if that would help.